Why Digital Art Is Red

Abstract

The divide between the art shown in major museums and art fairs and that associated with the new media scene has been deep and durable. Many critics have puzzled over it, particularly because there is much that the two realms share, including the desire to put people into unusual social situations.[1] Yet some of the reasons for the divide are plain enough, and they are about money, power and social distinction.

1. On the affinity between new media art and socially engaged art, including relational aesthetics, see Edward Shanken, “Contemporary Art and New Media: Toward a Hybrid Discourse?,” http://hybridge.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/hybrid-discourses-overview-4.pdf (accessed March 31, 2014).