Creativity, Influence, Ownership and Art in the Digital Age

Digital Media is important to study and understand because “it changes everything.”  Digital media for my parents’ generation was primarily focused on analog vs digital.  For my generation it’s more about using electronic devices and other technology to transform the world of art and frankly, to transform the world itself.  It’s about taking advantage of the “new media revolution” that we find ourselves in the middle of.  Manovich described this revolution as “the shift of all culture to computer-mediated forms of production, distribution, and communication.”  I’m a young leader in this revolution.  As an artist, the computer and electronic devices play a significant role in how I make music.  I use digital media to do what “I” want to do.  It makes me more creative and seems to give me a sense of ownership for my product.  Being a hands on person, I am more attached to the things that I touch and create.  For example, making music on my iPhone or recording and mixing a CD on my Mac gives me an incredible sense of influence and ownership.  The great thing is that no matter how advanced the device or technology, I still know that “I” am in control…not the device.  The device is not the art, it is simply a method.  I agree with Jonathan Lethem when he said, “digital sampling is an art method like any other, neutral in itself.”   I believe that creativity and ownership are the keys to an artist’s success.  And while, I don’t like the fact that The Universal Music Group came after the mother of an 18 month old, I understand that Prince is a creative artist that owns his unique sound.  I wouldn’t want anyone posting a You Tube video with my music playing in the background, without my permission.  As Lawrence Lessig reminds us we must always be mindful of the copyright rules and wars that have become more prevalent in this new media age.  When thinking of creativity and digital media and the proper use of You Tube, “Girls Talk” comes to mind.  It is a great example of taking something common, a stage, and using it in a creative way to captivate the crowd.  The stage set up was incredible with a two-story, five room house built on stage.  But it wasn’t just the set up…it was the use of new digital media coupled with creativity that transformed the venue.  For example, using a LCD curtain to surround the house and lighting up the kitchen floor to be a disco dance floor was a stroke of simple genius.  There was nothing new about a stage, a house or the music.  I agree with Steven Dixon when he talked about the computer being an agent to remediate old and established artistic forms.  While the tools maybe new and “21^st century”, the art is not.  Digital media both enhances the old and electrifies the new.  It can help the artist to powerfully present his creativity, influence and ownership.

Art and Artists in the Digital Age

Art and Artists in the Digital Age

The creativity that has resulted from technology and the use of electronic devices is exciting!  I was filled with excitement when I saw the video of Atomic Tom LIVE perform on the NYC subway.  Picture this – an old subway, typical rider and riders and all of a sudden a new song breaks out but there are no instruments.  At least there are no traditional instruments in sight.  If you are far sighted you may have not even noticed the iPhones that actually served as the microphone, guitar, keyboard and ultimately the editor for the song.  Or, how about using stick like figures and digital technology to deliver a powerful message about toxins and cosmetics via a seven minute film?  I love these examples of people taking advantage of the digital age in which we live, especially when they are conveying positive social messages or educating the public.  The comic book “Bound by Law” is a great example of creative education.  What a great way to educate the public about law, art, property and their role in the digital age.   As artist we need to understand all of this since we find ourselves performing and producing in a remix culture and a global culture.  Did you know that you are “stealing” work and violating copyright laws when you download an episode of Saturday Night Live on You Tube?  The economy of entire countries are being threatened by people breaking the rules, rules such as piracy.  Piracy has all but killed the film industry in Hong Kong.  Imagine the impact on their film artists.  They are being negatively impacted by the digital age.  Yet, when you consider the story of Issa, you see a woman who is determined to thrive in this digital age.  I’m of the Issa type.  I am making this digital age work for me as a  young artist.  Issa allows downloading of her music for free.  She has become a model of “reinventing the way musicians sustain themselves in the Internet era.”  I will do such creative and smart things when I produce my first CD.  I will be like Progos when he said in reference to his dispute with Disney, “if I have to pay to watch it entertain millions of people, then so be it.”  Now, there are legal and fair-use creative remixes that have captured our attention.  For example, the video “Donald Duck Meets Glenn Beck in Right Wing Radio Duck” has been allowed by Disney.  Apparently they don’t view it as harmful.  As artist we need to know what is considered harmful and lawbreaking vs what is permissible under the law.  Remixing, for example, is a product of the digital age and is popular.  However, it can also be viewed in many cases as violating copyright, intellectual property and fair use laws.  There are pros and cons, benefits and pitfalls, good and bad in this digital age.  As an artist, I am focused on the benefits and becoming educated as to not make a big, costly mistake. 

“Is Digital Media Bad For Us?”

