“But I’m homeward bound; grab a quick look at those around me
Same faces, different day in this ghost town
Kings and pawns, side by side
Modern day slave ship for the nine to five nation
Daily grind ritual
Each rides with their own private soundtrack to the same visual”
It’s funny, after yesterdays noticing activity in the Lectorial I’ve been really aware of how much(or how little) of the media messages projected almost everywhere in the city, in our lives, I actually absorb. We live in an over saturated world, over saturated with opinions, advertisements, ideas, sales, information, consumerism and art; plastered, projected and programmed all around us. I’m surprised we’re not all exhausted from taking it in or blocking it all out ~ both huge tasks. I’ve found, by actively noticing my reactions to the media I see on a day to day basis that often I’m more likely to notice and react to ads or ideas that I don’t agree with, as opposed to ones that compliment my ideals and beliefs. Things such as ads promoting a “healthy lifestyle” by eating Subway or McDonalds, and especially promotions by large supermarket chains such as Coles or Woolworths really get a reaction from me! It’s in these situations too, that advertising really does rear the uglier side of itself and perhaps thats why they rile me so much.
On a more positive note, the activity reminded me of street-art projects by an Adelaide artist a few years ago, Peter Drew, who is now putting those great “Real Australians Say Welcome” posters all over the place (GREAT STUFF). His earlier projects were called ‘like’ and ‘pixel face’ and they were and still are a common sight within the street art landscape of Adelaide. Those paste-up pieces always resonated with me – as a kid who loves the use of technology and why people use it – and I became a follower of Drew’s work. The pixelated faces which were pasted above buildings, shopfronts, on signs and even in various galleries over time, were used to “convey the flatness and banality of human emotions as they pass through technology”(Peter Drew). The use of imagery usually associated with technology, the pixels, and the word ‘like’, given meaning and weighting as numerical through social media sites such as Facebook or Instagram really make you question your involvement with technology and how or whether it implicates your ability to really ‘like’ or notice things IRL
“The media are not so much ‘things’ as places which most of us inhabit, which weave in and out of our lives. Their constant messages and pleasures seem to flow around and through us, and they immerse most of our waking lives”
– BRANSTON AND STAFFORD (2010) The Media Student’s book.
We were presented with this quote, our first introduction to what I assume to be the main question we ask ourselves and other throughout this course. What is the media? Who is in control of it? How does media affect our lives? Are these good or bad things, or is it inescapable?
We were shown the composer John Cage’s 1952 piece 4’33”, a four-minute and thirty-three-second performance piece made up completely of silence. A really interesting look at silence and noticing ~ and a great introduction into our next class activity, where we were sent out into the CBD with the task of ‘noticing’, sounds simple. But to be given the task to notice, you realise perhaps how little you do take in on a day to day basis, whether you’re chatting to a friend, getting sucked into an instagram black hole or zoning out to a jam.
Looking further into John Cage’s 4’33”, something I’d never heard of before (pun kinda intended), really made me ask myself some questions like, is silence music? I don’t know much about the technical aspect of musical creation but I do know that rests and pauses, the things that are left out of a song or composition are just as important as what’s included ~ similar to a narrative or story telling ~ the purpose of Cage’s piece was to allow people to step back and notice ambience as the sound, as the music. A really great idea! I love the way he pushed boundaries in contemporary art and music, but I did get stuck deep in the comment section of this TED talk video on youtube (REMINDER TO NEVER GET STUCK IN THE YOUTUBE COMMENT SECTION!!!!) in which the discussion was had about whether or not 4’33” could be considered ‘music’.
Personally I believe, yeah it can be! It is creation, and it is art, especially in the way it allows the audience to become the creators in what they hear and how they construct their listening. Much like media, art and music are up to interpretation.
Here’s John now, giving us an insight into his mind and his thoughts on silence
A few of the things my media buddies and I noticed when we were released into the big wide media realm of Melbourne CBD:
||UP HIGH||
Cross media advertising/LED screens flashing ads above buildings: “APN”, “Coca-Cola”
A blimp(I swear to god I have never even seen a blimp IRL before~very exciting stuff)
Advertisements for Banks
A painted mural of Nike shoes and sportswear
||MID GROUND||
Band and logo tee’s (Metallica, Taylor Swift, H&M, Nike)
Vending machines
||BACKGROUND||
Tram announcements “You are on a Yarra Tram service to..”
Car stereos, radio ads, talk shows
One-sided phone conversations
||IN YOUR HAND||
Many/most people looking down at their phones and consuming content
Newspapers
Printed books (yes, they still exist would you believe!)
Laptops and tablets
I FEEL AS IF I CAN’T STOP NOTICING THE MEDIA AND PEOPLE CONSUMING IT NOW!
Feeling Deep emotions about Media One and my attention skills today. In the lectorial we were given a reading ‘Hyper ad Deep Attention: The Generational Divide in Cognitive Modes” by Katherine Hayles. The 2007 piece details how a traditional way of delivering education is being re-thought in the age of networked and programmable media. The reading was handed out and we were given 10 minutes to read through it. Interesting task, as the reading was quite self-reflexive in content and brought about a sense of questioning in regards to how we were taking it in.
The piece discussed how a new generation of students were finding it difficult to fully immerse themselves in particular study ~ referred to as paying deep attention~ and were instead more drawn to a fast-paced, fragmented and highly stimulating form of cognitive engagement. Reading over the piece I felt increasingly aware of how little I was truly taking in of the reading and how much attention I was paying to the amount of attention I was paying… if that makes sense. This report focussed on a group of 12-ish year old in 2007, so people who are a couple of years younger than me. I definitely have noticed a shift in the way people learn, and I see it in myself.
With the fact that everyone owns a laptop, let alone the tiny computer that never leaves my side(iphone), it’s hard sometimes to disconnect from that world, the world of instagram or facebook – something we all know is a huge time-waster but something we all continuously subscribe to.
I know that I find it really hard to fully immerse myself into learning, especially reading dry and data heavy texts so it will be interesting how I try to combat that this year.
So maybe I’m a member of this new generation of hyper-attention learners ~ constantly sprinkling social media use and eating (my favourite form of procrastination) throughout my learning, a very round-about way of getting things done. Looking forward to seeing how my learning/focussing plays out this semester.
10 THINGS I WANT TO BE ABLE TO DO BY THE END OF MY DEGREE
So this is it, I guess. A relatively pain-free beginning to a brand-spanking-new part of my life. There were a few sheepish exchanges in the hallway as people double-double-checked that they were, in fact, in building 9. It was almost a little overwhelming; but just like that, the workshop and my media degree had begun.
After playing the usual get-to-know-you games (which is something I love, and honestly a real pull point to begin a degree, or anything for that matter), Jasmine introduced our first assessment, conveniently worth a whopping 0%, just to ease us in. Immediately the ideas were flying, and these aren’t profound ideas by any means but they’re a start.
I guess it was just refreshing to know that my brain still knows how to work, beyond taking someone’s coffee order.
Through the use of this blog, we’ve been given a tool to document our learning process throughout our degree. Personally, I am so glad for the opportunity to write. To write about the creative process, about our constraints and influences, about the flaws we notice in our work, about our interaction with the course.
Just glad to flex those keyboard tapping muscles because it feels as if it’s been a long time since they’ve been put to proper use.
