Modern Art

I still remember a period in time when parents pray that their child would not aspire to be an artist, for he would surely starve. The imaginative parents would envision their child on the streets, painting the scenery or sketching random people, selling his masterpiece, only to earn just about enough to buy food for the day. Those days, when a child chooses fine arts over medicine or economics, his parents would likely have a heart attack.

Those days are long gone, because now, technology has reshaped visual arts. Now career opportunities for artists abound. At present, many cartoonists do not have to beg newspapers to print their comics—computer animation has invaded films, television, cartoons, comics, anime, and manga. Artists are in demand even in developing computer games. They now have careers as creative directors in advertising firms. Interior design is now performed through computers. Digital photography is the current trend. Photo and painting exhibits and sale are now conducted online. E-books present vast opportunities and exposure for illustrators. Website design firms abound in the market. At this day and age, technology has opened a whole new world to the scruffy artists of yesterday. Now, the artists starve no more.

However, with this new market comes a new competitive factor—education and training in both art and tech. To be the least bit competitive in this new multimedia rat race, the artist must not only have mad design skills, but also mad computer skills. This is where a reformation in academic curriculum comes in. Although the computer as an artist’s tool has already been recognized in most Philippine schools, it has to be taken a step further. Critical training in computer animation, imaging and programming may just be the edge that our young artists needs to be competitive in this age of modern art.