I realized that New Media Art really spans many mediums and forms. I feel that this art form is much more freeing when compared to others such as painting or sketch. However, I realize I’m incredibly naive about art in general and don’t deny that I could be terribly wrong. Wrong Schmong anyways let’s talk about some artists. 

Firstly, I’d like to look at the work of Mark Napier. It’s really fantastic to see the ways programming and design are used to create art, as they truly are naturally linked. I was particularly interested in the piece PAM, a “generative software that produced a moving figure created from fragmented body parts”. What sounds slightly terrifying proved to be a genuinely intriguing and thought-provoking piece. While the final image included Pam Anderson’s face, other body parts were used to construct a moving and changing conglomerate of female body parts, create a fully formed body. This was very unique to this piece, as I have never seen this type of movement done before from code. I’m a big fan. 
It also got me to thinking about the way the female body is portrayed on the internet. There’s such a hefty amount of porn on the internet (wow, really? no way), that even while searching for something generic like an apple, you’re sure to find some unwarranted body exposure. It’s like porn is some sort of skeleton of the internet. It was interesting to watch this piece as the different images appeared on the screen. As these changed, it was clear that this body could have easily paraded as Pam Anderson’s and no objection would have been made. Even as it was changing so drastically, the ideal or envy-inducing body stayed the same. There was little difference in the types of bodies that were chosen to display in this piece, mirroring the types of bodies that are sprinkled throughout the internet for us web surfers to constantly see. This probably helps perpetuate our society’s unhealthy obsession with the perfect body (but we’ll save that for another blog post).