I was drawn most to "Murmur Study", mostly because of the clean and minimal aesthetic that it had. I didn't realize that the black boxes were printers at first, and the receipt paper looked like fabric to me. I think the concept is neat and the meaning behind it is interesting. How can people communicate in 140 words or less? It is by these emotive words and phrases that we get our point across.

"Murmur Study" and "Re-Twittering Machine", and even Ethan Zuckerman's TED Talk, were all commenting on communication through Twitter and how successful our communication is on a personal level and a global level. If we are limited to 140 characters, how do we connect to other people around us? And if we can't communicate with those around us, how then do we communicate on a global scale?

“The moment our historical generation is living through is the largest increase in expressive capability in human history” Clay Shirky - TED Talk

This increase in expressive capability has led to the rise of activism and the awareness of what occurs in our world on a global scale. Most everyone has access to the Internet and are part of this revolution. Clay Shirky uses the example of the earthquake in China in 2008. Chinese citizens were posting videos, information, and facts about the earthquake that the Chinese government was trying to suppress. The government, however, was no match for the outcries of the public through social media. In fact, the Chinese government even shut down Twitter on the anniversary of Tiananmen because of the fear of uproar and criticism. The photos of protesters are extremely powerful, in my opinion. The photos of destruction and those who are protesting for a cause they believe in are enough to move the heart of any person whether or not they believe in the cause.

Social media allows small groups to reach a large audience. Social media allows others to post their thoughts and opinions and allow others to respond and talk back. It opens up a conversation that was not possible even in the 20th century. The Internet has been around a good amount of time now, but it was not until the rise of social media that this type of activism was possible. People with not as much power are able to reach those higher up on the food chain -- in politics, on television, those in large interest groups, who own large companies, etc.

I have many causes that I would have no problem protesting for -- stewardship of land and preserving national parks, Trump's idea of building a wall between the U.S. and Mexico, slavery that still exists globally, sexual trafficking, pro-kill animal shelters, etc.

The "selfie" has taken off as a worldwide phenomenon because the focus of the "selfie" is one's SELF. People are obsessed with themselves, and they want to be known and be validated. The root of the selfie is narcissism, and as Elizabeth Urbanski pointed out in her TED Talk, people crave that attention by other's on the internet. As a collective whole, people want to show off what they have and what they are doing even if it doesn't display the entire truth. The man that was featured on Urbanski's TED Talk with the stack of money in his mouth for instance--the money could have been fake, it may not have been his, maybe it was one bill on a stack of blanks--the options are endless. No one knows the truth. The "selfie" is merely a front, a facade, of what is presented to the world.

While I have a mostly negative interpretation of selfie's, I do believe that they can be a work of art. While most selfie's lack originality entirely, if a little thought is put into the composition, subject, frame, background, etc, the famous selfie could really transform into something else. I would be excited to see more people taking an original approach to the selfie, and it would make social media more interesting--rather than logging on and seeing the same style of photo a hundred times.

“We use conversations with each other to learn how to have conversations with ourselves. So a flight from conversation can really matter because it can compromise our capacity for self reflection.” -Sherry Turkle (Professor at MIT)

I resonated most with Sherry Turkle's discussion of the disconnective qualities of social media and technology. I fall into her category of those who have lost a piece of themselves by being locked into their devices too much. I truly think that society would be better, happier, and more ORIGINAL if we depended less upon social media.

"We expect more from technology and less from each other"

We are constantly pushing technology to provide us with more, but what about pushing ourselves? What about pushing our peers? If we expect technology to give us everything we need, how can there be originality at all. Everything is just posted on the internet for everyone to see and gather inspiration from. This is great, and I think the internet is a great source of inspiration, but we must push ourselves beyond that. 

"If we don’t have connection we don’t feel like ourselves"

This is so true, and I definitely fall into the category of someone who does this. Without that connectivity through Instagram, Twitter, etc. we don't know how to stand on our own two feet. I think that this really attributes to the fact that many are searching for who they are as individuals. Many are not confident in what they have to offer without that constant instant gratification of "likes" and thumbs up on social media.

"Solitude is where you find yourself"

This was the most important factor that Turkle touched on in her TED Talk. So many people in my generation are afraid of being alone. They don't know how to be alone. I truly believe that this is where the most originality lies. Solitude equals self reflection which equals greater knowledge of oneself which therefore yields more original ideas. Originality is rooted within ourselves.

"If we don’t teach our children how to be alone, they will only know how to be lonely"

So what does this say about the originality of the next generation? The responsibility is put on us to raise up the next generation in a way that they are not so dependent upon technology. As technology advances, we must continue to maintain face to face relationships and conversation as well as knowing the benefits of solitude because this is where true originality comes from.

TIME TO TALK

"Justin Bower paints his subjects as de-stabilized, fractured post-humans in a nexus of interlocking spatial systems. His paintings problematize how we define ourselves in this digital and virtual age while suggesting the impossibility of grasping such a slippery notion."

Artwork by Justin Bower

Toru Izumida's screenshot artwork is incredibly compelling to me as a fellow artist who uses social media. I screenshot images all the time on my computer and even more so on my iPhone, but would have never considered linking them together to create very original pieces of artwork. I think I am drawn to this work too because of my interest in collaging and mixed media work. It is the digital collage. She groups the shots together based on color and content and really takes into consideration the composition when figuring out how to layer and arrange them. This is a very artistic approach to a common function of the modern internet world and ties in nicely with my theme of "originality" for this blog.

On her website, Izumida states "I'm an artist who uses screenshots as a means of modern archiving. I started creating screenshot art after becoming enthralled by the beauty of web-based photos, videos, and on-screen images. As an artist, I thought it would be interesting to combine multiple images onto a single screen."

Over the past several decades, social media has grown and evolved in ways that were unprecedented. Every day it continues to change the way we interact with people, information, and the world. There is less "face to face" conversation, less tangible artwork produced, less hand-written letters, and less time spent out in the world daydreaming and imagining. The advancements in the social media world--Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr, etc.--create a culture that is so reliant upon others that there is really no opportunity to come up with anything original. There are millions of photos posted everyday through these sites about fashion, food, interior design, art, science, etc. Everything that we could possibly need is already online.

The key is to disengage with the social media world. Trust your own instincts. Trust in your own creative abilities. While I do believe that social media diminishes creativity in so many ways, it truly has the ability to enhance it if used properly. Social media has redefined the idea of COLLABORATION immensely. 

Collaboration (n.) to work with another person or group in order to achieve or do something

People can collaborate from anywhere in the world thanks to social media. Facetime even allows people to chat face to face to create something even more authentic. Collaboration often leads to greater creativity and originality than a single idea. However, there is a fine line between copying and collaborating as I mentioned in last week's post. Social media makes copying very easy and incredibly tempting for some people. It is often hard to get caught. 

As social media continues to grow, it will be interesting to continue to watch originality evolve.

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