Lawrentian look into media and the society where they live or have visited or are visiting. Americans having visited, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Togo, Benin, and Uganda comment on their first impressions, their realizations, and describe the profound change they have undergone after having been there.
Africans from Ghana and the Sudan comment on their first impressions of America and Americans, and how the media plays a very important role with the expectations they had before they came.
These comments and opinions about media within the two VERY DIFFERENT societies puts our generation on a level playing field with media but the perspective of the media creates an uneven playing field yet again. If media were to "show the good side of life" in Africa as well as what it has been showing, and then also show the hard side of life in America as well as what else it has been showing, then it would be a level playing field.
Final Project is complete.
March 16, 2010
March 9, 2010
A Social-lite
"The person is intelligent, people are stupid" - K, MIB
As technology has increased the awareness of other cultures in far far away places, people have been either less and less or more and more informed about that culture. Controlling or ...informing, excuse me...a large amount of people tends to create social culture in a media-lead world. Although information may be available to everyone on the net, people still need to be told where to look.
Usually people associated with some type of social group, through church, museums, sports, opera houses what have you, hear about whats new, good, or better through word of mouth. I heard about Drudge Report from a friend for example, not from Google-ing "best political blogs", although if I had it still would not have been on the front page, yet it is still a popular social source for political news among conservatives. Now depending on where you stand, you either choose to like the link because of its stance (that's being partisan) or because of the variety of links provided (this is being qualitative), or because of the number of links provided, and therefore by some logic declaring it diverse? (that is being quantitative)
The one thing about the internet is its power to destruct the idea of nationalism and within that a pure claim to cultural identity. If there are no segregated nations or cultures on the web, then does this mean differences can be solved, nations can find common ground through this technological void, and there would/should be no more war? It is a possibility, but we are not there yet. The reason I bring up Matt Drudge's political blog page is because he almost started a war by taking what he thought was true and posting it as truth. It is because of the social network online which has taken his blog for granted and the unreliability of certain media that these mistakes occur. However, people also have the responsibility of not taking his blog for granted, but this just supports the idea that people are stupid. But by people taking a blog's legitimacy and truth for granted because it is referred to them through an online (or not) social network, everything played at the opera is good, or everything in a museum is art.
It tends to be a "location material" that people are attracted too and when transferred to the net it takes the same form and function of a social structure, but in this case social has become a form on indirect social. These people do not know each other but they know what each and every other one of them likes, therefore creating a detached social network where you can remove yourself without...harm, because that person doesn't actually know you.
Public Interest or Public Opinion are what now drives the good and bad levels of art, books, and perhaps academics. But what is it that has been declared a 'good video' on youtube, or an 'amazing' song on the radio? Something that someone else has told you about, and because of that person's attraction to it, it is, by popular choice, good. But what is quality? Does public opinion know quality over quantity? Can we really classify people in qualitative groups? Is this global capitalism*, even though what we are consuming is virtually free? How long will this freedom last? Youtube videos' embedded ability is becoming restricted, and without a social network telling one where to find videos or music, it is hard to utilize the web efficiently. Can the collective whole become intelligent enough to out maneuver web restrictions? Some have, however those are anti-social individuals. Is the internet educating the people as a whole?
3rd Rock from the Sun provides a good look at how what someone from the outer space would think of our social customs, and preferences. Deciding whether humor is quality or what is primitive, through looking at your lifestyle as if you've never lived it, or as if you never were trained to live like others, can be a good way to evaluate how we do things here on Planet Earth. The movie Brazil where the audience is introduced to a new world, rather than viewing those being introduced to your world, also can carry the question what is quality? or the message that although you are human that does not mean you cannot be alien or vice versa. Although you are a piece of readymade that does not mean you cannot be art - Marcel Duchamp.*
*Reference Nicolas Bourriaud and his book The Radicant
March 7, 2010
Where da Party?
Paper or Plastic? Consuming or producing? Post-modern or Altermodern?
Today with global capitalism each sector of the world has been introduced into a digital world at the same time, rather than going through an agricultural, industrial, and then technological process that has lead to this digital new media era. Now the 20 yr old generation has grown up with a sense of the same technology and ability of that new media.
