The interwebs and Art
Ξ October 13th, 2007 | → | ∇ Culture, General, Philosophy |
Okay, so I haven’t posted in several days. I’m sitting in front of the computer now, typing because I feel compelled.
I’ve been writing plenty, I just haven’t been writing here. It’s hard to always have something to say. I love the organicism of blogging, but there is also a demand placed. Not that I think I have any loyal readers, I don’t know whether or not I desire that. Of course, the ego-fulfillment that is blogging suggests I probably do. I shan’t be troubled by it either way. For whatever the motives, I want these words here, that is in fact why I’m writing them.
You see, the internet is more than a communication tool, it is more than a media platform. It is more than semi-random connections of computers around the world. The proprietors of large media companies would have us believe that the internet is simply the new television. But you see, this simply isn’t true. The internet holds new promises.
More than anything else, the internet is becoming, and holds the promise of art. Let me be clear, when I say art I refer to the expression of the human spirit in any media. Art, at it’s core, holds the premise that we are more than just complex sets of proteins and enzymes animated by some neurological spark. The internet, this vast web of interrelations and connections, is the only medium thus brought into being by man that even begins to approach the complexity and variety which establishes the reality of the human animal. Because of this, the internet provides a forum for the creation and distribution of art that is unlike any other. It allows humanity to view itself from above, and gives us the opportunity to share ourselves in reality.
Art is no longer relegated to galleries, or libraries, or private collections. The internet makes the creation and expression of art into a fundamental human activity, and through this fundamental change in the way we make art, we have the opportunity to revolutionize our culture. When I write here, or when my friends make a movie or write a song, the internet immediately allows our culture to encompass these new thoughts. If they are original, they are brought into our culture clearly and although they may never be core, these new beauties become part of us. If the art is derivative but expressive, it becomes part of our cultural lingua franca, and if it is derivative and dull, it is immediately assigned to the corridors of expression, the artistic knowledge that supports our culture by reminding us of it’s commonalities.
