IoT Technology For Artists: Introduction
Internet of Things? The term has been introduced into the world nearly two decades ago. Still, most of the people don’t even know its existence forget the meaning. Simply put, IoT is a network that can connect our devices (everyday used) through the internet. This network is user-friendly and compatible with all the devices irrespective of their smartness level. Therefore with the installation of IoT in the world, a plethora of jobs, opportunities are going to emerge in every industry. Every industry? Really? Even Art? Yes, even art. Wondering how technological innovation can influence the artistic world and transform it? This is what Internet of Things brings for artists.
Impact of IoT technology on the Art
From the dawn, Art is what which kept us authentic and distinguished us from others. Art is a medium used to express and manifest the different aspects of human intelligence. For example, those cave paintings back in the early man-age is an art. That’s where it all started. The perception achieved by it and it took various material forms and has been transformed and rendered through various stages. However, art, these days became susceptible to loss, political disruptions, natural damage and thievery as expressed by artists. The advancement in the technological world widened the scope for the artists by helping them reach an audience, find buyers, reduce the advertising costs without having to move to another place. The ubiquitous web has even allowed artists go beyond geographical borders, enhancing with online payments and social media.
Plagiarism of Art: Biggest problem for artist
Apart from the benefits offered by the Internet, there are also major setbacks that have put artists in crisis. New technologies started evolving which simplified the copying procedure of art and, therefore, the originality vanished. Due to this, most of the artists failed to get noticed for their original works and their careers have been ruined. In an essay written by Artie Vierkant, a digital artist, he describes the impact caused by technology on the art. He argues that altering, tampering, sharing and reproducing an artist’s work was difficult in the previous times. He thanked the modern technology by making it relatively easy through the three step procedure of displaying, scanning, printing and then modifying them accordingly. To strengthen his discussion, Vierkant gives an example of this own work emphasizing the ownership of art and the ease of copying.
Challenges Faced By The Artists Due To Internet
With the advancement in the technology, the ownership rights started falling down in value. On one side of the coin, the media publishes the success stories of famous artists that sell canvases for over thousands of dollars through platforms like Instagram to rich clients; while the other side, there are many people who find it even hard to cope up. According to the survey that has been conducted by the Research Center (Pew), it is concluded that “Professional artists are being left behind without any fame because of the playing strategy inscribed in Digital technology. Artists, in order to maintain rigidity in life, need to transform themselves as entrepreneurs than mere artists. Any artist without a strong business model is under survival crisis”. If you give this thought a moment, you would know that juggling between being an artist and an entrepreneur will reduce the creativity of the artist. Using social media for sales is not as easy as it appears and it will only complicate the business strategy with multiple platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Even after fighting through everything, it is not guaranteed of the saturated market that it will allow the artists to stand out and grab the audience. With too many obstacles and potential challenges, the artists eventually fail in gaining adequate recognition. With the current situations persisting, the value of art will decline. Art is never about business. So, how are we going to secure art? Through Internet of Things? Yes! Here’s how IoT can be the answer for everything.
What IoT brings for the Artists: Opportunities
The Internet of Things can provide easy solutions to all the complex issues faced by artists today. With the capability of registering all the activities of devices, it can prevent the fraudulent plagiarism of any artist’s work. By connecting multiple platforms in one roof, it will allow the artists to have online interactions from a single platform and helps in minimizing the time and resources. By physicalizing the digital artworks, it also helps in building an emotional bond between clients and their possessions. Through this, there might also be a hike in the price of the artworks and hence improving the opportunities of the artists. What more can it do? Every artist can actually create a unique avatar representing themselves and upload the making video of their art along with the art itself. By this, the quality of their work is elevated and the scope for fraudulent practices will be reduced. The users will also get more attached to the artwork by knowing the procedure in which it has been done. After uploading, the data gets protected through Intellectual Property protocol and any other kind of unauthorized access will be terminated. Therefore, IoT helps in building a direct linkage between artists, their work, and users by helping them build brands and hike the sales. If you ask when is it going to happen, I would say it’s already happening now. Get set and seek IoT already.
