Exercise 2: The World Through Lenses, Screens and Devices
Case Study: Alex Pearl – Connections Through a ScreenConnections Through a Screen examines the idea that we are brought together and separated through the intersections of the real world, artists film, mainstream cinema and social media. Here the screen is thought of as something that obscures and divides but also displays and connects. All the examples here also, in some way, intersect with my own practice. https://ravensbourne.padlet.org/embed/f4i2thhpnv5o5iqj
Exercise 2: The World Through Lenses, Screens and DevicesHow has the digital revolution impacted our cultural awareness? Do developments in technology enhance or hinder our engagement with cultural perspectives? Our screens and personal devices, such as smartphones, TVs, computers, etc., offer continual access to streamed content. Screen culture has become such an integral part of our lives it is hard to imagine one without it. However, a large population of the world is without such technology, and the gap in access to technological advancements is opening up new dynamics for how we interact and transfer cultural perspectives and knowledge. With many social media companies, news organisations and digital providers functioning to uphold capitalist agendas, how is the content we are exposed to trustworthy, authentic, real and relevant to our perspective and experience of the world? Use this exercise to question and evaluate the pros and cons of the digital revolution and screen culture. Perhaps you have many devices that transmit images, music, news, films, etc., or maybe you don’t have access to such technology. Either way, reflect on the wider cultural ramifications of technology advancement. How does it impact you, your life and your work? What are the creative advantages of using technology? Are there negative and damaging implications with such fast development in how we experience and interact with people around the world? Context: Power and Perspective Trevor Paglen, Aerial photograph of the National Security Agency (2013) Commissioned by Creative Time Reports. Image via Wikipedia.Watch this short film, Power and Perspective, where the artist, Trevor Paglen, discusses two of his recent photographs showing the rarely-seen headquarters of the National Security Agency (2013) in Fort Mead, Maryland, USA. Taken from a helicopter, the image offers us a rarely-seen ‘birds-eye’ perspective of America’s vast surveillance infrastructure, which Paglen placed within the public domain.‘I generally don’t like these so-called “bird’s-eye” perspectives’, says Paglen, seeing its value, instead, as a means to suggest empowerment by the general public over institutions such as the NSA.Trevor Paglen, Overhead: New Photos of the NSA and Other Top Intelligence Agencies Revealed (2014) Creative Time Reports [online].Another practitioner in this context is James Bridle, who explores how drawing can be seen as an approach to the digital systems that envelop our daily lives. Bridle’s ongoing research into what he terms the #NewAesthetic unpacks discourse on the digital world that can be seen as a kind of storytelling that manifests itself conceptually within his drawings. Drone Shadows (2013) keenly communicates his ideas and a need to confront us with the invisible political forces that surround us but which we may take for granted.James Bridle, DIY Drone Shadows (2013) BookTwo [online].
Digital revolution and cultural awareness.
Everyone today agrees that technology has become a major factor in our lives. Smartphones have become an “extension of our arms”; travelling around the world hasn’t been easier, and the internet transmits information faster than the blink of an eye. Our access to information is more effective than has ever been imagined before. We can read, watch, and hear people around the globe who want to share their thoughts and experiences, learn about their lives, and connect with us. To sum up, we can find out first-hand what is happening everywhere through our portable and non-portable devices.
The 21st century is often referred to as the “screen time” century. People spend hours on their monitors, sometimes simply because they have become addicted to them. So, is it really beneficial to utilise our screen time?
I think so, but there has to be a limit. Our devices have managed to introduce us to cultures previously unknown. They have informed us about music, art, lifestyle, customs, and habits in a way that some of these have been adopted by us, and vice versa. In China, for example, they celebrate Halloween, but they have also turned pumpkins into cat faces. It’s an adaptation of Western culture to their own customs and habits.
People around the world, regardless of their background, celebrate Christmas using the spirit of love, the festive atmosphere and the need to get together and celebrate. Adapting other people’s experiences brings them closer and it makes them more likely to be closer to ours, or, even better, we can create common ground to start sharing new exciting stories.
Of course, as with everything, this is a two-edged sword case.
I have already mentioned the screen overuse and the addiction to social media. In addition, I need to say something about online abuse and harassment. Screens can be a medium of racism, hate and bullying. We are witnesses to such incidents daily, where people hiding behind the anonymity of a keyboard can become the source of evil. So, referring to the Ancient Greek quote “Everything should be used wisely, I would say that our generation has the chance to bring the world together to celebrate our incredible planet and the particularities of each culture. So, why not seize this opportunity?
Why not see culture as an identity that can only bring more to the human race?
Case Study: Alex Pearl – Connections Through a ScreenConnections Through a Screen examines the idea that we are brought together and separated through the intersections of the real world, artists film, mainstream cinema and social media. Here the screen is thought of as something that obscures and divides but also displays and connects. All the examples here also, in some way, intersect with my own practice. https://ravensbourne.padlet.org/embed/f4i2thhpnv5o5iqj
Trevor Paglen, Aerial photograph of the National Security Agency (2013) Commissioned by Creative Time Reports. Image via Wikipedia.Watch this short film, Power and Perspective, where the artist, Trevor Paglen, discusses two of his recent photographs showing the rarely-seen headquarters of the National Security Agency (2013) in Fort Mead, Maryland, USA. Taken from a helicopter, the image offers us a rarely-seen ‘birds-eye’ perspective of America’s vast surveillance infrastructure, which Paglen placed within the public domain.‘I generally don’t like these so-called “bird’s-eye” perspectives’, says Paglen, seeing its value, instead, as a means to suggest empowerment by the general public over institutions such as the NSA.Trevor Paglen, Overhead: New Photos of the NSA and Other Top Intelligence Agencies Revealed (2014) Creative Time Reports [online].Another practitioner in this context is James Bridle, who explores how drawing can be seen as an approach to the digital systems that envelop our daily lives. Bridle’s ongoing research into what he terms the #NewAesthetic unpacks discourse on the digital world that can be seen as a kind of storytelling that manifests itself conceptually within his drawings. Drone Shadows (2013) keenly communicates his ideas and a need to confront us with the invisible political forces that surround us but which we may take for granted.James Bridle, DIY Drone Shadows (2013) BookTwo [online].
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