Project 2
I'm really at a lost as to what to do for this project. I'm not very skilled at manipulating the internet to my will (or any technology for that matter). One concept that I might be able to role with however is how the internet, and global communication, are creating a global spanning culture. Through mass media things such as ideas, humor, and morals are becoming universal. In this we are losing the right to be of our own opinion and are polarized to the opinions that have amassed on the internet. By being exposed to more media we lose a greater part of our authenticity as artists, creators and thinkers. Your work becomes someone else's work and your thoughts become someone else's thoughts. In the end we lose our entitlement to our own individuality.
Ryan,
ReplyDeleteI think your assertion about loss of authenticity in a global context is an interesting one. I'm not sure that I totally agree (if anything, I would tend to think the internet provides for a more open set of opinions because it [arguably] decentralizes the discourse), but I think you could build a good argument if you choose this subject and I think it would be really interesting and provocative to explore as an open question. An artist who deals with similar ideas is Jesse McLean, particularly her video Magic For Beginners. We also looked at some of her other work in class. I think you'd find this piece helpful along this line of thinking.
What form something like this takes might be a little harder to determine. Try to think about the means/cause of this homogenization of thought you're describing, what medium it comes through, and try to use that medium in such a way as to comment back on that process of changing people's opinions. There may be a very simple intervention that can get this idea across. Perhaps there is something you can put together from all of the examples you find of homogenized thought/lack of individual thought. Examples might include Corey Arcangel's "Follow my other twitter" project, or his Paganini's 5th Caprice. Also relevent is Christopher Baker's Hello World! or: How I Learned to Stop Listening and Love the Noise, a video installation drawing on youtube diaries of individuals trying to make themselves known. The documentation is a little dramatic, but you'll get the idea.