Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Big Question

So what's the most common question I get at art shows. If you guessed "Do you use digital?" then you win a prize (not really ... about the prize part that is). I guess people may be genuinely interested in the answer, but I have a hard time believing that it really makes that much of a difference one way or the other. Art can be created with a multitude of raw materials, and which kind of camera I am using is just one of many variables. No one (or almost no one) asks me "What brand of computer do you use?" or "What kind of paper are the prints made from?" or any number of more interesting and meaningful questions.

Maybe I'm just getting tired of hearing the question. I thought by now that "digital" was so pervasive that nobody thought about it any more - but they do.

On a side note I had one guy approach me at Newtown Welcome Day and ask me this question, and then proceeded to explain why he thought digital was "junk" (to paraphrase him) compared to film. Of course after I got home my wife pointed out the irony that if he had to ask me the question then he couldn't tell if my work was digital or film-based, and thus his argument was pointless.

I'm sure I'll have to weather that question for years to come. Maybe I'll start coming up with novel answers, like "Which do you think it is?" or "Could be either" or "Does it really matter?".

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

:)) I like your wife's answer to the "junk" comment :)

Matt said...

I just wish I was quick enough to give that guy the witty response my wife suggested.