Week 6 -- Zombies with Talking Heads

Our guest presenter this week, John Park brought up 4 concerns/problems with digital technology.  The problems he sees in this modern realm are:  1) The Screen 2) Commerce 3) Zombies and 4) Finding the Art.

In the case of the first problem, The Screen, he says that the images we are looking at are intangible and have no texture or depth.  Additionally, I would say that the screen also creates a necessity for being sedentary which creates health issues, and would be my first concern, but let's discuss Park's points for now.  One solution he discovered to the issue of the screen is an invention called "Reactable".  It's a cross between a musical instrument and an interactive horizontal computer monitor.  It's really cool.

The Reactable allows people to interact with the screen and move coded blocks around that each represent and emulate a different musical instrument.  It's a "real-time multi-tracking audio tool".  It's so functional that Bjork, among other musicians, has gone on tour using one of these machines.  It also addresses my  own personal issue which is the sedentary nature of computer use, by making it something that can be done standing up and moving one's arms and upper body rather than just one's fingers.

As a solution to problem number 2, Commerce, Park suggests using the technology itself as a way of exposing the gross imbalance of money distribution in our society.  He showed us a website, which I failed to write down, that shows the names of every person sitting on the Boards of any given major corporation, and also connects the names to every other Board each individual also sits on.  It really brings to light how connected the big money makers are.  It shows that certain companies have power in other companies' decision making.  That's kind of scary, but at least it is now exposed in a tangible way.

River vs. the Reavers (living Zombies)!

Problem 3, Zombies is just a funny, attention-grabbing way of saying that being in front of a computer all the time can really disconnect people from one another.  It can be really dehumanizing.  Even when what you're doing on the computer is connecting to other people, perhaps on Facebook, you're still isolating yourself from the people who are right next to you.  Park suggests that it's possible that using digital technology to connect to other people through dating services, craigslist, and other community-building websites, we can still maintain some sort of humanity while being plugged in to the system.

Finally, problem 4, the most relative issue to this Art Blog, is Finding the Art.  How can we find the art in all the gadgetry associated with digital technology.  Well, one awe-inspiring invention, which was created using gadgets that can be found in any department store, is the "Eye-Writer".  Wow!  This was created, I believe as a solution to the fact that a street artist afflicted with Lou Gehrig's disease lost the ability to move any part of his body except his eyes.  It is a way that he can use technology to continue to create art using the only part of his body that he can.  (As a side note, Park mentioned that Sony, for example, would never make this because, even though it's astoundingly brilliant and philanthropic, it would only be useful for a very small percentage of people, and therefore, not a money-maker -- which also connects us to problem #2).  Another way of employing digital technology for finding the art presented by Park was Harmonic Laboratories, a project he is working on in collaboration with a modern dance instructor which incorporates live dancing with a digital light image that responds to the movements of the dancer's body.  I am pleased that there are multiple artforms emerging that incorporate digital media with body movement because before this week, I only thought of computer graphics as digital art, and now the possibilities seem so vast and inspiring. 

Playing the Building:  the back of the organ. 

I also found Playing the Building to be very inspiring.  It's the brain-child of David Byrne of the Talking Heads.  Byrne uses an old organ as the control panel for a musical instrument that digitally connects various parts of an abandoned building allowing one to literally play the building.  It is an expansive interactive instrument that digitally connects the community with a fun activity without forcing them into a small screen; it's conceivably the opposite!

As for Paul Pfeiffer, I found his art to be refreshing and new.  As a fan of neither sports nor horror films, I truly appreciate his ability to turn both into almost laughable abstractions.  I don't think I could sit in front of a computer screen for as long as Pfeiffer chooses to do to create these installations, but I am glad that he does, because his creations are really thought-provoking and question the current paradigm in which sports are a central focus for an enormous percentage of the populace.  It's releiving to know that he finds the process meditative.  That way it is bringing him pleasure throughout the entire process as well as with the finished product.  I think that's really important. 

Both John Park and Ty Warren iterated that digital media is only a tool and that we should use it to create but to not allow ourselves to be used by the tools.  I found that both Byrne and Pfeiffer found very positive and effective ways of making that happen.  Use the tools, don't be used by them.  (Especially if you don't want to become a zombie).