Vector Graphics Tracing

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Vector Graphics

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catfish.

        Back when I spent more time with my computer I once met an online friend. Her name was Kara Preserby from Ft. Myers, Florida. She was around 5,7 with gorgeous black hair and a love of my favorite band. She was one of the most interesting friends I have ever met. Because we were probably never going to see each other in person it was amazing to have someone that you can lay things out without fear of consequences. After watching catfish i was personally upset and shocked. Kara was a good friend to me but i wonder how i would view things if i knew she was someone else. 

         

       When I was watching Catfish the whole time i was wondering what it would be like to be tricked like that. Also I wondered how miserable you life would be if you had to live a lie. In the Dark Knight the crooked police chief Gordon once told Harvey Dent that "sometimes its easier to live a lie". After spending a couple of hours thinking about the whole situation i realized that when your life is taking care of a couple of mentally handicapped kids and thinking about your squandered life that type of knowledge might make someone go crazy. I even understand where she is coming from. Having some sort of escape or window into a life that Angela never could have.

         Only in America and in a culture with this kind of technology could this have been possible. In this day and age I feel like anyone can anonymously be anybody. Proven by Angela's tenacity it is completely possible to completely confound even the brightest of facebook users. This is an extremely scary notion. While the idea that someone could be fooling you on facebook may not be the most scary thing it can have more important consequences when you think about dating websites and other personal websites. Web 2.0 can be an extremely scary place because when you think about it there is such little order. There is simply nothing to differentiate an expert from an amateur. On the Internet from behind a computer screen it gives people the ability to do things they could never say or do to peoples faces. They could claim to be the anybody and few to anyone could claim other wise. That is what catfish really said to me. It really shakes my confidence on what I read or do on the Internet. When i go onto yahoo answers or check google for a quick answer i automatically assume that the answers are not lies. However with the impossible job of knowing who wrote what as who really makes me worry about the future. As children become raised on the Internet it will be harder and harder to explain to them what is real. Sadly even I have been having trouble sorting through WEB 2.0.

exiting through the gift shop.

When you think about Street Art you picture innovation and originality. I actually love MBW’s work as a whole however little to any of his projects to me are street art. When you look at more conventional street artists like Banksy and Invader you can clearly identify their M.O. However when you look at MBW’s work at a whole you can clearly see the repetition and the pop art influences.

One street artist that I have personally looked into is Invader: a French mural painter who has been to and conquered all corners of the world. His style of art is most original I have ever seen. Using small colored square tiles to form a mosaic Invader pastes up characters from and inspired from the game Space Invaders. This type of originality gives him his own style of art, which makes him a street artist. When you look at MBW’s most famous works: his spray paint cans of Campbell’s chicken noodle soup, Elvis holding an assault rifle, and Warhol like pictures of Madonna you can almost directly trace his art to someone else. While some people could make the argument that MBW is simply taking inspiration from great artists one could also make the case that MBW is just stealing from the artistic greats.

            One of the major reasons I like street art is for the sense of anonymity that comes with it. The idea that some unknown prodigy is out there decorating the world with his visions and ideals because of passion instead of profit is what makes street art so much more interesting than other forms of art. Because of the anonymity that Banksy operates under it makes his work much more distinguished and relevant. Almost like some mysterious benefactor who riddles the world with great pieces of art for his own enjoyment and ideals instead of for money.

            MBW’s rapid rise to fame was due to none other than mass media and global networking. Through powerful networking tools like magazines and the Internet MBW’s premier show was a hit. Without networking it would be nearly impossible for the thousands of spectators to have known about the show and Mr. Brainwash himself.

            I feel like the documentary was similar to reality TV in the way it was formatted. The way the documentary went from a clip of action to an interview of the person back to the clip and continued was very much like reality TV. However because of the topic of the documentary and the way it was shot made it much less of a hit TV show and more like an actual documentary. There were several parts of the movie that were very shakily filmed and seemed true to getting information out instead of simply entertaining the masses.

