So...

I feel so behind. Maybe I am. Maybe I'm not. Maybe bananas are squirrels, who really knows?

So, performances last week were pretty cool--it was interesting to see what resonated with different folks in the class. Todd's (and by extension, Perrin's) selections were interesting more because of the technology aspect--I really don't think it's too out of line to say in a few years that such enhancements will become the new boob/nose jobs of the plastic surgery field. Imagine not having to lug around an mp3 player when your arm literally has one embedded, mwuhahaha. What does that say for our (Western->American->however you want to define "our" here) culture? Moore's Law states that technology gets better every 18 months (I think Moore's law was initially in terms of transistor size, but it's widely applied to technology in general), so there are going to be some digital fireworks, I feel.

Another person who stood out to me was Ann Liv Young, who not only sung Al Green's "Let's Stay Together" but danced to Juvenile's "Slow Motion"--I was kind of intrigued by her, but further research...meh. I dig the total uncomfortability of not knowing what the fuck is going on, but her site (which sells, among other things, poop sculptures and used tampons) just...irks me. I understand its silly to try to define what art is/isn't can/can't do, but there's gotta be a line somewhere, even for art that's performance based. Then comes the issues with morals and decorum and "it's my goal to push boundaries blah blah," but are you really? This kind of hit me when Tom was talking about his idea to juxtapose a sermon with what he deemed sacrilegious--I know art, at times, can be (or needs to be) visceral, but do you ignore the internal compass? Can you really say you are amoral/lack an internal compass? Even if you do, there are obvious codes about what society does/does not expect (again, subjective as hell, but whatever), so wouldn't it be wise to tailor, if only in the smallest amount, work so that it reaches the most people? If your goal is really to alienate/challenge viewpoints, you will get people who are morbidly interested, sure, but will you get the in-between-ers who can really carry word of mouth like, "Damn, you need to check out X's exhibit--that shit was craaaaaaaaazy!"

For my performance, I definitely got some cool ideas for re-engagement--adding other media elements, maybe refining song choices, and making the piece as a whole a touch more interactive. My flash skills are limited only in the sense that I haven't used it in a while an ActionScript takes some getting used to, but again, excited to re-engage (especially knowing the trial window is slowly closing unless I further "procure" Flash CS5.

I'm still going to post, eventually, what I "hear" when others describe their mastertapes...soon, I swear.

-Glenn

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Ne-Yo - Beautiful Monster

Sucker for dance songs...even if I dance with various degrees of success.