(Small) MEDIUM (Large)

Mr. Marshall McLuhan manipulates minds (into) (i)magining mediums (as) messages.  

The medium isn't always the message -or at least not the entirety of the message.  An instance in which, for example, the paint on a canvas coveys all the meaning and the image from the paint on the canvas conveys none of the meaning is as unlikely as an instance in which the fact that the painted image is made of paint is completely irrelevant. Medium affects the message, for sure, but it isn't solely responsible.  

A gun made of metal and loaded with bullets is threatening.

A gun made of plastic and loaded with water is significantly less threatening.

A gun made of felt and loaded with little balls also made of felt is not the least bit threatening.

Neither the medium nor the content can convey the message alone because everything we sense, we associate with something.  And everything we associate with what we sense, we associate again and again.  

And again, again, again. 

The Medium is not the Message/maybe/hi

I haven't finished reading yet but I just wanted to say how difficult this article is to read. I can't focus at all, and I'm adding anchor points to the text in my head. This "P" could be a hat. You get the general idea. back to reading. brb.

Quick trivia question, how many times is medium written in this article?

In my opinion the Romeo and Juliet example is horrible. Why do people always think that referencing Shakespeare will somehow add credibility to your work? Cause it don werk like dat.

I believe General David Sarnoff would agree with this statement "Atomic Bombs are in themselves neither good nor bad; it is the way it is used that determines its value." Idea Fail.

SO here's the scoop. Medium allows us to express ourselves and form our conceptual ideas into tangible things. Also, growth in our society correlates to growth in technology although some argue that this is isolating us from each other. Thus we stop using technology. Excpet for facebook and emac class. And I agree with that.

response to the reading; the medium is the message

I agree with McLuhan’s idea when she says different media invite different degrees of participation on the part of a person chooses to consume a medium. It is true that ways of doing things change because of the technology and then we realize the social implications of the medium. The meduim is more important than the message itself.

Response to James Turrell

Since I saw the Art21 on James Turrell a year or so ago, he has become one of my favorite contemporary artists.  I love this quote from him “I want to create an atmosphere that can be consciously plumbed with seeing, like the wordless thought that comes from looking in a fire.”  His work is so great because I think he's really challenging what we see as art in a way.  His ideas are just terrific, and I love how spiritual his work really is, meditative is a word he likes to use in talking about it. 

Response to the Reading

I really liked McLuhan's argument about the media being more important than the message and how he thinks that on TV, for example, whatever is being broadcast doesn't make as big of an impact as TV in general. It's like it doesn't matter whether you watch cooking shows or violent shows or cartoons, just the fact that you are using that medium will change the way your brain sees the world. It reminds me of my brother, he's 3 years old and my stepmom has never let him see a movie or watch TV or play computer games or anything because she thinks that it'll screw up his development. So it's like it doesn't really matter whether he is looking at an educational computer game or porn, just the fact that he is looking at a computer will traumatize him. She says that images on television are too "schizophrenic," like they change too much and too often and it's too much for his brain to take in. I think I kind of agree with not letting him watch TV, etc until he is a little older, but I was wondering if you guys agree that all technology is "evil," or hinders children in their development. Please respond if you would like.

Class Discussion

For this post I thought I would comment on the discussion that we had in class about media. I really enjoyed that conversation because I thought that everyone brought interesting ideas to the table that they were able to talk about articulately. I also was glad that most people weren't cautious about jumping in to the conversation to share their ideas and opinions on everyone's projects. I thought the class' ideas on exploring our natural senses were inspiring and stimulating, each invention helped the user to see their world in a new way.

reading

The reading was certainly tough for me. I had to read things a few times to grasp some of it, and other parts I am still unsure of. But all in all, I think I understood--the idea that the machine is not necessarily the medium, but what one does with the machine is and that carries out the message. Like when the author was talking about the electric light and how without it, certain situations would not exist--such as the night baseball game--thus, I gathered that it is a medium because it would aid sight and allow one to expand beyond his normal capabilities. For me, the author did get a little wordy and I could not quite make sense of what he was getting at. It doesn't really seem like a difficult concept, but somehow, he made it hard for me to initially understand.
Really, I think actually having to come up with my own medium for the first project helped me realize how so many things can act as a medium. That's why, for me, it was difficult to come up with an idea that was expansive and would extend one's limits and senses. Overall, it's really interesting think about how the senses and communication are extended by so many things in our everyday lives.

response to James Turrell

I looked at the profile on James Turrell. He is a very interesting artist, the way he manipulates what we see by creating specific atmospheres based on light. I was reading about one of his pieces, and I found it interesting that he is expanding on light and its meaning. He mentioned moonlight and starlight and how those ideas of light have influenced some of his pieces. I also like how a lot of the work I saw seemed very minimal with the light and the atmosphere as the main focus. Art: 21 is really cool, too. It's nice to get to get a feel for working artists and their studios and their processes.

Art 21 James Turrell

hey guys, heres the art 21 bio and some videos and photos on the side of James Turrell, the guy i mentioned as my influence for my device and what not. annnd if you dont remember that, he's also the guy who bought the crater and did all that neat stuff, enjoy!

art 21 James Turrell

a very poor response to the reading

So this reading is pretty cool but it's too long i don't want to read it all. I got it the first hundred times ugh. oh I just realized i forgot to spell check my last blog...whoops.I cant talk about this reading. It's just like every other article they make us read here.

good website ha

ha I looked at that website..the useless invetions thing..awesome.my favarite is deff the food cooler and the butter stick is pretty sweet too. I dont know butter stick?...i would use it but the food cooler looks a bit tricky to use. I think it's really funny how there are rules for whats useless and what isn't my favoite is  number 8 " chindogo are never taboo"..now thats just great.