Digital Space

Delve into the past and unearth the roots of media art as Charlie Gere shatters a few myths and sets out a strident message for artists working in this area.

The FutureEverything 2010 art programme continues FutureEverything's pioneering approach to contemporary art and the digital world. It features inspirational approaches to visualising data, urban interventions by leading figures in visual culture, and light sculptures toying with architectural form. 

Go on a journey from cyberpunk fiction, through iPhone apps and into a world of 3-D printers. Drew Hemment discusses the impact of digital technologies on artistic practice, and asks what major developments in the digital space mean for artists.

Twenty years on from the launch of Photoshop Michael Connor looks at the work of three visual artists, all of whom use digital imagery in their practice, but who do so in a way that brings to the fore fundamental questions about the media that they are using.

At Axis we are keen to hear how cuts are affecting you already or may affect you in the future.  We would also welcome your views about how we, together with other visual arts agencies, can lobby on behalf of the many artists and art professionals whose livelihoods are at stake in the current funding crisis. Here, Sheila McGregor, Axis Chief Executive, sets out our concerns. Please use the 'add a comment' feature below to let us know your views.

Listen and watch podcasts of the Art and Media Conversation event that explored the relationships and boundaries between media art and visual art, and was part of the FutureEverything art strand.

Experience the highlights and reflect on the impact of Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art; two weeks of intensive exhibitions, events, seminars and happenings in April 2010.

Join our blogger as she experiences first hand the art strand and conference at FutureEverything. Hopefully she will have packed plenty of her favourite Caramacs to sustain her, as she attempts to take in all things art at this year's festival and opens the door for you to contribute too.

Are the Creative Industries just for rich kids? Is working in the arts just for white, upper middle-class people? Becky Hunter argues that this is not the case, but that more needs to be done to encourage a truly diverse creative sector.

The New Leipzig School of Painting is the most prominent art movement in the East German city of Leipzig. But British artist Rosemary Hogarth, who lives and works in the city, has a different take on this movement. She isn't so sure about the hyped realist painting that takes a strong moralistic standpoint; rather she sees it as insipid and lacking in substance.

Does the UK school art curriculum place too much emphasis on being able to 'draw'? Is technical ability prioritised over experimentation and debate? A level student Jessica Salter has recently completed a week's work experience at Axis, through the Social Mobility Foundation, and tells us why she didn't continue with her art education after Year 9.

On Monday 26 July the Department for Culture, Media and Sport announced the closure of the UK Film Council. John Riley gives us an overview of the UKFC and what its abolition might mean to artists working in film and video.

What, or who, decides if an artist is 'professional' or not? If you have another income to support your practice, does that make you an amateur, or worse still, a hobbyist? Alison Sharkey questions where the boundaries lie.

Are art students too focused on business and professional practice, to the detriment of experimentation? Will this year's crop of new graduates have ambitions of success that cannot be attained? Joyce Cronin looks at the expectations of artists

The No Soul for Sale festival of independents at Tate Modern in May has raised a plethora of concerns over explotiation of artists and fair payment. Andy Abbott joins the fray, but suggests that focus on fair pay might be at the cost of a deeper critique of the institutional art world.

Are Degree Shows outmoded, old hat and irrelevant? What would a viable alternative be? As we head into the Degree Show season Pete Hindle expresses his views on this long established art tradition

Has technology really changed the balance of power between artist and institution? Zachary Colbert investigates what advantages there are for artists that utilise online resources and social media.