Programming digital art: despite technological and ownership issues, galleries are connecting with this high-tech market

Art Business News, Dec, 2003 by Julie Mehta

But Goodman pointed out that paintings and photographs also require restoration. "It's not as simple as with other forms, but what I've found is that nervousness about the digital nature of a work goes away wheal it's something people strongly desire."

Finding a Niche

In spite of the challenges, galleries are willing to deal in digital art because of its creativity and relevance. Postmasters Gallery became a pioneer in the digital art market when it opened a show called "Can You Digit?" in 1996. "All we did with digital art until a few years ago was an economic disaster," said Sawon. "Now we consistently place work with institutions and private collectors, but there is still no comparison between the level of the digital art market and the traditional media market."

Still, a recent show by Eddo Stern included a ship model incorporating a hard drive and monitor with video game images that sold for $25,000. The gallery also sold half of a limited edition of 10 DVDs featuring Stern's computer game-based video "Vietnam Romance" at $2,500 apiece. Postmasters has also found success selling works by Jennifer and Kevin McCoy, including one that uses computer software to endlessly alter a projection of a short horror movie chase scene.

The nearby Sandra Gering Gallery also started carrying digital art in the early '90s and now does a brisk business in Leo Villareal's colorful flashing lightboxes and John E Simon Jr.'s LCD screens with their constantly changing moving color patterns. A recent set of eight Simon works sold for $28,000 each and a set of 25 small-scale Villareal works went for $3,000 each.

Unlike these galleries, Bitforms is entirely dedicated to digital art. Director Steve Sacks even tackles the tough software and Net art market at his New York gallery. "It would be risky if I just did one type of digital art," Sacks admitted, "so I make sure I have diversity among my artists and media types."

Sacks' most lucrative offering is a limited edition of Daniel Rozin's "Wooden Mirror," a large scale reactive sculpture in which a hidden computer makes the piece's wooden surfaces appear as if they are reflecting the movements of the viewer. Each piece sells for $70,000. Sacks sells both passive and interactive software art on CDs in editions ranging from 10 to 200 for $300 to $1,000. Or the software art can be "framed" in its own dedicated display unit. But the most edgy offering is shares in a collaborative network art project called "The Waiting Room" by Mark Napier. Nine of the 50 available shares have been sold at $1,000 each, allowing buyers to engage in an interactive art project with each other through the Internet.

Even galleries that principally deal in traditional media are being drawn to digital art. Laurence Asseraf, founder of A Taste of Art gallery in Tribeca, organizes film festivals to publicize her roster of video artists.

"Even though it's difficult to sell right now," she said, "this art is too important to ignore." Her limited edition DVDs sell for as little as $100 and up to $7,500.