In the next few generations students around the world will hopefully be experiencing the same amount of access to the new technologies. Due to this spread of materialism and products and the consumption of these products, our world has interconnected itself through the trading of those products - creating (of course) a circle.
However, capitalism has seemed to have taken a hit from "dematerialization" the new technology seems to enforce. Without a product to sell there is no consumption of that product unless of course one has changed the essence of that product to what was materialistic to a new conceptual and 'altermodern' product, but the question is can these still be sold? or is everything up for grabs? Ideas, beliefs, time, ..or knowledge.
The amount of information on the net void is infinite, the amount of credible information of the net is questionable. But Nicolas Bourriaud explains in the ending pages of his book The Radicant, that locations seem to take a huge toll in validity or legitimacy of art and knowledge. As a 'semionaut' in order to lead your audience down a path of progressiveness concepts and ideas you need art to embody the signs and visual, or audio, representations that will direct the world to understand what will be. The signs do not necessarily have an end, and obviously the journey is the art or the answer, rather than the destination, but Bourriaud is trying to express that these projects are merely "dots upon a moving line" where our contribution is shared with everyone in the world simultaneously and access is infinite, therefore making it never-ending.
"The quality of an artist's work depends on the richness of his or her relations with the world and these are determined by the economic structure that more or less powerfully shapes them -- even if, fortunately every artist theoretically has the means to evade or escape that structure."
A good artist is a "net citizen" for the media void which serves us and is there for us to spit anything into it. Although, the responsibility a net citizen has is to guide those within to sincere intellectual place of knowledge or interest. But there will always be citizens who are irresponsible.
This is NOT the Altermodern stage yet because everyone does NOT have equal access to technological void of knowledge in which everyone must be apart of to have an altermodern society, but are we close?
Sometimes people choose not to be apart of that society does this make impossible to be the altermodern society?No as long as the option is there, people NOT choosing it cannot prevent from societal changes to occur. One can chose to be ignorant and sometimes some people cannot handle the truth, so it is a practical precaution to choose not to participate as a 'net citizen' in this void where knowledge can be infinite (at least for the human's finite brain).
Today with global capitalism each sector of the world has been introduced into a digital world at the same time, rather than going through an agricultural, industrial, and then technological process that has lead to this digital new media era. Now the 20 yr old generation has grown up with a sense of the same technology and ability of that new media.
In the next few generations students around the world will hopefully be experiencing the same amount of access to the new technologies. Due to this spread of materialism and products and the consumption of these products, our world has interconnected itself through the trading of those products - creating (of course) a circle.
However, capitalism has seemed to have taken a hit from "dematerialization" the new technology seems to enforce. Without a product to sell there is no consumption of that product unless of course one has changed the essence of that product to what was materialistic to a new conceptual and 'altermodern' product, but the question is can these still be sold? or is everything up for grabs? Ideas, beliefs, time, ..or knowledge.
The amount of information on the net void is infinite, the amount of credible information of the net is questionable. But Nicolas Bourriaud explains in the ending pages of his book The Radicant, that locations seem to take a huge toll in validity or legitimacy of art and knowledge. As a 'semionaut' in order to lead your audience down a path of progressiveness concepts and ideas you need art to embody the signs and visual, or audio, representations that will direct the world to understand what will be. The signs do not necessarily have an end, and obviously the journey is the art or the answer, rather than the destination, but Bourriaud is trying to express that these projects are merely "dots upon a moving line" where our contribution is shared with everyone in the world simultaneously and access is infinite, therefore making it never-ending.
"The quality of an artist's work depends on the richness of his or her relations with the world and these are determined by the economic structure that more or less powerfully shapes them -- even if, fortunately every artist theoretically has the means to evade or escape that structure."
A good artist is a "net citizen" for the media void which serves us and is there for us to spit anything into it. Although, the responsibility a net citizen has is to guide those within to sincere intellectual place of knowledge or interest. But there will always be citizens who are irresponsible.
This is NOT the Altermodern stage yet because everyone does NOT have equal access to technological void of knowledge in which everyone must be apart of to have an altermodern society, but are we close?
