I was thinking about stuff one day, and I thought about this. Take a listen. There is this one artist named Ellsworth Kelly. He is very notable. He has been around for a very long time, doing all sorts of different pieces. Some of his work can be seen at these links.
http://martaco.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/kelly_elsworth_orange_curve.jpg
http://www.corcoran.org/collection/images/1977.17.jpg
http://www.contemporaryartdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/2378.jpg
These are just pieces I like, and also get my point across. The thing is, those are paintings. They were not printed off some computer. They were painted, by hand, and on oddly shaped canvases. They are paintings. Do you see any brush strokes? No, you don't see any brush strokes. The technical skill behind these works is monumental. Now here's were we tie this to the internet.
What is the internet? It's a network. A huge network. It's global, widespread, and there is tons of data, tons of people, and tons of people messing with data simultaneously. The internet is a collective consciousness of text, images, videos, sound, and it's all just seconds (or minutes, depending on your connection) away from you. You can access it anywhere there is a computer and there are a lot of those now. Heck, we can even get it on our phones, and even our xboxes, PS3s, AND Wiis. The technical skill behind the internet is monumental.
Now back to Ellsworth Kelly. So, we've established that Ellsworth Kelly has very good painting skills. But tell me, what is doing with these skills? He's not doing anything useful. He's painting open fields of color on funny shaped canvases. (which are wonderful by the way, but that's beside the point) The point is, that with these skills he could make beautiful masterpieces like Donna on the Rocks or Luncheon of the Boating Party, both of which are respectable, beautiful, energetic works of art, but what is Ellsworth doing? He's being useless. He is using his monumental skills to put effort into something that doesn't deserve as much as he's put into it.
Now, lets tie this to the internet. Here we have this sprawling network of data, traveling around the globe in seconds. But what do we do with it. We create Youtube, and then we put videos of testicular pain up on it and other horrendous things. What did we put on the internet? Two girls one cup. We took this fantastic piece of technology, and instead of being useful with it, we used to to broadcast people accidentally sterilizing themselves and eating shit and vomiting on each other. We are being useless on the internet. We are not using the internet to do anything positive. we spend so much time and effort crafting internet related things like forums, and then trolls come along and spout verbal diarrhea all over the place like it's their own toilet. The internet is not remembered, or even appreciated (at least not by us) for it's usefulness. It is appreciated for it's ability to lets us see naked women and make fun of twelve year olds cussing on Counter Strike. the internet is appreciated for it's uselessness.
Just something I noticed.
http://martaco.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/kelly_elsworth_orange_curve.jpg
http://www.corcoran.org/collection/images/1977.17.jpg
http://www.contemporaryartdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/2378.jpg
These are just pieces I like, and also get my point across. The thing is, those are paintings. They were not printed off some computer. They were painted, by hand, and on oddly shaped canvases. They are paintings. Do you see any brush strokes? No, you don't see any brush strokes. The technical skill behind these works is monumental. Now here's were we tie this to the internet.
What is the internet? It's a network. A huge network. It's global, widespread, and there is tons of data, tons of people, and tons of people messing with data simultaneously. The internet is a collective consciousness of text, images, videos, sound, and it's all just seconds (or minutes, depending on your connection) away from you. You can access it anywhere there is a computer and there are a lot of those now. Heck, we can even get it on our phones, and even our xboxes, PS3s, AND Wiis. The technical skill behind the internet is monumental.
Now back to Ellsworth Kelly. So, we've established that Ellsworth Kelly has very good painting skills. But tell me, what is doing with these skills? He's not doing anything useful. He's painting open fields of color on funny shaped canvases. (which are wonderful by the way, but that's beside the point) The point is, that with these skills he could make beautiful masterpieces like Donna on the Rocks or Luncheon of the Boating Party, both of which are respectable, beautiful, energetic works of art, but what is Ellsworth doing? He's being useless. He is using his monumental skills to put effort into something that doesn't deserve as much as he's put into it.
Now, lets tie this to the internet. Here we have this sprawling network of data, traveling around the globe in seconds. But what do we do with it. We create Youtube, and then we put videos of testicular pain up on it and other horrendous things. What did we put on the internet? Two girls one cup. We took this fantastic piece of technology, and instead of being useful with it, we used to to broadcast people accidentally sterilizing themselves and eating shit and vomiting on each other. We are being useless on the internet. We are not using the internet to do anything positive. we spend so much time and effort crafting internet related things like forums, and then trolls come along and spout verbal diarrhea all over the place like it's their own toilet. The internet is not remembered, or even appreciated (at least not by us) for it's usefulness. It is appreciated for it's ability to lets us see naked women and make fun of twelve year olds cussing on Counter Strike. the internet is appreciated for it's uselessness.
Just something I noticed.