“Is Digital Media Bad For Us?”

While there are many things to worry about as an artist in the digital age, let me begin by making it clear that I believe digital media is good for us.  I admit that there are some things we need to be mindful of and gain a better understanding of some things in order to be respectful and successful in this age of openness and diminished regard for secrecy and privacy.  The social-political worries concerning control of information and the consequences of leaks are real.  People’s reputations can be negatively impacted when their words leak out of context.  Politicians and high profile figures are particularly vulnerable in this regard.  However, on the positive side people have used the Internet and other social media tools to mobilize positive efforts of demanding democracy (e.g. demonstrations in Egypt).  Organizations such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation have been established to make sure that we are able to use digital media such as the Internet for free speech, innovation, and digital rights overall.  Democracy Now also champions the same causes via their independent news program.  They are a source of diverse news and information that is needed to address some of our social-political worries.  Then there are the social-interpersonal worries that have been largely proven to be unfounded.  In the early 2000s people were all concerned about creating a generation of isolationists and youth with less than desirable social skills.  WRONG!  Many national studies have proven the contrary.  In fact, the Internet has had a positive effect on relationships and the ability to communicate face to face.  The Parks and Floyd 1995 study showed that on-line relationships were similar to those created face to face.  Another positive aspect has been highlighted by Mizuko Ito – young people are using new media to enhance learning opportunities.  I have used it for that very purpose and for improving my technological knowledge and skills.  I am a part of the Pokemon generation who uses digital media for social engagement and communication.  Most in our generation are not addicted to the Internet or video games and have not yielded  to the psychological-emotional or psychological-cognitive worries.  We can think and analyze even better because of our digital resources.  According to John Grohol’s Internet Addiction Guide, there is no conclusive evidence around Internet addiction.  Yes, people have used search engines, such as Google to do some quick thinking for them, but I agree with Nicholas Carr, Google is NOT making us stupid.  It is enabling us to conduct research quicker and to some degree Google and other search engines have reprogrammed how we process information.  That is not necessarily a bad thing.  I can relate, as a scuba diver and jet skier to Carr’s words, “Once I was a scuba diver in a sea of words…Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a ski jet”.  In this fast moving 21^st century world, that is okay.  While some continue to focus on what digital technology is doing to our minds, there really needs to be more focus on what digital technology is doing to our bodies, especially in light of the childhood obesity problems that are prevalent these days.  Our bodies need physical activity, which one does not get by sitting in front of a computer for hours.  We do get this kind of activity on assembly lines (e.g. the Charlie Chaplain clip on Industrialization).  We also need to be concerned about the dangers of multi-taking (e.g. texting while driving).  Our brains can only do so much.  Ergonomics is also an issue as a study shows that most workplace injuries are caused by the computer keyboard.  Finally, I plan on living a long healthy life with my keyboards – computer and piano.  Technology nourishes me, as discussed by Matt Richtel.  I love technology and I take advantage of all digital resources and devices.  I like this blogging stuff.  There’s a blog born every half second and this is my contribution.  As Wesch points out, I am the machine and the machine is using us in a good way, in my opinion. I don’t know what it all means but I like it!

Project Briefs

The thing i would love to learn more about in the Montagnard Dega project is youth and the involement with music. I know in one of the articles it told us that the youth really didn't care to learn about there instruments but i feel like times have changed and they have probably influence there music in a big way now. This interest me because in our time of day the youth has really had a big impacted on our music and younger and younger artists are coming out am we are loving it. 

LInks:

http://diacritics.org/2011/01/05/mondegas-for-the-people-a-montagnard-hip-hop-debut/
http://www.cal.org/co/montagnards/vlife.html#5

Framing

Framing is an interesting concept and as George Lakoff states, it is “the most ordinary thing I do”.  However, because it is so ordinary, I did not recognize or understand “framing” until now.  I define framing as a series of thoughts, experiences, filters and stereotypes that individuals draw from to quickly process information.  Framing is to some degree thoughtless and automatic.  It is similar to an actual physical picture frame.  I recently witnessed the purchase of a portrait by my parents.  The portrait was painted by a French artist who seemed to capture two wine bottles on a canvass in an extraordinary way that caught my mother’s attention.  After the purchase of the portrait my parents went to a local merchant to get the portrait framed.  My mother loved the frame as much as she loved the portrait and actually seemed to love the final product (i.e. the framed portrait) even more than the two separate pieces.  It’s the whole is greater than the sum of its parts kind of thing.  However, when people comment on the finished product, they only talk about the actual portrait.  No one mentions the frame.  It’s as if the frame is invisible but I know it is the frame that is the basis for the stunning look of the portrait.  I also know that if the portrait was reframed in a less complementary frame, the comments would not be as flattering.  The language would be much different.

