XXI century urban digital art. What’s the intersection of tech and street art?

digital urban art

Artists always find innovative uses for new things. Whether they are using paste ups, obscure materials, or new technology, they find a way to create urban digital art pieces that use everyday objects in ways other than their intended uses.

Moreover, street art in public spaces is rapidly evolving as artists incorporate technology into their cultural performances. In the same vein, urban artists are gaining fame as their art is shared on social media and becoming go-to stops for tourists to take photos.

Street art is leaving the streets and living on the small screens we have in our pockets. Above all, technology and digital media are innovating the current scene.



What are the possibilities to find digital urban art?

landscaping and urban digital art
Video art, ‘Particle Falls,’ by Andrea Polli. Pic: Knight Foundation

Technology gives artists new ways to create their art and for passers-by and fans to interact with the artwork. Artists are using social media, maps, and other apps to create different paths to view their digital urban art.

For instance, they create virtual art walks to exhibit their own galleries. Street art is often a direct reflection of the neighborhood it’s located in and speaks to the city’s current climate. 

In addition, the graffiti community works in collaboration with its environment. Displaying digital maps of artwork can give art enthusiasts a unique way to explore new parts of a city they wouldn’t normally visit.

Does technology change how street art is made?

photographer in a digital exhibition
Walt Disney Concert Hall (Los Angeles, California) Picture: Joey Zanotti

Software and hardware give artists more tools than just a spray can. For example, printing and ink costs have dramatically dropped, making it easier to produce stencils and paste ups.

The ability to use computer-generated artworks also adds a whole new level to urban digital art. Some contemporary art artists use projectors to cast their images on the wall before layering on their paint. Isn’t that smart? Technology allows artists to create murals using only a projector.

Likewise, digitally created messages and images are projected onto walls and blank spaces to display artivism, a unique way to make us think. These projected illustrations can change locations, create laser displays shows, and animate projected images. Artists from different backgrounds use the skills they learnt at UI/UX design bootcamps to transform their art into virtual realities.

Is digital urban art good for the global contemporary art scene?

live urban digital art exhibition
DCT SYPHONING at Transfer Download. Photo: Rosa Menkman

While technology is an excellent tool for artists and photographers, there exists an ephemeral sense in the urban digital art. It is often lauded for its limited life span. Graffiti and other works don’t typically last long enough to fade since they are painted over or scraped off.

Photos and other digital recreations of street art create a memory box of these artworks that used to pop up and disappear overnight. 

Some people argue that coding is an art form as well. There is an ongoing effort to create a genealogy of graffiti by using machine learning to analyze graffiti around the world.

Furthermore, this is observed as a beautiful intersection of technology and art. Data science and machine learning are building new ways to analyze our world’s phenomena, which often create imaginative infographics.

Cooltourspain’s opinion about urban digital art



First of all, we believe that social media is the most powerful tool for urban digital art. If you post about your last artworks, people will see how skilful you’re as an artist.

Our team members love the artworks created by:

  • Jarda collective (based in London and Madrid)
  • Jaume Plensa (Barcelona, Spain)
  • Faiyaz Jafri

Technology is giving more people the ability to express themselves

Street art evolves with the times. People will continue using technology to influence art and vise versa. As technology and art become more symbiotic, artists will start using their computer science skills to find new ways to express themselves.

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