Innovative forms of healing: new media art as a catalyst for lasting change in therapeutic settings

Abstract

Through this paper I suggest that new media art has the potential to become a catalyst for real and lasting change in therapeutic environments. New media art practice is intrinsically focused on human experience and user engagement. It is this focus that so positively predisposes artists working in this realm to the development of works promoting health and wellbeing. New media artists are well versed in managing the indeterminate boundary between art and other disciplines and can take this experience into the therapeutic context to effectively collaborate with doctors, specialists, patients, scientists and the public to generate powerful artworks.