Technology is like a train that seems to be accelerating, changing virtually every aspect of our lives. It is now quite difficult to find an area in our lives untouched by technology. Yet, the art world seems not to embrace technology, more so when it comes to the distribution of precious art. Yes, it is now possible to view art from hundreds of years ago in high definition but a lot of the people who would be buying this art remain skeptical to the idea. The question then arises, why is this so? Well, we can bring forth fear as one of the reasons. It is true that art is one of the most counterfeited commodity in the world. Art is relatively easy to forge for those who know how and there is usually no real way to ascertain if the art you are buying is real and authentic without holding it in your hands and examining it.
Peeking Behind The Curtains
A human touch is still needed to examine art for authenticity so there is really nothing we can do about that. Although most art enthusiasts wait for the day technology, more so Artificial intelligence, moves so far forward that we can authenticate art without holding it. Because our hands are more or less tied in this way, in what ways Can digital technology open up the art world? One of the ways is the preservation of art. Remember the high definition copies we mentioned? Technology is making it possible to store art in pristine conditions, albeit in a digital format. Physical copies of precious art degrade over time but their digital records do not. This brings up an interesting point; we can now remove the original art from the forefront, protecting it from the battering brought about by the elements, and displaying digital copies in its place. Remember that it is possible to produce hundreds of high definition, high fidelity copies of a piece of art but only one original exists. Another area that has been lagging behind is the transaction when buying and selling art.
Embracing Digital Currencies
Art is expensive. A piece of art can go for millions of dollars, a transaction that can take days to process. Enter digital currencies. Now, transactions take place in seconds. This sees the seller and the buyer both benefit from the security provided by such digital currencies and some of the escrow services that store them for art dealers and buyers. Lastly, technology is making it easier to find the right art. In the past, you would have to hire someone and wait for months or even years before a piece of art was located. Now, all you have to do is do a search online and you are likely to find the piece of art in a few minutes. This has also opened the door for new artists to create new works and an art culture that goes beyond street style and shoes. This is because they now know that their pieces of art can be found by people from all over the world.