AllenRisley

VSAR405
LisaHutton
5May2015
FinalPaper
Artisoftenaformofobservation.Observationoftenleadstocriticism(rarely
constructivecriticism).Artiststendtousetheirarttocritiquetheworldaroundthem,mainly
theircultureandsociety.Recently,technologyandsocialmediahavecreatedsomeidealsand
behavioralpatternsinourculturethatarentexactlydesirable.Sosomeartistsfindthesolution
(ortheidealcommunicativeform)intheproblem.ZannahMarshandAndyDeckaretwoartists
whousetechnologyastheircriticaltool.Throughtheirart,theyconveycertainmessagesthat
aredirectedatacertainaudience.Marshusesherartasacommentaryonsociety,whileDeck
divesdeepertobreakdowntechnologyitselfandshowuswhathefindsfrustrating.Butperhaps,
inthefuture,wewontseeasmuchcriticismthroughtechnology.Thatisbecauseofashiftof
mediacontrolthatiscurrentlytakingplace.Fromcorporatecontroltopersonalcontrol,
ChristopherBakergivesusanexampleofthismediarelatedshift.
AwkwardinNewYorkCityisawebsitecreatedbyZannahMarshthatallowsusersto
anonymouslyreportsocialincidentstheyhadinreallifetoanonlinecollaborativemap.Since
itscreation,thegeographicalrangeofincidentshasexpandedacrossthiscountryandaroundthe
world.Eachincidentispinnedtothemapandcategorized.Thecategoriesrangefromphysical
altercationtounusualattireandemotionaloutburst.Ittapsintotheconfessional,
voyeuristic,narrativeimpulsesthattypifyonlinebehavior(Marsh,AINYC)Awkwardin

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NYCisacommentaryonbothsidesoftheInternet.Ononeside,thewebisoftenusedasa
confessionboothwhereuserscanwriteabouttheirdailylivesandencountersandnothaveto
worryaboutgettingcaughtspeakingillofsomeoneorbeingembarrassedbysomethingtheydid.
Thisparticularwebsiteincludesplentyofdetailedoccurrences(manyexplicitinnature)butwith
theslightestclueastowhopostedthem.Andontheothersideofthemetaphoricalwindow,is
thevoyeur.AnyonecanvisitAwkwardinNYCandseeallkindsofpersonalstoriesfrompeople
aroundtheworldwithoutevenhavingtosearchorlogin.Althoughitmighthavebeen
originallycreatedtoshowcaserealworldinteractionsandgeographicalbehavioralpatterns,
AwkwardinNYCisultimatelyawaythatMarshcritiquesoursociety.Theanonymityofeach
postcontinuallystretchesthelimitsofwhatsomeonewillpostonline;andwitheveryview,our
societyasawholelosesalittlesliceofintegrityregardinghowmuchprivacywealloweach
other.
Itsrathereasyforanartisttocritiquesocietybecausetherearesomanythingstochoose
fromthatareworthcritiquing.Rarelydoesanartistcritiquehisorherownartform.Why
wouldthatartistbeusingamethodofartthattheywanttocritique?Buttechnologyisdifferent.
TheInternethasbecomeavastamountofspacewithendlesspossibilitiesandcomplications.
TheInternetcanbedangerousandfrustrating,andthatswhatAndycritiqueswithwebsitesand
digitalart.
AndyDeckisoneofthebestexamplesofanartistthatusestechnologytocritique
technology.Twoofhiswebsites,BoxplorerandExitNotFoundareeachdifferentexamples
ofdistortedviewsonHTMLcoding.With,BoxplorertheviewercanenterinaURLinthe
searchboxatthetopleftcornerofthepageandwaitforaboxonlyversionofthatsitetocome

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up.TheInternetBOXPLORER>>browseroffersarectangularviewoftheWorldWideWeb.
Itabstractswebpagelayoutstoproducewhatarefrequentlyrathercolorfulcompositions
(Boxplorer,Deck).TheWorldWideWebisalreadyrectangular.Thecomputermonitorsused
toaccesstheInternetareallrectangular,butDeckisgoingevenfurtherandtransforming
differentwebsitesintoaseriesofboxes.Whenhesaysthathiswebsiteisproducingrather
colorfulcompositions,hesbeingcynicalbecauseBoxploreronlyoutputsimagesofred,gray,
black,andwhiteboxes.BOXPLORER>>purifiestheWeb,makingitsafeforchildrenofall
agesfreefromcontroversyandadvertising(Boxplorer,Deck).ThisisDeckswayofsaying
thattheInternethasbeenfloodedwithadvertisementsandspam.ButDeckisalsosuggesting,
withhisnewlayoutforyourdesiredwebsite,thatallofthecontentontheInternetis
controversialandunsafeforchildren.AndthatswhyhehasusedBoxplorertostripdown
websitestotheirlayersandedges.
ExitNotFoundcritiquesadifferentpartofthepreexistingInternetanditsdevolving
complexities.Whentheviewerfirstentersthesite,alltheyseeisagraybackgroundandabox
displayingthewordsExitNotFound(Deck).Insteadofatypicalpointericon,theyaregiven
crosshairsandaboxsurroundingthem.Thereisnospecifiedtoclickorenterininformation,but
thecrosshairssuggestthatanywhereisfairgame.Thisspeakstotendenciesofour
technologicallydrivensocietyandtheWebdevelopersthatdroveustothesebehaviors.
Nowadays,themajorityoftheInternetcontentisbasedonclickinghyperlinks,andtheydont
alwaysworkexactlyhowtheyweredesigned.Oncetheviewerclicks,theyareredirectedto
anothergraypagewithsomemovingblackandgrayboxes.Afterclickingagain,thevieweris
thrustintoanendlesscycleofglitchingpages.Onsome,aseriesofboxesmirrorsthecursors

