The Valuation of Computer Generated or Enhanced Art (2020)

Frederick B. Kilmer Research Award 2nd Place (Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences)

A bias against computer–generated art is common in modern culture. Studies have shown that art made though traditional means (e.g. brush painting) is valued more highly than art made with computer generation or enhancement (Chamberlin et al., 2018). The proposed research examines factors influencing digital art’s valuation. We ask whether digital art is undervalued due to its stimulus features or perceptions that it is a facile act or performance? Alternately, does technology putatively interrupt a perceived flow–a kind of magical contagion–of creative essence from creator to art–object? Several studies will examine the reasons behind people’s demonstrable bias against computer–generated art. These studies may also offer insight into processes by which tools move from being perceived as technology to being understood as extensions of the artist, and the processes by which objects move from “art” to “artifact.”