Sorry for the delay, but I had an unfortunate family emergency. Reading the introduction of Manovich's The Language of New Media I became very excited. As a former film student language is an essential part of creating a story. Unfortunately, this book reminded me of what is lost in all of this new media. Maybe I am just old fashioned but there is a craft in old media that is missing in new media. People had to actually learn something in order to create something. In our current world of shortcuts, people do not fully appreciate the media that they are creating. I agree that paintings and cinema sought to imitate realism, but I am wondering whether or not new media is seeking to imitate realism or looking to enhance old media. Although I find these new forms of media beneficial to my everyday use, I can also be a very lazy person. I might learn how to spell better if I had to use a typewriter. I might care about more things because I had to care.
To me new media seeks to be unrealistic. In computer simulated situations we can achieve many things that we can not in our human realm. We seek to see and know everything from all angles. One could argue that old media has the possibility to create unrealistic situations as well, such as abstract art; however, the possibilities of new media are much more limitless than those of old media. The major difference between these two forms of media is that old media often requires a lot more thought before hand, whereas new media can be taken and endlessly manipulated afterward. This may be why there is so much crap in our world today. People are not taking the time to sit down and think about things. Going with the flow has created a generation of mediocrity.
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2 comments:
“People had to actually learn something in order to create something.”
The fundamentals of learning have not changed. If anything, they are only more enhanced through today’s technological guides. Old media is just as unrealistic as the new. Old Media manipulated actual reality. New media merely manipulates actual reality in an advanced nature.
“In our current world of shortcuts, people do not fully appreciate the media that they are creating.”
I disagree. Artist have and always been influenced by other works and ideas, theories and attempts. And now, in our world of ‘shortcuts,’ an artist has many of these works, ideas, theories and attempts in an electronic museum.
If someone attempts to ‘copy’ or ‘add-on’ someone else’s work (to a degree) it should be looked upon as an inspiration rather than a disrespect, and should be perused to look for further meaning in the new attempt.
I think you are right in identifying the negative implications of digital art, in that it tends to involve premanufactured modules rather than creating something entirely new from scratch, and that the capacity for simulation is theoretically unlimited. Of course, these also represent new possibilities for art, and therefore there is something to be gained as well. Whether the positives outweigh the negatives has yet to be properly assessed.
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