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movementsinafrustratingpattern,andonotherstherearewebpageswithbrokenlinksand
incorrectcode.Buteverypageleadstonowhere,andthisiswherewefindthemeaningbehind
Decksmessage.Thetechnologyweuseinourdailylivesisonlyasstrongasthepeoplewho
createandevolveit.ThefallaciesandvulnerabilitiesofWebdeveloperscanbeseenintheir
product.AndExitNotFoundcanbeseenasametaphorfordailylife,oftenrepetitiveand
frustrating.
Thereisnodoubtthattherehasbeenamajorshiftinthecontrolofmediaoverthepast
tenyears.Before,professionalartistsweretheonlyoneswhohadanysortofcontroloverthe
media.Onereasonforthiswasthattheonlyavailablemediaoutletswerenewspaper,radio,and
TV.Also,thetoolsneededtocreatesuchart(printingpress,radiotowers,cameras,etc.)were
veryexpensiveandlimited.Butbothofthoserealmshaveevolvedtoallowforjustabout
anyonetocreateanddistributeart.Sincetherehasbeenafloodofonlinemediacontent,some
artistshaveappropriatedthispublicartandusedittocreatetheirownwork.Christopher
Bakerisaninstallationartistwhousescontentpostedondifferentsocialmediaoutletsasthe
paintstohiscanvas.Inhispiece,HelloWorld!,Bakerusesoverfivethousandvideodiaries
fromacrosstheworldtocreateawallofcontinuousvideo.Theprojectisameditationonthe
contemporaryplightofdemocratic,participativeandthefundamentalhumandesiretobeheard
(HelloWorld!,Baker).Eachscreenfeaturesapersonwhopostedtheirownvideodiaryonthe
Internetwiththehopeofsomesortofinteractionorthesoleintentionofventingtheiremotions.
WhatBakerdoeswithhisinstallationispropeleachindividualvoiceevenfurthertothepublic.
Hiswallofvideocanbeviewedascloselyaspossible,whichallowsfortheviewertochoose
theirexperience.Themultichannelsoundcompositionglidesbetweenindividualsandthe

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group,allowingviewerstolisteninonuniquespeakersorbecomeimmersedinthecacophony
(HelloWorld!,Baker).Bakerisaprimeexampleofapersonalartistgainingcontrolofthe
media.Heusesfoundmaterialtocreateapieceonarelativelysmallbudget,ratherthanrelying
onabusinessorcompanytofundhisart.Notonlydoesthisallowhimfullcontrolofhis
intendedmessage,butitalsoallowshimtoincludethepublicinhisart.Moreandmoreartists
areestablishingthemselvesbycreatingworkusingfoundmaterialfromtheInternet.This
practice,alongwiththevastamountofcontentalreadyonline,isleadingtoashiftincontrolover
mediafromcorporatetopersonal.
Moreoftenthannot,complainingisconfusedforcriticizing.Plentyofpeoplethinkthat
theyaremakingadifferencebymerelycomplainingaboutsomething.Theythinkthatpointing
outproblemsismeaningful,butalltheyaredoingwhininginagrownupway.Theonlyformof
meaningfulcriticismisconstructivecriticism.Thatswhenaproblemispointedoutand
followedbyasolution.Therewillalwaysbethingsinoursocietytocriticizeandcomplain
about.Societycanonlymoveforwardifsolutionsandnewthoughtsandmethodsarepracticed.
Asartists,wehavepowersofcommunicationthatothersdont.Letsusethemwisely.

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WorksCited
Deck,Andy."BOXPLORER."BOXPLORER.Web.7May2015.
http://artcontext.org/act/02/box/
Deck,Andy."ExitNotFound."InformationSuperDetour.Web.7May2015.
http://andyland.net/founder/
Marsh,Zannah."Awkward_EVERYWHERE."AwkwardinNYC.Web.7May2015.
http://archive.turbulence.org/Works/awkwardnyc/
Baker,Christopher."HelloWorld!Or:HowILearnedtoStopListeningandLovetheNoise."
ChristopherBakerRSS.Web.7May2015.
http://christopherbaker.net/projects/helloworld/
Hutton,Lisa."Week126."ArtIsNiceVSAR405.Web.7May2015.
http://www.artisnice.net/week126.html

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