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museumgoing. Counters Markos Kounalakis of San Francisco's Visible Interactive Corp., which produces high-tech interactive museum tours: ``Most people understand the difference between viewing a masterpiece with the help of a modem and viewing the real thing at a museum.'' The experience that most people associate with computerized art is seeing a movie with elaborate, special effects displayed on the big screen. Many of today's most spectacular images are the result of artful digital technology developed at filmmaker George Lucas' studio, Industrial Light & Magic. ILM has revolutionized filmmaking with the kind of digital tricks seen in movies like Forrest Gump, Wolf and The Mask. By digitizing images and manipulating tiny pixels of information, veteran artist-programmers of the Lucas school can achieve almost any effect. ``Right now, the only limit is money,'' says Lucas. ``We can even create actors. It's just extremely expensive.'' The results, however, are impressive enough to draw millions of moviegoers worldwide -- and earn more than enough to pay for the work. As old hat as computer-created film effects may have become, they are indicative of the kind of polish and growth that may yet emerge from newer, more experimental digitized art forms. ``The predictions for change in the information environment are as profound as they were during the television revolution,'' says the Whitney's Ross. ``We all know we are walking into a dark and foggy room.'' It is not for the first time. In 1902, Alfred Stieglitz, Edward Steichen and other now venerated American photographers formed a group devoted to convincing doubters that photography was a worthy form of artistic expression. That goal took decades to achieve.
--With reporting by Hannah Bloch/New York, Michael Brunton/London, Patrick E. Cole/Los Angeles and David S. Jackson/San Francisco
