Abstract
Theorising over the relation between art and digital technology is challeng-ing, because a new layer of analysis on the artistic use of computers was added in the 1960s over a debate on art that was far from over. Some tech-nological and sociotechnical aspects of computers must be taken into ac-count to form a more complete picture on what is going on in digital art. Technological characteristics of computers depend on the physical properties of their components, while their sociotechnical aspects derive from the fact that these artefacts are conceived, designed, built, and deployed in society. Dealing with electronics on the one hand and with companies on the other may not look relevant for a discourse in aesthetics, but computers are fun-damentally dependent on these aspects of reality and, thus, an enquiry on what digital art is must take off from this standpoint.
