Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Exporing two ideas in lectures.

From last weeks lecture on Digital Aesthetics and this weeks lecture on Music i want to explore both in one blog because i can set the rules of control in publishing and editing thanks to new media and its adaptive tendencies as digital posting.

The first idea in Digital Aesthetics is about digital technology and imagination. I thought something was missing in the lecture by Luke Goode. A certain sense of nostalgia and imaginative ideologies that are found and incorporated within the digital aesthetics of new media and the whole age of new media itself. A lot of Digital Aesthetics is to produce an imaginative state. Digital Aesthetics are in a way, produced to manipulate the mind into thinking differently or view it as if real world. Digital Aesthetics is imagined. If it was not imagined it would be reality. However Digital Media is not reality, in fact, it is a representation of reality.

This is why i was quite annoyed that this idea of imagination was not mentioned in the lecture. Imagination plays a huge part in Digital Aesthetics because imagination can be made possible in digital media as it can be morphed and made into a simulation. Imagination has created the greatest forms of digital aesthetics. The flash websites that Goode showed us in the lecture are a prime example of imagination. Digital Media has ultimately allowed us to explore new ways of imagination through digital forms of orientation. By having the ability and technology to display your thoughts in split time and ease through software is the ultimate form of change. In the past imagination was through artwork. The physical work of adapting paint and paper or using materials to create pieces of imagination. This was only recognised and shared by the classes of High Art and in the present it has shifted to capatilists (marxist) using imagination through Digital aesthetics to manipulate or concentrate thought on consumerism or the government to promote chnage through the use of digital aesthetics (e.g. Train crossing crashes, driving etc).

Digital aesthetics have allowed all people to access and share this use of imagination through easily accessible tools of creativity. Imaginative uses of digital aesthetics has become highly mainstream and popular amongst many individuals and groups. Imagination through Digital Aesthetics can be so broad in terms of the new media realm. Making your own Myspace page and originating it, creating it is a way of imagining yourself through digital aesthetics. It is the modern form of digital aesthetics where imagination plays a key role in all users ability's to determine the persona or expressions of an individual. Ultimately with Digital Aesthetics we must not forget imagination in its most prudent form and the fact that many more people have access to these capabilities to create, edit and distort new media...

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The second point i want to raise from this weeks lecture about music sparked from the perhaps lecture morphed class debate. haha. I keep quiet though. Because i find it quite interesting as people's set ideologies and world views so strongly influence there statements. The way i see it. The class debate was just a clashing of world views. And perhaps a mention of theory would have changed this point of view. But that was not the case. Anyways, Nabeel mentioned this idea of Sound / Music and cultural identities as a main theme towards the classes idea's. He said that there is this idea of Music on one hand and culture on the other. But there is something in between that causes these two themes present in the argument. It got me thinking exactly why the two music and culture are so important to people and what was in between that Nabeel mentioned.

My thoughts is that Music has become so distorted in terms of genre because of access to new media and codec formats that it has caused this upheaval in culture and music. So i have come up with an equation to try and work out what causes these two themes of Culture and music to permeate.

Digitalisation of music shift to Mp3 = Cultural discourses + Music Scope

I believe that the digitalisation of music has allowed easier ways to produce music and create a whole lot of new genres and sub genres. In such a rapid boom from the digital age that it has almost overwhelmed individuals with choice. Let i remind people that Beethoven and classical opera was considered as high art and the supreme form of music. It was perhaps appealing to the masses. But now that the digitalisation of music has dawned we are faced with this huge remix and mash up of music. And new creations of beats through technology the share easy access to get music to be played and shared through the Internet (Myspace, Youtube) has ultimately caused this huge explosion into the scene. Where perhaps Culture has been displaced. This causes music to become displaced as well. Therefore causing individuals to question there own ideologies and outlooks on music. In which ultimately causes debate.

Through my simple equation i have given Nabeel's question a form of analysis and argument. I really think this equation that i have created really does clear the air in terms of these two main themes. I could write on forever to try prove my point. But this is a blog after all. :)

Well that's my two blogs for two lectures...

Thanks for reading all. CHeers for the idea's people. Remember... Listening is learning :)

1 Comments:

Blogger Technoculture and New Media said...

Matt - sorry you found that omission annoying. But I absolutely agree that imagination is the basis of any aesthetics (though not the only ingredient, of course - technical skill and a keen sense of audience are but two others). I guess I take that as read but should have made it more explicit, so thanks for pointing that out. Cheers for the interesting post.

August 21, 2007 at 2:59 PM  

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