D!NA – Digital! New Art
A Philosophy for the Future of Art
1. What Is D!NA?
D!NA stands for Digital! New Art — a concept and art movement founded by Icelandic artist Refur Geirdal. It is more than a style; it is a philosophy of artistic freedom in the digital age.
At its core, D!NA believes that only with full creative freedom can truly new art emerge. This means artists should control their tools, their platforms, and their artistic vision — without being limited by closed software, corporate systems, or traditional art market structures.
2. The Philosophy in Simple Words
- Freedom: The artist decides the rules, not the software or the market.
- Openness: Preference for open-source tools that can be shaped by the artist.
- Reinvention: Old methods can be re-used and reimagined digitally.
- Autonomy: Art should be independent of gatekeepers — galleries, algorithms, or big tech.
This makes D!NA both a creative and a cultural movement: it challenges how digital art is made, owned, and experienced.
3. Origins of D!NA
Refur Geirdal started as a painter in Iceland but soon embraced digital tools in the early 2000s.
At a time when most artists either stayed traditional or used commercial software without questioning it, Refur asked:
What if digital art could be as free, personal, and experimental as painting once was?
Out of that question came D!NA: a new art for a new medium, born from experimentation, independence, and the open-source spirit.
4. D!NA in the International Context
Globally, D!NA connects with:
- Net Art pioneers like Rafaël Rozendaal who used the web itself as a canvas.
- Open-Source Art movements like FLOSS+Art in Europe.
- NFT experiments by artists like Pak or Casey Reas who mix code, art, and philosophy.
But D!NA is unique because it combines all these influences with a clear artistic manifesto: digital art as freedom, not product.
5. For the Artist and the Art World
For Refur Geirdal, D!NA means creating art that is:
- Philosophically independent: no single style, no single platform.
- Accessible: digital editions, NFT funding models, open markets.
- Sustainable: royalties on resales support the artist’s long-term work.
For the art world, D!NA offers a way forward:
- Away from short-term NFT hype
- Toward meaningful, technologically-aware, artist-centered creativity
6. Why It Matters Now
In a time when AI, algorithms, and corporations shape so much of culture, D!NA argues for human artistic control.
It says: the future of art should not be owned by big tech — it should belong to artists and communities.
Conclusion
D!NA is a call for freedom, openness, and reinvention in the digital era.
It is rooted in Icelandic creativity, connected to global art movements, and points toward a future where art and technology meet on the artist’s terms.
Refur Geirdal