George Lakoff states, “Language always comes with what is called ‘framing’.  Every word is different relative to a conceptual framework”.  I saw this when viewing “The Persuaders”.  It is amazing to me the effort that is made by advertisers and politicians to break through our busy minds.  They will go to great lengths to capture just the right words to capture our attention and our dollars.  In “The Persuaders”, Mark Crispen Miller of New York University says, “Every effort to break through the clutter is more clutter”.  Therefore advertisers and politicians rely on framing to break through the clutter.  They prepare and deliver their messages based on “linguistic framing”.  They find words that will best sell products and/or issues, turning the clutter into desire.  As an artist, I now have to think about how to best turn clutter into desire. What can I do to push my art into the forefront of someone’s mind?

In “The Persuaders - Giving Us What We Want”, Nicholas Lehman, author of The Word Lab, states, “It matters what you name things”.  I was particularly intrigued with this statement and discussion.  Being a composer, vocalist and keyboard player I am always looking for the right words for my songs; words that will effortlessly capture my listeners.  I want to capture them based on the frame in which they see the world but also based on how I frame the world.   Maybe they are in need of re-framing.  Maybe my words can give them new meaning.  It’s like when Frank Luntz in “The Persuaders” talks about words that work and he gives the example of fire being used to heat your house or burn it down.  The word fire can bring up different things for different people.  As an artist, sometimes I want to bring out all of the meanings and sometimes I want to change a popular meaning with new meaning.  For example, I am adopted. Traditionally some see that as negative or something to hide.  I don’t.  I boast about being so special that my parents chose me out of the tens of thousands of children in the Foster Care system.  I boast about being blessed to be adopted and about being chosen by God for a new earthly life.  I have made adoption cool and others have now adopted children because they know me and my story.  And, people who have been adopted are speaking out more about it in a positive way because I have given the word “adoption” a positive, purposeful and powerful frame. When I hear the word adoption I smile.  It’s a word that works for me. I also was given my adopted father’s first and last names, Kenneth Marshall and can attest that it really does matter what you name things and people.  Although I am adopted, since my father is the only boy, I am the one who will carry on the family name.  Try framing that! 

Who I Am.

Hello everyone! My name is Kenneth Anthony Marshall, or you can just call me Ken. I am a freshman here at UNCSA and I was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Bay Area is very different from Winston Salem. But I feel like as I get older I will learn to respect this calm place. I am one of 3 kids in my household, me being the oldest. Next is my 16 year old sister Shirley (in the red t-shirt) who is  a 10th grader at Green Hope High School in Cary, NC. She has just gotten her permit so she is driving my parents crazy! My youngest sibling is Alicia and she goes by Allie.  She just changed her name from Makeya to Alicia so sometimes I still call her “Makeeter”.  Allie is 13 years old and is a new edition to the family. My parents (who I will tell you about soon) have given their hearts to adoption.  I, Shirley, and Allie have all been blessed to have been adopted by these two wonderful people.

The two lovely faces you see above are my parents, Kenneth Marshall Sr, and Cynthia G. Marshall. I have had the honor of knowing them since the age of 2 (the age they adopted me). Even though they aren't my biological parents, throughout my childhood and life I feel like they gave birth to me. My dad is a stay at home father who makes sure we have everything we need to live our day to day life and he keeps us in line.  My Dad gets my siblings to the places they need to be and he does so many other things that I can’t even begin to explain. My mom on the other hand has other people to keep in line, as she is the President of AT&T North Carolina. It’s been a long and hard journey for her to get to this position but she said she would be the president of something when she was a little girl and here she is. My mom heads up many other committees, board of trustees and board of directors.  She is a very very busy woman at work, at home and in the community. 

So this is a little bit about my life and family.  You will hear more about me and my family in future post.

 Some of the things I think we have to watch out for as young adults in this century is “texting and driving”.  Being that my mom works for a telecommunications company I have been really involved with the whole “No Texting and Driving” campaign.  I have even gone the extra distance to sign up one of my music bands (romeisdead.com) to be the spokesmen for the AT&T campaign. To help us be the spokesmen for this campaign we used a lot of viral videos and promoted through our web site and a lot of F2F meetings with our fans. The new digital media has been a big part of my life.  As part of my involvement in a few bands,  I have used digital tools to promote ourselves individually and our bands.  We’ve also used digital media to find info about events and shows.