Exactly, a digital equivalent of something that is already defined because it already exists IRL. Now, the whole question is how does one define a new way and make it happen in a virtual setup that, in practice, casts aside anybody who can’t code ?
No art schools teaches you to be a software engineer. But if you want to “hack your brushes”, in a fully digital world, you can’t anymore if you can’t code. I’m not sure that’s an overall progress, since it disables so many people from doing uncharted things in computer, and definitely something to keep in mind while building software the 80/20 way.
I think coding certainly can help but it’s not a necessary prerequisite. Some pixel artists draw their low-res low-color-palette dithering by hand.
How would you see TikTok in that regard? The tools these people use are: sampling, video editing, some filters maybe. But the whole platform and the content it generates does not have a non-digital equivalent. Sure 99% of that content is not art, but actually, some of it is. You don’t need to code to use it, all tools existed digitally before, the product is a mere video and yet it’s a new medium because it heavily relies and uses reactions made only possible by the platform. Would Pollock of today have a TikTok channel? No coding involved, but pushing boundaries of a new medium with ‘old’ tools used creatively.