Is Web 2.0 Redefining the Arts?

This is probably way to vague to get much traction on the idea--but I'll give it a shot.  What motivated me to think about it like this was the recent spat over Jon Bon Jovi's odd claim that Steve Jobs and iTunes killed the music business.  This is like saying that the printing press killed writing.  But in terms of user generated content, and some of the other features of web 2.0, such as free access, the Arts hold a rather special place. In so far as we are all 'artists' to some extent, in the sense that we all can be creative beings, we all generate content, espcially as children.  There is no doubt that using technology has increased our ability to be creative in many new and exciting ways. Often the Arts are juxstaposed to STEM, or other more 'career' based disciplines like Journalism or Business. Yet if you loosen the idea of the arts to be inclusive and think of them as creativity it is universally applicable. This is definitly the way Richard Florida is thinking about creativity, as cross disciplinary or interdisciplinary.  And so we now have "intermedia" where, for example the Minnisota Arts Organization "Intermedia Arts" emphasizes the multdisciplinary feature of the Fluxus movement and clearly identifies it with the creative economy of that state. The computer immersed new media form of hyperformalism is another great example of the synthetic influences of emerging and hard to define artistic forms, allowing viewer/participant interaction and altering of the experience of art.

Here are some snaps I took in Second Life of DCSpensley's ZeroG Dancers performance.

See the full gallery on Posterous

The silos of disciplines tend to distort and homogenize people and ideas. The arts are no less suseptible to this. User generated content and the internet's explosion of resources and opportunites brings me to wonder if there aren't opportunities in what we consider the "Arts" to be. If we re envision these silos and see the blending and emergence of new forms of media as offering us the chance to by pass the limited view of a juxstapostion of these disciplines-- suddenly the world looks different. What is technology? What is Dance? What is Film? What is Music?  What is visual art or Painting? They are blending. The boundaries are getting fuzzy.  Here is a young student of mine working in these new areas. Be patient with the video, its not fully revealing the effort, but it gives you the idea.

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/13406727

So the question is this: If we blend the disciplines--espeically the Arts, we open new possiblitlities to enhance all of the disciplines. The seeds of STEM are growing in the Arts--

 

 

How Would Universal Broadband change the culture of Vermont? Micro Grids and Media

Its a big question. I am challenging myself to envision the world with 100 gigabytes download speed, here in every house in Vermont.  I see some big changes possible with education, which I started to get at in my last post.  The excitement is that with unfettered access to the internet the world's on line repositories of knolwedge and the global brain are there to help you learn anything you want. Anything. Anytime. For example, a network of micro grids makes much more sense than a mega grid for our electricity generation, distribution and uses.  The technology and resources are there to create your own micro grid and be liberated from the constraints of the power companies. In many cases this is possible. I envision the smart grid as the web 2.0 of electricity. In other words, that user generated power is the future.  The cost of the power lost in transmission along monolithic networks are precisely the savings we can leverage to decentralize our grid.  This democratization of power is part of the paradigm shift accompanying the transition to the digital age, and a component of what it means to have ubiquitous broadband here, or anywhere for that matter.

But think about simple day to day commerce. Instead of each household going out to buy individual items, things are ordered all on line and a delivery service stops by as needed.  This makes much more sense than endless trips to the store; instead, fleets of energy efficient delivery vehicles routed through a GPS system would be making their rounds.  More people would be working from home, perhaps tending gardens or creating other localized enterprises, perhaps participating in their children's education.  Travelling would be special, not a commute. This reduces emissions and wear and tear on the roads.

I see a dynamic between a hyperlocal intensification of  the value and understanding of location and a global connectedness that is always learning, being exposed to diversity and new ideas. The content that we create as we live our lives in our specific location is like the water beneath our feet and flowing around us. Our content is, like our water, our most precious resource. Is it being bottled and sold? Our media is as vulnerable.  Equally our participation in the emerging global web is what defines and adds value to our unique content. That dialogue with the global village is an important part of what rejuvinates our ability to be creative and innovate.

I would love to hear how you envision what effects broadband to every household in Vermont would have.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Rest Stop Living Machine on Route I-89, Northfield, Vermont