Blog 8, Week 12: Mona Lisa Smiles :)

I never understood art. In fact I always hated art, for 2 reasons. Firstly I wish I could draw and never had that ability. Secondly, I never understood how someone could analyse a painting or sculpture from over a 100 years ago. Yet the world of art is changing and in a way that even I understand! Art has caught up with the 21^st century, and has now seen how technology can be a powerful artistic tool like a paintbrush. The most exciting thing for me in this aspect is how the public is coming to the same realisation!

At the same time though there is new media art out there that I have no idea how it could be called art. Unfourtantley this is where my artistic ignorance comes to play.  Looking at teamingvoid’s blog, I have no idea how his idea could be considered art. Ironically I think that I still am a little bit old fashioned where I believe there still has to be some type of effort seen in terms of brush to paper.

I personally see new media art as art that is created using both old school techniques such as brushes and paint and new technology such as computers and even apps on iPhones! I see new media art as a binary between the old and the new.  However the concept of art is developing at an ever alarming rate and it is extremely pleasing to see that it is staying in touch and in time with the changing social world and technology and not staying outdated and in the past. 

Blog 7, Week 11: Back to the future!!

I don’t believe anyone can predict the future. Nor do I believe that the future is set. If you’ve sent the film ‘Back to the Future’ it shows the future as ever changing with nothing set. I believe this is how it is. Yet what would we have said if we were asked to try and predict the future of media and communications 10 or 15 years ago? Would anyone believe that a whole civil war was started and fought through the use of social media?

If I was asked now to predict the future in terms of media and communications, I would say that we are almost there already. I would say that the future is aimed at reducing all types of boundaries that we may face in terms of communication and other aspects of media. I also believe that our lives and cultures will be 100% in sync and in tangent with social mediums and technology.

However this can also be a double-edged sword. When one speaks of people being completely reliant on technology you are bound to hear whispers of phrases such as Armageddon and judgment day. What if one day, electricity was to stop working when we are also reliant on technology in our day to day lives, even with simple things such as opening our front door. I don’t have an answer to this however I think we are basically there when I look at my house and see my fridge, the lights etc.

Looking at Jane McGonigal’s website, this line stuck out to me in her bio; “how games are transforming the way we lead our real lives, and how they can be used to increase our resilience and well-being”. I think of the game Wii Fit where people interact with their game console as if they were at the gym and supposed to get the same effect, or video games that are puzzle games there to sharpen the mind. I can only imagine what might be in store for us soon in terms of games benefiting our day-to-day lives. 

Blog 6, Week 10: To infinity and beyond!!

Obi Wan Kenobi, in the last Star Wars movie, said that everything is based on a point of view. This is how I have always see journalism and news articles. Someone’s point of view being told to us and it is up to us if we want to believe it, accept it or think differently. I believe that when the media is reporting on new facets such as science, technology or a new type of innovation, the media is merely informing us of something in their own point of view. They aren’t transforming it for us, it is how we see it and understand it that it becomes transformed into our own point of view.

I once heard that science is all about proving old theories wrong. This is the same thing that Kevin Kelly talks about in the Scientists when he says how “science is our most potent invention because it has given us a method to keep reinventing it”. He explains how science is all about evolution of technique, learning from the past and collating different types of data to get a new outcome of information. John Wilbanks says something similar in his article in Seed Magazine when he discusses how the scientific publishic industry has also gone through evolution in the way its used and articles are published. Wilbanks says how “The changes [are] wrought by digital networks”. New times have created a new platform and a need for adaptability.

The future is ever changing. New technology is coming around faster and faster and becomes more economically viable each time so that more families and people have access to it. Where it’s heading though is a completely different question. I personally believe that soon everything that we do on a day to day basis including household chores will be controlled from either a watch or a mobile phone. Mobility and ease is where the future is headed. The only question is, not how far away this is…but how soon this is!!

Blog 5, Week 9: power of the mob!

I have always believed that organization to be one of the key building blocks for success in anything you attempt. I also believe that new media has given people a lot more access and ease to become more organised and from this, it makes it easier to see all the networks and communities that have been formed around us. These communities and networks empower us, and give people more power as a group. This group can then take local issues to their local governments or the necessary body and have the power of the mob. I am reminded of the phrase; think globally, act locally. These groups can now start trying to improve their local ecologies and local network groups.

