Tuesday in class, Dr. Burton and Dr. Zappala mentioned that they were concerned that we weren't bringing in enough outside reading/research. I couldn't even comment because I was so shocked- I'm spending between two and three hours a day for this class between researching history, technology and other blogs. However, I can't post about everything else I'm viewing and finding or else I would be posting novel length posts four times a day. And if I try to cram all my sources and ideas into a short post it sounds like a list of sources without analysis. So I wanted to take a moment to introduce some things I've been doing outside of class but in relation to the Digital Civilization course.
John Milton has always fascinated me. Maybe it's because he was a forerunner for many of our commonly held notions today. So, several weeks ago when I noticed he was coming up, I decided it was a good time for me to read the famous Paradise Lost (yes, in actual paper form). The past two weeks have been interesting as I've fought with Milton. Can we empathize with Satan? Is that allowed? Yet, I agree with the idea that Satan was an essential part of the plan, enabling the fall and allowing the atonement. In reading Paradise Lost, I discovered Milton wrote an-almost-sequel, Paradise Regained, which is a much shorter poem about when Satan tempts Jesus in the wilderness. To me, these epic poems reflected the climate of the Reformation; it was a time of rethinking traditional doctrines and practices, a time to think for yourself outside the Catholic Church, yet still reflecting and emulating the classics.
Another tangent I've explored a bit is that of the evolution of art. When talking about metadata, data, and the printing press, the idea came up that with format change there is often a cultural change. So I pondered about the change of artistic mediums and formats from oil, charcoal, pastel, ink, pencil, to photographs, clip art, and abstract art. In the Museum of Art, there is currently an exhibit of the First 100 years of Art at BYU. I walked through and couldn't help but see the sections of development. At times, a person or thing is the focal point. Other
times, the style and format is what the artist emphasizes. Now I'm not an artist by any means, but I wonder how technology has revolutionized art? One hundred years ago, a photograph was just that, not a work of art or skill. Now photographs document our lives instead of portraits. We've taken sketches and turned them into cartoons and animation. Recently, several modern/abstract exhibits have been shown. Pipes, a board full of duck sauce packets, foam peanuts, are now all considered art. And our culture has changed along with it. Fascinating.
Kristi, I know what you mean! At times, I also feel overwhelmed by this course. Do you ever find yourself wanting to blog about something related to a previous class but then find yourself having to write a blog on the topic for the upcoming class? I do.
ReplyDeleteIn response to your post: Thank you for sharing such a great viewpoint on art and technology. May I add an interesting insight?
I would propose that Capitalism and our mass commercial society have, in numerous ways, brought to pass many of the technological advances we have today. On the other hand, however, there are many who argue that there is an inherent contradiction between art and commerce and that commercialism leads to the decay of art. I find this to be an interesting dichotomy. I explore it a bit further in my blog post: Art and Commerce: An Interesting Dichotomy