The Post-Condition of Art: Forms of Artistic Value in the Digital Sphere

This paper aims to explore the profound influence of the online environment and electronic media on the arts, fostering the emergence of cutting-edge art movements in the 2000s. By examining concepts such as post-Photography and post-Internet art, it can be observed that the digital landscape serves as a driving force to discuss the radical shift that moves artistic production from the creation of visual artifacts to editing practices, fueled by the proliferation of online image culture. It can be argued that this shift has been central to art-historical developments for decades, exemplifying modern assemblage methods in painting and analog photography, rather than being merely a moment specific to the peculiarities of digital media. The aim, therefore, is to examine the boundaries and significance of using the prefix ‘post’ to describe these artistic movements, demonstrating how canons of art-making are reimagined in the contemporary –- as a means of opening new avenues for appreciation of artifacts –- while simultaneously producing tension between pre-existing art modes.