Demo

The paper reports on the growing phenomena of art-making on mobile devices and contributes findings from two studies of artists' responses to iPad painting apps: the first is a series of exploratory workshops where artists were recruited to engage with iPads and a range of art apps, the second is a series of in depth interviews with two artists who had incorporated the iPad into their practice over a period of months and years. The artists in both studies generally agreed that the devices and apps were easy to use and initially enjoyable. However, they remained ambivalent about the technologies and the work produced on them. Although there is excitement around the new possibilities for production there are also persistent tensions around the status of the work being produced and the risks of exposure in digital networks. The paper reflects on the role of digital networking, information exchange and self promotion at a time of rapidly changing art practice. It is argued that the new generation of art apps democratizes artistic processes but also present challenges to traditional conceptions of art and curation.