Mediascape

Mankind has become increasingly preoccupied with technology - how we can use it, and how it can use us.

Historically artists have often been among the first to confront these issues, commandeering new technologies designed for scientific or commercial purposes and refashioning them to their own ends.

Some artists have treated emerging technologies simply as convenient tools for creative expression, analogous to a painter's brush or a sculptor's chisel.

Others have chosen to investigate the properties of the medium itself or its impact on society. Serving as the catalogue for an exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, this book examines some of the directions taken by these various impulses over the last few decades, from video installations by artists such as Bruce Nauman, Nam June Paik and Bill Viola, to Jenny Holzer's LED signs and recent interactive works by Bill Seaman and Jeffrey Shaw.