Abstract

This dissertation is a critical analysis of how digital technology, and the concepts surrounding it, have subtly altered the fabric of society and culture, in areas ranging from the practical to the philosophical. These changes arise from both the implementation of the technology and the nature of the technology itself. The first part, Digital Development, examines ways of thinking from which digital technology arose, conditions which made it desirable, and a line of technological precursors which made its development seem natural. ;The second part, Art, is concerned with the effects of digital technology within art and culture. It examines how the technology has been integrated into all aspects of the art world, and changes in the notion of "art" itself. Digital artwork's place in and relationship to the traditional art world is explored, along with cultural biases inherent in the technology which become manifest during the process of digitization and afterward. ;The third part, Communication/Media, broadens its scope out to include all other forms of communication and media. It places media production and consumption in social and industrial contexts, examining how the roles of consumers and producers have changed due to new technologies. The examination extends to the growth of machine mediation in social interaction and notions of interactivity, showing how the social fabric has been changed, and ends with the culmination of electronic communication in the conceptual, informational realm known as cyberspace. ;The final part, Perception/Representation/Cognition, ends in the philosophical realm, extending the scope to include the activities through which individuals perceive, conceive, and understand the world around them. It examines the way digital technology shapes or even creates an environment for it users, including fantasies surrounding virtual reality. The final chapter, on indexicality, traces how digital technology mediates and abstracts the indexical linkages between the observer and the observed, and how the notion of indexicality itself becomes called into question. It looks at the implications of these changes for users, and the increasing degrees of abstraction brought about by digital technology and the media