Stage 1 (Winter Project)

1. How has our relationship to art changed by virtue of the fact that new media allow us to more easily be producers as well as consumers? (If, indeed, you find that it has.)

Our relationships with technology and electronics have changed a great deal over my lifetime. We have become so reliable on technology that we can now not live without it. About 20 years ago not everyone had the privilege to have a high tech computer or high speed internet. Also there was no such thing as a PS3 console or the types of phones that we can fit in our pocket. Everything has become so advanced whereas almost every single person has access to a computer with the internet as well as a cell phone. Our gaming devices have gone from Nintendo to PS3, where we can now play games in HD online with millions of others around the world, as well as using the system to surf the net. It has become much easier to contact friends and family around the world because of these drastic changes. Also we can produce levels of higher expectations because of these technologies and electronics that are part of our everyday society. I still remember the first time I ever had to type something in elementary school and I did not even have a computer, I had to go over to my aunt house to use hers. I now have 2 computers in my home as well as 2 laptops that I can access at anytime. Nowadays things have become more convenient and easier to use which allows us to produce the best work that we can with the technology that we are exposed to.

Why Networks Matter (By: Manuel Castells)

Castells feels that networks appear to be the organising form of life, including social life. We know that technology does not form the society that we live in but without certian technologies different things would not have been able to develope, for example Castell uses electricity and the electrical engine. "Networks matter because they are the underlying structure of our lives. And without understanding their logic we cannot change their programmes to harness their flexibility to our hopes, instead of relentlessly adapting ourselves to the instructions received from their unseen codes. Networks are the Matrix." (Castell)