Sometimes people choose not to be apart of that society does this make impossible to be the altermodern society?No as long as the option is there, people NOT choosing it cannot prevent from societal changes to occur. One can chose to be ignorant and sometimes some people cannot handle the truth, so it is a practical precaution to choose not to participate as a 'net citizen' in this void where knowledge can be infinite (at least for the human's finite brain).
Co-Mix
The recreations of ancient works of art in the medium of comics as defined by James Danky as Comix, seemed to be a product of the drug induced late Sixties era. Where sex, drugs, and alcohol seemed to be the inspirations for these old artists it seems to show in the horror and sexual representations that the Comix portray.
Danky focused a lot of his presentation on female sexuality which also seemed to be key in art history. Sometimes things never change but what does seems to be the amount of criticism and tolerance directed at what never changes therefore allowing it to become either offensive, degraded, more expressive, or more interesting.
Forbidden things always seem to be more addictive to look at than what is allowed by the mainstream media. Porn, monsters, political criticism, hallucinations, drugs, etc.
The co-mixture that Comix in Danky's world provides is a the mixture between then art and "now/then" art and then the tolerable and intolerable media images that have been criticized before but now that they can be represented in this art form are more tolerated..?
What other mediums can we "indirectly" represent what is forbidden in mainstream media? And then once its represented that way is it still forbidden?
Evolution of this medium has seemed to be exclusive to certain subcultures who tend to keep up with the storyline and imagery depicted. It is which subcultures impact the Comix that is interesting and seems to be a way to predict where the Comix are going and what they will continue to raise up from the underground.
Danky focused a lot of his presentation on female sexuality which also seemed to be key in art history. Sometimes things never change but what does seems to be the amount of criticism and tolerance directed at what never changes therefore allowing it to become either offensive, degraded, more expressive, or more interesting.
Forbidden things always seem to be more addictive to look at than what is allowed by the mainstream media. Porn, monsters, political criticism, hallucinations, drugs, etc.
The co-mixture that Comix in Danky's world provides is a the mixture between then art and "now/then" art and then the tolerable and intolerable media images that have been criticized before but now that they can be represented in this art form are more tolerated..?
What other mediums can we "indirectly" represent what is forbidden in mainstream media? And then once its represented that way is it still forbidden?
Evolution of this medium has seemed to be exclusive to certain subcultures who tend to keep up with the storyline and imagery depicted. It is which subcultures impact the Comix that is interesting and seems to be a way to predict where the Comix are going and what they will continue to raise up from the underground.
February 28, 2010
French Potatoes
What we classify as good enough to show off, in public, in galleries, at the Olympics etc. What passes the test for US products? What doesn't? Some products are sold in South Korea before they are sold in the US as to see how well they did hear measuring whether the profit in South Korea would make a profitable impact in the States.The separate consumer locations now classify social status and where you can shop. The separate portrayals of classy and not classy all depend on where you buy it rather than what you buy. Fashion judges everywhere seem to have thier eye on you in Reality TV shows like What Not To Wear and Project Runway.
The "Revocable Aesthetics" mentioned in Nicolas Bourriaud's The Radicant are served to us as the-best-possible-thing-you-could-ever-need and decided upon by a set hierarchy that was put into place by who knows who - God supposedly.
So if something else maybe unpleasant was placed in the window what would everyone say?
NYTimes - I think there was a naked person on a corner window and the caption was - "its not inappropriate it's art". So would you approve of a naked woman or man standing in a window display at a corner in New York City?
Well should there be limitations to some media? What media? What art? Should what is displayed in windows be something that can only be sold to the public? Artists can take that even further and represent ideas that are 'sold' to the public. Persuasive arguments that convince people to support this or that idea displayed in a corner store window. What about a politician's message or protester signs?
Is anything in a corner store window aesthetically pleasing because it is displayed as such? What makes it more valuable to be on the Plaza in Kansas City, Missouri rather than in the JCPenny outlet store down the way? I guess this is in terms of fashion, but fashion is 'supposedly' an artform where the public as the opportunity to wear it around in public for everyone to see rather than keep it in a gallery. Does the art of fashion mean since everyone can enjoy it everyone can dictate it?
According to the French, some American women dress like sacks of potatoes and look like ghosts without their makeup and hose, or witches with their flat footed shoes. So the french determine American fashion now? Well no. I am just illustrating the effect other countries and other perspectives have on each other in the art/fashion/music world.
