weeklies
weeklies
weeklies
weeklies
week 1
- What is the relationship between diagrams and meaning?
- What is the difference between diagrams for art and non art?
- What is the relationship between diagrams, maps and networks?
Arakawa and Gins’ Mechanism of Meaning focuses on creating logical and scientific thought through artistic means. Ideas of philosophy and ideas of the human condition are combined with questions of physics and objective measurements as well as poetic formations. The ways in which these different sectors of Arakawa’s work are brought together is precisely through diagrams. Diagrams are subjectively understood and could be argued into either the box of scientific representation of data or artistic representation of ideas, yet they can also be argued as a nuanced combination of both.
It is rather difficult to understand the Mechanism of Meaning without dissecting diagrams and their relations to art, conceptual meaning, and physical maps and networks. Diagrams can present certain meaning in a rather obvious way by displaying data, both geographical and ideological connections, and illustrative or descriptive representation. Diagrams for art, though, might be understood as for aesthetic affect or for the purpose of commenting on society, while diagrams not centered on art would display scientific data collection in research or in a survey. These ideas are all conjectured, though, by the existence of maps and networks which may fall under both, or neither, of these categories.
In Arakawa’s Ambiguous Zones of a Lemon it becomes clear that the artistic or theoretic elements of the works could stand in for any object, and that it is the question of networks and our relation to certain physical objects that contains the true idea of the diagram. It is not the physical object or understanding of the lemon but rather our relationship to the lemon’s presence, position, and our perception of it that creates an importance of such a diagram. While this idea is philosophical in nature, it is also artistic in the purposeful decision to use a lemon for its humors and rather curious nature, but also scientific in its question of the lemon’s anatomy and the connections drawn between the lemon’s different ambiguities.
week 2
Internet utopias: All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace (TV series) pt I
- How is Ayn Rand's philosophy relevant today?
- How was the internet shaped by Objectivism?
Ayn Rand’s philosophy is based on the idea that man’s individualty is key to their own success. Rather than living wholly as a society, Rand says that a man’s own happiness is the most important, and thus that everyone should work to serve themselves first as opposed to worrying about others or the community or world that they live in. Some propose that these ideologies that came about by Rand in the 1950s were the beginnings of Republican thought, which is often seen at heart to be about individuals wanting to hold onto their own wealth and earnings as opposed to wanting to serve and prioritize others who have less wealth and privileges. This idea might be relevant today as these ideas still exist in our society – whether we should think of our own priorities over society’s and whether every person’s individual success can ultimately be all of society’s success.
Objectivism helped to shape the internet because at its root it is an explanation of a utopia where everyone finds their own success and becomes their own “hero”; members of society do not necessarily rely on each other for sources of happiness or success by working to improve society all together, but rather, each person relies on themselves. The internet can, in some ways, mirror this idea of a completely individualized utopia because each person exists on their own device not physically close to everyone else in the online world, working themselves to find information, entertainment, success, or happiness while utilizing the existence of other people but not necessarily acting to serve any of them.
week 3
My target audience would be anyone who is interested in my work, such as an employer or other students who might want to engage with my projects. What I hope to convey about myself is that I am interested in a variety of mediums and projects based around them, specifically my video projects made in my classes for my Media Arts and Practice minor, my photography (film and digital), websites I have created for a marketing class, personal video projects from an internship I did, and a blog that I have for writing. In addition, I would want to convey that under all my projects I have a general purpose of spreading a social message about my own identity and representation thereof in the media. For example, a lot of my media arts projects focus on the representation of Asian women in western media, which I take interest in because I identify myself as a mixed race Asian woman in a western space. One purpose of my work overall is to represent myself in such a way that I want, to negate the ways that other people might see me based on my appearance or first impressions. The key concepts of this purpose would center around showcasing my work and the generally common theme between them, and elements might be a simplistic design with a plain background and small amounts of color with small text to focus the website on the content itself. I might leverage the element of the web itself by including links to my projects on various hosting sites such as YouTube and perhaps by linking it to my other websites, such as my blog, articles I have written, and my personal social media accounts.
week 4
• What is the importance of time in Rauschenberg's work?
