TITLE:
The Impact of the 4IR Technologies in the Works of Emerging South African Artists
AUTHORS:
Siyanda Andrew Xaba, Xing Fang, Senzo Peter Mthembu
KEYWORDS:
4IR Technologies, Digital Platforms, Emerging Artists, South Africa
JOURNAL NAME:
Art and Design Review,
Vol.9 No.1,
February
25,
2021
ABSTRACT: The study seeks to investigate the impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies. These technologies include Facebook, Instagram, and Online art gallery. We consider these technologies as part of 4IR because they are digital. In the World Economic Forum, also refers to 4IR as the digital revolution. Furthermore, these platforms use AI technology to function. We chose to select these platforms because of their potential in promoting the artworks of artists. Furthermore, no existing study in South Africa has looked into the impact of these online platforms in the works of emerging South African artists. The purpose of the study is to mitigate some of the challenges encountered by artists. We designed an online questionnaire through google drive and selected 209 participants for the study. We chose to select artists and designers as part of our sample. The selected participants were artists of different categories, both emerging and established artists. The questionnaire focused on investigating the impact of digital platforms to establish whether or not these platforms can mitigate the challenges faced by artists. We also looked at important key factors such as the internet and ICT tools. These factors are vital for the successful use of these 4IR technologies. Statistical tools were used to analyze the data. Pie charts and tables were used to present the data. The results illustrate that Instagram is the most useful platform for artists to use followed by Facebook. The online art gallery is the least useful. We conclude that all of these platforms must be utilized by emerging artists to mitigate the challenges that they encounter in their careers.