Reading about the blending of two forms – musical and visual – through common concepts and abstraction made me question how this “blend” takes place purely in the digital space. Conceptual art movements of the past involved works becoming “dematerialized and increasingly independent of materials, techniques, media, and genres”. It is easy to imagine this for art that has physical, tangible components to it – the paint, the canvas, the sculpture, etc can be decontextualized by the viewer through the abstract concept presented in the work.

But what exactly is being decontextualized when we view digital abstract art? Is it the software that the art is contained within? Will the object always be in reference to our conception of the physical objects we know of? How does digital art – in both musical and visual form – become dematerialized from its digital material? What exactly is the digital material – pixels and wavelengths? Or is it the form that is presented within it? Or our conception of what’s recognizable to us? What happens when something becomes completely dematerialized? Is this possible? Is it only possible in the form of a memory, where the perception is no longer perceivable? This reading brought rise to a lot of interesting questions and I would love to hear your opinions about it!