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