Informative art is based around conceptual art expressed in the U.S. and Western Europe during the 1960s. One art exhibition of note was a show called "Information." Kynaston McShine curated the exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, in 1970. It consisted of many display items gathered from artists around the world. Within each piece, the artist was attempting to communicate an important piece of information in a manner that was visually stimulating. At the time, McShine coined the word "informatism" -- to describe the developing field of informative art.
Informative art is an emerging art field that has been described as computer augmented, or amplified, works of art that dynamically reflect information about their environment. In real terms, informative art might be a computer screen set up in a public place displaying population growth numbers or other important bits of data that reflect on how people live as a modern society. Along with the data presentation, there might be the digital image of a famous painting, sound bites of people talking or even a live performance going on in front of the video screen.
Informative art usually involves the computer screen as its canvas, but in general, the new artform is more concerned with the dissemination of information than the development of the digital image. The data transferred in informative art may be theoretical in nature or the artform may be used as a way to express concerns about contemporary problems.
Informative art may be inspired by environmental concerns such as water pollution, loss of wild animal habitats, unusual weather patterns, natural disasters or poor air quality. By matching images with select bits of data, contemporary artists can strive to create a better awareness of any of these difficult problems facing the human population. Informative art is most effective when it highlights a specific environmental problem and suggests a possible solution to the dilemma.