Technology has a negative impact on the various cultures around the world. In particular, the Internet technology has a negative impact on the culture of arts. The culture of arts is present in all societies around the world. Also, the culture of arts has been present throughout the history of humanity. Since time immemorial, human societies have used tangible objects of art including paintings and sculptures to communicate specific cultural values. The tangible objects of art best reveal the cultural heritage of any society in the world (Nahema 01). Every society around the world wants to cure and preserve the tangible objects of arts for future generations. Unfortunately, the Internet technology is threatening the sustained production and preservation of the tangible objects of cultural heritage.
The most important tenet of arts in cultural heritage is to create and preserve a tangible object in the correct historical context. For example, most cultures around the world use museums as the appropriate places to showcase the tangible objects of art (Wilson 93). The use of brick-and-mortar museums to showcase tangible cultural artifacts helps future generations to understand the historical events and the cultural ideologies that surrounded the curatorial processes of a piece of art (Halter 28). Therefore, the contextual circumstances surrounding the creation and portrayal of a piece of are more important than the piece of art being showcased.
Unfortunately, the Internet technology has undermined the use of brick-and-mortar museums to showcase pieces of art. Rather, the Internet has promoted the production and consumption of cultural artifacts through virtual platforms. Tangible objects of art intended to communicate aspects of cultural heritage are increasingly being taken out of the brick-and-mortar museums and displayed in virtual platforms through the Internet (Wilson 115). Subsequently, audiences are expected to understand the cultural ideologies and historical contexts surrounding a virtually-displayed piece of art by reading the short descriptions below each object attached on the online museums.
In essence, the Internet technology has negatively changed the cultural model of using tangible pieces of art for purposes of cultural heritage. The production and distribution of cultural artifacts through digital platforms online has detached the cultural artifacts from the intended cultural meanings (Nahema 01). The audience can better understand the historical contexts and the cultural ideologies of a painting or a sculpture by experiencing the physical attributes of the painting. Audiences must feel the texture of the painting, smell the ink used to create the painting, and hear the sounds of the physical environment surrounding the tangible piece of art (Wilson 120).
The use of the Internet to produce and distribute cultural artifacts robs the audience the opportunities to discern the cultural meaning of an artifact through first-hand sensory perceptions (Halter 51). Consequently, the loss of the intended cultural meaning of a cultural artifact leads to the misapprehension of cultural heritages around the world. Because of the continued proliferation of the Internet technology around the world, there is a distinct possibility that indigenous cultural heritages may be lost.
In conclusion, it is apparent that the Internet technology is killing the culture of art. Painters and sculptors in indigenous cultures around the world will no longer be motivated to produce the tangible and culturally-placed pieces of artifacts because of the overshadowing role of digital production and distribution of the pieces of art. In the foreseeable future, the use of tangible cultural artifacts to communicate the cultural heritages of societies around the world will become extinct because of the increasing presence of the Internet technology.
- Halter, Cornell. Mass Effect: Art and the Internet in the Twenty-first Century. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2015. Print
- Nahema, Marchal. “How is Digital Technology changing Africa’s Cultural Landscape?” Okayafrica.com, April 9, 2015. Web, April 29, 2017. http://www.okayafrica.com/culture-2/how-is-digital-technology-changing-africas-cultural-landscape/
- Wilson, Stephen. Information Arts: Intersections of Art, Science, and Technology. Pittsburg: John Wiley and Sons, 2002. Print