            While I’d like to believe that MBW is just a gut-less thief of ideas I cannot completely write him off as an artist. Some of his work is very aesthetically appealing to the eyes and while his work can be seen as plagiarism they do send some form a message out to the buyer. So overall I have to call MBW an artist however I don’t believe that he is actually creating meaningful work. Almost like Thomas Kinkade who paints amazingly beautiful landscaping works but has no further meaning. His paintings are great to indulge into but because of looks instead of meaning much like MBW’s work.

            I feel like the message of surveillance and Big Brother watching us is a pivotal message of the street art movement. http://www.foundshit.com/tag/big-brother/ if you look at this website it shows one of Banksy’s more well known tags; One Nation Under CCTV, a reminder that there is always someone watching you.

            I think that Terry had a very skewed view on life. I never particularly found that it was necessary to film my life so that I don’t miss anything. In fact I feel like if you spend too much time filming things and not enjoying them you’ll really miss out on life itself. Before filming he was just another storeowner in LA but after filming he really had something going for him. He was the first person to have first hand video footage of street art. This if he knew how to produce him right would make him famous. However ironically because of his obsession of video taping things he missed out on his most prized possessions: his family. I feel like he set out with the good intention of never missing a moment but ended up with his family wanting him back.

            To me the lawlessness of street art makes it so interesting. The idea that people are going out of their way to express their ideals and ideas even though it could cause them harm speaks to me. Street art being illegal only empowers the strong messages that are behind them.

1. How does Keen define Democratized media, and what are his main issues with this trend? use examples from the web in the form of links.

2. Compare and Contrast Keens take on Social Media with Douglas Rushkoff's. Which one speaks to you and your own experiences and why?

1. Andrew Keen has a very skeptical view on Democratized media. I guess when Keen speaks about Democratized media he is talking about Web 2.0 and many of the different websites and blogs that allow open source media. A simple example of this would be: http://www.wikipedia.org/ and a more complex example of this would be torrent sharing websites like: http://www.vuze.com/. Keen's argument is that with the spread of open source websites the amateur is now the professional. When you think about it, when you get information on the web you may not be reading from the right sources. When you read and believe blogs and other open sources you are getting your information from people just as experienced and knowledgeable as you are. For Keen this is a scary thought. The idea that your everyday Joe is writing our dictionaries and encyclopedias can be threatening. Also Keen talk to us about the damage that the new web has brought onto us. With file sharing and torrenting musicians can no longer make the top buck that they used to by selling CD's or MP3's. Keen likens these sharing sites as a blatant form of stealing. With these sites the professional gets run out of business by the flood of amateur bands, reporters, journalists, and Joes.  Take a look at this band: http://www.thestaticjacks.com/ if you were Keen you would be appalled by this act of "amateurism". Not only are they torrenting and giving away their own music but they are what Keen would say as distorting the professionals of the trade.

2. Keen and Rushkoff would probably get into a fight each other. Keen is hell-bent on the idea that these new social media websites will result in the the death of society itself. Rushkoff on the other hand can see the benefits of the technology that comes with social media sites. If you ask my opinion on the issue I would definitely agree with Rushkoff. The idea that all technology that comes from the new web is counter-productive to the nation is ridiculous. One website that is really counterproductive to Keens argument is Web M.D Community. http://exchanges.webmd.com/default.htm  This is an open forum for those people who are fighting, recovering or experts of diseases. While certainly most of these posters are not professionals no one can doubt the importance or validity of their arguments and opinions. Also this website doesn't steal money from doctors or physicians but instead gives those who want to know more information helpful advice.  No one would take the opinions of this blog over a doctor but the information is helpfull non the less. Websites like these really show off the importance of these new Democratized websites.

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Postings.

I have commented on two posts: Katie Messina and Kelly Tranfaglia.