Digital mosaics

Through the work of artists and designers on the cutting edge of technology, Digital Mosaics explores the possibilities of digital expression: gravity-defying sculptures that can exist only in cyberspace, a newspaper that communicates at a glance the relationships among various news stories, an interactive opera in which members of the audience become part of the performance. Holtzman also shows us how computer pioneers are now able to produce works of astonishing complexity and intelligence, dynamic worlds full of creatures that grow and evolve, music that perpetuates itself, and beautiful fractal images that rival nature's masterpieces. Holtzman examines the unique qualities of these on-line experiences. Digital art is infinitely reproducible (there is no "original"), and yet is ephemeral. The digital experience is interactive, not passive, and this will change the way we look at and experience digital worlds. The traditional boundary between the audience and the artist will become only more blurred. And while the digital world links individuals to a global community, it is also a place in which individual expression will flourish as never before. The computer, says Holtzman, does not replace books, painting, photography, film, or theater. It is a new medium that will give rise to entirely new forms of creative expression.