This book is concerned with the question of the role of art in the age
of real-time systems. (By ‘art’ in this instance I generally refer to visual
art, rather than literature, music or film for example.) The term ‘real-time
systems’ refers to the information, telecommunication and (multi)media
technologies that have come to play an increasingly important part in our
lives, at least in the so-called ‘developed’ countries. It is almost impossible
to overstate the ubiquity and importance of the technologies in question.
Real-time computing underpins the whole apparatus of communication
and data processing by which our contemporary techno-culture operates.
Without it we would have no email, word processing, Internet or World
Wide Web, no computer-aided industrial production and none of the
invisible ‘smart’ systems with which we are surrounded. ‘Real time’ can also
stand for the more general trend toward instantaneity in contemporary
culture, involving increasing demand for instant feedback and response, one
result of which is that technologies themselves are beginning to evolve ever
faster. The increasing complexity and speed of contemporary technology is
the cause of both euphoria and anxiety. The book asks and tries to answer
the question about what kind of role art might play in a world increasingly
dominated by such technologies.