The importance of time in Rauschenberg’s work depends on his use of color to depict a sign of aging, of time passing, and of moving to a different sphere or perspective. His collages are relatively varied works with different mediums, but he uses color to blend different pieces into a cohesive meaning by creating transitional flow throughout the canvas using changing yet complimentary colors that depicts a sense of movement and time.
• How is Rauschenberg's work different form other collage work that came before it?
Rauschenberg’s work mainly focuses on collage work, usually two-dimensional work on a flat surface. It reiterated the traditional painting, in some ways, conveying messages in a similar subtly that paintings often do but with an entirely new medium of found people of work collaged together to create a new meaning. His work contained certain qualities and depictions, for example, “The depiction of solid forms was abandoned because “three-dimensionality is the province of sculpture, and for the sake of its own autonomy painting has had to above all to divest itself of everything it might share with sculpture” (Joseph, 10). This exemplifies that Rauschberg found his own way of creating a collage that stuck with a mostly flat surface and he used the sources of his work as his form of paint, in a way.
• How is Rauschenberg's work related to the internet?
I think the internet is a large collage of sorts. It is a bunch of different sources and seemingly separated ideas created by different people, but it is all placed within the same platform of the internet. What Rauschenberg attempted to do was create his own meaning out of everything that already existed in the world, which I think exists though a lot of the internet and digital media based artwork that is popular online such as remixed media, blended songs, edited photos, etc. These are all examples of the modern “collage”, which samples preexisting work to create commentary on the original work or a new meaning all together. Both Rauschenberg and similar internet content make previous, already consumed content that people might not find as interesting into something new and different that can create a more disruptive message through its artistic nuances.
week 5
The cultural impact of cybernetics?
Cybernetics is described as the communication and control between machines and humans, and the subsequent structures, controls, and possibilities within them. The cultural impact of cybernetics is our relationship with machines. Culture in the modern era has become shaped around our relationship with technology and devices; how we interact with other people is still largely centered around technology as modern relationships are characterized by virtual communication. Cybernetics has become not just person to machine interaction but the thread between everything in our society.
Do you think humans can be understood through cybernetics?
I think humans can communicate and learn through cybernetics but I think machines are aspects of our life that we use, not our equivalents. As of now, information and tools available through technology are inputted by humans ourselves, so anything we learn from cybernetics we are actually learning from each other. I think we can better understand our communications with each other though cybernetics but I think that is different from our relationship with machines themselves.
Is cybernetics a useful tool for describing reality?
I think it is a useful tool for describing today’s reality because life is so centered around technology and machines, but I don’t think it can completely describe everything that exists because there are aspects outside of cybernetic that exists, especially for societies that don’t heavily rely on machines such as rural or underdeveloped areas. In the future, more places might be more interconnected with cybernetics but right now, not every single person has access to certain devices, meaning that centering our reality on this study is not complete.
week 6
What are the parallels between foulcauts view and Cybernetics?
Do you agree with foucault that your own life is shaped through these systems of control? Explain.
How does the Panopticon play out in our contemporary lives?
I do agree with Foucault that my own life is shaped through these systems of control, because I think no matter what kind of free will I think I have, the systems that exist in our world will always have some element of control over my life. Because of the devices and technologies I use on a daily basis, I feel that I need these systems and technologies in order to exist and function with things I do every day. Therefore, my life is entirely affected by them because I have convinced myself that I need certain artifical systems in order to live the life that I have.
week 7
How do you understand the dividual? Does this affect your relationship to yourself?
How does this text relate to Foucault's ideas on control?
Why is the example of surfing brought up?
week 8
How is the work of Pierre Huyghe relational/systemic?
What is the realtionship between his work and the internet?
What is the role of time in his work?
week 9
Do you agree with Lyotards position on gender?
Can thought go on without a body?
What do you think the role of suffering is withing the space of this argument?
week 10
What is the relationship between accelerationism and gender?
Do you agree with the XF position on nature?
What is ment by "let 100 sexes bloom"? Do you agree?
week 11
What are the parallels between foulcauts view and Cybernetics?
Do you agree with foucault that your own life is shaped through these systems of control? Explain.
How does the Panopticon play out in our contemporary lives?
week 12
What are the parallels between foulcauts view and Cybernetics?
Do you agree with foucault that your own life is shaped through these systems of control? Explain.
How does the Panopticon play out in our contemporary lives?