my love/hate relationship with technology.
since the time of the industrial revolution, there have been warnings of poor quality products being produced due to taking cottage/specialty industries and opening them up to mass production; the warnings and protests obviously came primarily from those who were in fear of their occupation becoming obsolete.
we all know how things have gone since then.
rant.
technological advances made in art-realted fields are creating mediocrity.
all of a sudden everyone is a photographer, dj, graphic artist, musician, director etc.; i find that it is starting to detract from the quality of the services provided and works being made. of course, this statement comes from someone whom enjoys analog and organic methods for manufacturing such things, which immediately takes away from part of the statement im trying to make.
and now im going to contradict myself.
i agree that if used properly, these new methods can create some amazing pieces.
it upsets me, in a way, to see that people can get similar results for far less time and effort. it just seems like we are getting lazy. we would rather spend money on gadgets to do the work for us rather than on supplies and taking time to invent.
and going even further, i have to say that i, too, enjoy some technological advances that have been made. ive taken a lot of photographs with my digital camera, though the images captured never give me the same feeling as when i go to pick up some prints from a developer. finding that i was able to capture the likeness of the subject upon a sheet of plastic coated with silver halide salts, have a light shone through the plastic and exposed to chemically treated paper to produce a replica of something real is amazing to me.
the invention of photography seems more significant than the creation of digital photography. i guess in a sense i find something 'romantic' about it...even though its just science. microchips and monitors are important inventions, too (obviously. im typing on a computer)but in some ways, i just wish they would have stayed away from the arts.
im not going to bother to get into music or graphic arts or the other examples, cos i think my point is made.
well, there are two points, really. giving everybody an easy-to-use medium takes away from people who are masters of this medium and things seem to be getting increasingly common/boring/so-so.
oh, and people are lazy.
obviously, the aforementioned are things that are dear to my heart, hence my strong feelings...even though i am a hypocrite and contradict myself.
and i might as well finish by saying that no, i am not an amazing photographer, dj or musician, and i dont feel particularly threatened by technological leaps and bounds (partly because of my own mediocrity in these fields), but i guess i can understand why people have been and continue to be afraid of the digital world, and resistant to change and in a sense, angry.
done!