The Coalition of the Willing is an example of such a network. I use the word network instead of community because while I believe that they have very similar meanings, I believe that community is more of a group that was formed inevitably based on interests or location while a network is a group that has come together seeking those out who have a common goal or interest. Both networks and communities infer team effort and that is exactly what is written on the Wiki site of the Coalition of the Willing; “The greater part of the work takes place in teams”

I found Elinor Ostrom’s work to be very interesting and enlightening. I personally see her work more to do with communities, where people are forced to band together for survival and the greater good. Her wikipedia website says how “Ostrom's work emphasizes how humans interact with ecosystems to maintain long-term sustainable resource yields”. I don’t think it’s a bad thing that people inevitably join together with a common purpose, however I see this as Darwinism and the survival instinct kicking in where people join as they see it puts them in a beter position then being alone. 

Blog 4, Week 8: I have the power!!

Everything in the world is constantly trying to improve itself. People, technology, businesses, most things in this world would strive to try and improve and better itself. Bob Ellis’s article, ‘Sleepless in Canberra’, discusses how politicians such as Kevin Rudd work tirelessly and he gives an example where ‘He's up till 3am, and back at work at 6am. He attends important meetings in Sydney, Tokyo and Copenhagen all within two days. He's at a night function in Perth and, four hours later, enduring a live interview with Fran Kelly”. This is a clear example of politician 2.0. A politician aiming to improve themselves and their work.  

The real question is whether or not they succeed? There are new tools out there such as technology, which can definitely lay a helping hand in improving people and institutions. New media is forcing people and institution to change and adapt to the new circumstances. It is creating a new culture and this is making social change inevitable.

Charles Hirschkind has discusses a great example where new media has helped and even forced an improvement in a nations country and even their culture. Hirschkind discusses in his article,  ‘From the Blogosphere to the street: The role of social media in the Egyptian uprising’ how “2orking online via Facebook, twitter, and within the Egyptian blogosphere. Working within these media, activists began to forge a new political language”. This shows how new media has helped push forward a revolution. We see change now where the weapon of choice and power isn’t guns anymore but a keyboard. It reminds me of the phrase; that the pen is mightier then the sword. I have always believed this to be the case and now more then ever new media and new media outlets have created a whole new battlefield where people have only just begun to realise the power they have…

Blog 3, Week 7: can you teach and old dog new tricks?

I personally hate change. If I could I would avoid it at all costs. Yet sadly I have learnt that change is inevitable. I am also learning that not all change is bad. Sometimes change can be for the better and improve things. Technological determinism says that technology will force us to inevitably change our habits including our social and cultural habits. However is this a bad thing? Or should we continue to frame our thoughts and actions the way we have traditionally framed them?

The music industry has been transformed enormously the last decade or so. The traditional framing of the music ecology was to buy the CD or album of the artist you desired. This could be seen as the circle of life. The following video is from Disney’s The Lion King where Mufasa discusses the circle of life with his son Simba (only need to watch the first 35 seconds although I wouldn’t blame you for watching the whole video!). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Po_jA5jE_X0

Mufasa discusses the ‘delicate balance’ and how ‘we are all connected’. When we bought CD’s from the local music store that was a delicate balance that promoted the circle of life. It allowed for musicians and studios and so on to get paid and that was the main and only system in place. And most importantly, it worked. Now however many people download their music illegally of the internet for free and many artists, studios, shops and employees in all these industries are complaining that they are losing money and work.

The journalistic ecology is in the same boat. There is no more traditional framing of buying the newspaper. That is a dying concept. Many are now reading the important, if not all articles online at no cost. The New York Times have recently argued that they may introduce a pay wall and charge people for reading online. I find this interesting and don’t think it will work as I believe that it is too late and people understand the wonderful world of the internet and how times have now changed and wont go back to the old traditional ways.

Blog 2, Week 6: love and marriage

For a relationship to succeed, the two opposing parties need to be compatible. There needs to be a way for the two sides to bond together. Data and media are no exception to this law. At first glance it would seem as both data and media compliment each other, where both rely on each other to succeed and flourish. Raw data needs media outlets to be seen or heard. Data is usually there for a reason and wants to be heard and seen. Media is the outlet for reach data reaches us, hence a successful and working relationship with a purpose.

Paul Edwards, in his paper ‘A Vast Machine’, discusses computer models collecting information in order to disperse it into data for those interested. This is the exact type of relationship that this blog has been discussing. Edwards says how “sensors pour colossal volumes of digitized data into disk drives”. This is a great example of how data and media are working together. Data is collected and then distributed accordingly.

Actor-Network Theory (ANT) is a concept thought of by Bruno Latour. ANT Theory looks at assemblages and networks and dissects exactly how they come together, looking at every little detail. It treats each little detail as an equal and believes that each part is needed to complete the assemblage/network. I find this very interesting when discussing the relationship between data and media as I believe that by dissecting it using ANT theory, we can see exactly how it all comes together and is needed to work together. I believe that we have a symbiotic relationship here where one part cant function properly without the other.