Homework 1

I’m very intrigued by what Sarah Lewis had to say about why she curates art beyond honoring a person’s expression. And I think I agree. Visual communication speaks to each individual in their own unique way; it evokes differing sentiments and maybe call to actions, like the Brown versus Board of Education example.  Lewis contemplates the role these visual communications play in our society and I have to admit I wonder the same thing: what instances do we not know of that have sparked change due to an ‘aesthetic force’ rather than rational argument?

The same question also seems to trouble the podcast speakers because it seems as though opportunities for similar epiphanies and bouts of inspiration are being limited by the need to quantify art.  If people only measure art or give attention to art by how much it sells for or how many likes on social media then it loses it’s genuine and purposed reaction.  The Introduction to New Media touches on this as well. They’re seems to be a high level of complaint and criticism of new media when it comes to visual media online, exemplified by the quote “ anything that can be parsed as a subject or noun  has probably been included by a person in art somewhere somehow”. They believe that the inclusiveness of everything takes away from what art is supposed to be – unique and personal. This answers how do you mediate subjectivity’, too. If an artist can draw attention to his or her visuals without drawing the same attitude of data gathering, then they could succeed, we think. The only real example of this is Banksy. Besides his/her private art shows, he is the actual sole example of inventing art and context originally aka mediating the subjectivity. He/she forces viewers to accept his art as is by embedding commentary and not expecting anything in return.

The contempt for how visuals are represented and received online is very real and apparent but looking at the Smithsonian’s ‘Revelations in New Media Art’ calmed the echoes of the prior two opinions I looked at for this assignment. New Media has created the opportunity to craft reality as people see fit. Bill Viola’s The Fall Into Paradise was particularly fascinating to me. I re-watched the video maybe four or five times trying to decipher what exactly was taking place and questioning each conclusion I came to. And that’s because it doesn’t equate to any reality I know or have known. And that’s what new media is and why it’s valuable despite the fault in achieving the desired subjectivity.