This weeks topic is where history seems to catch up with us. We are currently living in the Post-digital era, where we are not amazed by the fact that many technologies exist, but are interested in how these technologies can take us into the future. We are not amazed by the technology, engineering and design that had to go into the flat-screen TV in our living room, or our mobile phone. We just accept that these items exist and are essential to our daily lives, often failing to consider how recent these inventions are. That is Post-Digital. We have passed the initial digital age when we were astonished by these digital technologies.

What we are now impressed by is the merging of the digital world with our own, in a way that changes our perspective. The popularity of Augmented reality demonstrates how individuals want to be able to have control over their own environment throughout he use of digital technologies. Whilst, Virtual Reality (VR) has caught the attention of many people around the globe as the idea of being transformed into a completely different environment attracts many individuals.

It could be said, that, whilst we are no longer in the original digital age, our own yearning for the next big thing has not decreased, but possibly increased. Even though we often take the technologies we use daily for granted, we still have a need to innovate to find ways that we can communicate better, or the truth we may not want to admit, is that we want to find more ways to disconnect from the world around us through the use of the next big thing as an excuse. Are we really just looking for ways to escape this place? Our current technological revolution is driven by the longing for an escape to a better place, and we want to make that place the best it can possibly be.

This can be seen through the post-digital art forms. Up until recently most art was viewed or experienced without escaping from the individual’s actual surroundings. Now, many artists are taking advantage of new technologies which allow them to provide an immersive art experience for their viewers. Artists such as Rachael Rossin are at the forefront of the merging of art and VR technology. Rossin creates digital artworks that are displayed through VR so that the viewer can fully immerse themselves in the viewing of the art.

We will continue to search for new digital solutions to problems we face, but because humans are forever amazed by the thought of escaping, there will always be new technologies that are created purely to entertain and transform our realities.

• Cramer, F. (n.d.). What is ‘Post-digital’? | a peer-reviewed journal about_. [online] Aprja.net. Available at: http://www.aprja.net/what-is-post-digital/ [Accessed 22 Sep. 2019].
• Rossin, R. (2019). RACHEL ROSSIN:. [online] Rossin.co. Available at: http://rossin.co [Accessed 22 Sep. 2019].
• Rossi, R. (2017). Scrubbing 1, Macquette. [image] Available at: https://www.artsy.net/artwork/rachel-rossin-scrubbing-1-maquette [Accessed 22 Sep. 2019].
• Sharma, S. (2017). The 10 Virtual Reality artists you need to see to believe. [online] Medium. Available at: https://blog.dextra.art/the-10-virtual-reality-artists-you-need-to-see-to-believe-c66cfde4dcb8 [Accessed 22 Sep. 2019].