(and maybe Jackie Kennedy)
One question Bourriaud asks;
"How do artists take account of the space in which they live?"
Through exploration and contact with other cultures something new emerges and an Fremerican or Amerench fashion emerges so instead of just looking like a sack of potatoes one can go about looking like...just Potatoes.
Now the world will have to strive for relating art and food in order to 'equally distribute' this necessity as well.
Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'
Scream - Michael and Janet
The movie I hope to include in the final draft in order to get a better sense of media critique and power. Michael Jackson will symbolize a victim of media like the America has been in Africa and Africa has been in America. Many misconceptions pass through this void and in this video I think he puts it together in an aesthetically appealing way, which hopefully we may be able to incorporate well and skillfully in our "interviewdeo" - where the perceptions of people help to clarify the truth about countries and the addition of music videos add emphasis and art to the mix.
Michael Jackson seemed to be very determined to clear up the misunderstandings about him and his family that the media tended to spread, later in his life. His effort was through interviews and when asked questions he genuinely was talking one-on-one with his audience. he knows how to manipulate media but as a human being can become victimized by it as well. Through interviews however he was able to record the Life of Michael Jackson series where the TV network was invited out to Neverland Ranch and witness what it was exactly. As a form of documentation these interviews captured what we think to be the true Michael Jackson. Jackson's point is that nobody know him better than himself besides maybe his family members, however people tend to believe the media because they are an 'objective' source. Well, abuse of that reputation comes willingly and fast, especially among a media form called "The Tabloids".
Our presentation went well, when asked where we were going I think we were stumped about where we could go concerning mainly our technological education about final cut. Now that we know a little of what we can do, perfecting sound and color and including online videos we can answer that with a well organized "interviewdeo" where students from Lawrence incorporate their perceptions, education, talents, and opinions together to find the truth while Michael Jackson adds his own experience and connections for appeal, relevant music media, the level of notoriety he is on and the new media era we are entering impacts us all - so hopefully this video can as well.
The movie I hope to include in the final draft in order to get a better sense of media critique and power. Michael Jackson will symbolize a victim of media like the America has been in Africa and Africa has been in America. Many misconceptions pass through this void and in this video I think he puts it together in an aesthetically appealing way, which hopefully we may be able to incorporate well and skillfully in our "interviewdeo" - where the perceptions of people help to clarify the truth about countries and the addition of music videos add emphasis and art to the mix.
Michael Jackson seemed to be very determined to clear up the misunderstandings about him and his family that the media tended to spread, later in his life. His effort was through interviews and when asked questions he genuinely was talking one-on-one with his audience. he knows how to manipulate media but as a human being can become victimized by it as well. Through interviews however he was able to record the Life of Michael Jackson series where the TV network was invited out to Neverland Ranch and witness what it was exactly. As a form of documentation these interviews captured what we think to be the true Michael Jackson. Jackson's point is that nobody know him better than himself besides maybe his family members, however people tend to believe the media because they are an 'objective' source. Well, abuse of that reputation comes willingly and fast, especially among a media form called "The Tabloids".
Our presentation went well, when asked where we were going I think we were stumped about where we could go concerning mainly our technological education about final cut. Now that we know a little of what we can do, perfecting sound and color and including online videos we can answer that with a well organized "interviewdeo" where students from Lawrence incorporate their perceptions, education, talents, and opinions together to find the truth while Michael Jackson adds his own experience and connections for appeal, relevant music media, the level of notoriety he is on and the new media era we are entering impacts us all - so hopefully this video can as well.
February 25, 2010
Dreams, Drywall, Slime Mold, and Stephan Anunson
What inspires people tends to be some of the most ridiculous things at first but once explained and applied they become the most fitting for that particular person, project, or event.
The kind of intellectual humor that dreams, drywall, and especially slime mold and Stephan Anunson have, when applied to new media sources it takes a certain amount of effort to control the humor when attempting to present the piece of work in which they are included.
Of course maybe what inspires people is not necessarily the subject they are presenting but the people, artists, fungi (not fungi?) that drive semes to explore these particular mediums, characters, and hallucinations or oneirology.
Who knew?
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