Michio Kaku and the View of the Future

          Michio Kaku's comments on the future of technology and society are startling. I can't decide if the possibilities of the future are negative or positive, although some are definitely both. In his second point, Kaku describes how "augmented reality will be everyday reality", and this scares me. If people can have maps, scripts, translations and biographies available in their lenses at any point of the day, people won't have the incentive to actually learn anything new. The amount of work people will need to put into their jobs would decrease if technology provides them with everything they need to know. Future actors won't know how to memorize lines because their scripts are laid out in front of them at all times. Travelers and tourists won't need to fully immerse themselves in a new culture and learn the language if all the information and translations are right there in their glasses. I think the possibilities of technology in the future will definitely make like easier, but difficult tasks such as memorizing scripts and learning new languages will lose their value and humans will lose their incentive to learn new things.
          The other point that I had a major reaction to was Kaku's third point about new connections being made between the mind and the computer. I think it is amazing that people with disabilities will be able to control certain aspects of technology with their thoughts; mechanical body parts and wheelchairs as well as video games can be operated simply with the mind. This will definitely make life easier and more enjoyable for those with severe disabilities. Some of the people who are deprived of the privileges of everyday life will finally get to enjoy more things. I think that is a beautiful concept, and if there's anything that technology should be trying to improve, it's the quality of life for those who are struggling.
          Then again, I think technology is improving for the wrong reasons in certain cases. Under Kaku's third point again, he describes how people will be able to upload thoughts, memories, and emotions onto the internet. While this is impressive, I think it is totally unnecessary. Memories and emotions are a precious part of our consciousness that make life worth living. The feeling of happiness you get while hugging your family and friends, the feeling of disappointment you get when you fail a test, the feeling of pride you get when someone you love accomplishes something; these are the moments that define and shape our lives. If these are translated and recorded technologically, they will lose their value. Being able to go back and view memories and dreams undermines how special they are when they actually occur. People will forget to treasure the important moments in life if they know that can just look back on it later. Sometimes I think technological developments can go too far and take away from the value of life, and I sincerely hope that doesn't happen.

Golan Levin

          What I liked the most about Golan Levin's interview is how he relates art and computing technology to the real world. He describes the importance of knowing how to use computer programming and video editing, and how those can be applied to life. During high school and occasionally during college I'll find myself sitting in class asking "how is this going to help me in the future? Is this actually relevant to life?" Levin mentions how being in high school and especially being in college, it is necessary to become familiar with programming and computer technology. That is where the world is going. Society today revolves around technology, and the influence of technology will only expand. In order to survive and be successful in today's world, people need to recognize the importance of technology. 
           I also enjoyed how Levin's face was broken down into technological units on the screen as he gave the interview. It was a nice added touch to emphasize his point; digital programming appears in everyday life all the time and we need to start getting familiar with it. As he speaks, his face is broken down into smaller, simpler units so he no longer looks human, but he looks like a technological invention or a hologram or something. It basically just reinforces the importance, and the beauty, or technology and computer programming.

Performance Art

          I got the idea for this performance art piece from one of the videos we watched in class. I forget the name of the student, but we watched a video of a previous student who was putting on makeup in front of the camera and it inspired me to do something similar.
          First of all, we discussed how performance art is about the decontextualization of certain aspects of life. People put on makeup to hide their imperfections, and it is generally done at home in private so that no one sees their flaws. I decided to take the act of applying makeup and do it in a public area to decontextualize the act of enhancing the way I look with a ton of makeup. I never wear that much makeup in real life but I thought it was necessary to over-exaggerate the process.
          I thought the mall was the perfect place to do my performance art because the mall is place of materialism. Every store at the mall encourages buying beauty products and clothes that hide your flaws and enhance your appearance, even though nothing is more valuable than natural beauty. That's why after I caked on all that makeup, I immediately wash it off to show that I'm still the same person without any makeup. Basically I was trying to convey the message that putting on or taking off makeup has no effect on who you are as a person, and that there are much more important things in life than physical appearance and materialism.

Tumblr photos

I found these photos on Tumblr today and I thought they were incredible. They reminded me of Santiago's "Modern Saints" exhibit because of the non-human images displayed on human faces and bodies. I'm not sure if these were projections or if they were created digitally somehow, but I just think the effect is amazing.

Saturday Night Fever and the Death of Disco

         Disco was born in the 1970's, when Moog machine made electronic sounds popular. Music transformed from being all traditional instruments to being created by synthesizers and other new sounds. Giorgio Moroder was a prominent figure in the development of disco when he took sounds from all different music genres and created the song "I Feel Love", sung by Donna Summer. This is when Disco took off.

          Because disco was everywhere, anyone believed they could create disco music. This led to the quick downfall of disco. Anything was turned into disco, including Beethoven's 5th symphony and duck noises in the song "Disco Duck". People started to hate the genre because of all the crap that claimed to be disco. Then when Saturday Night Fever came out, it is said that Disco officially died. According to the article, "many of the biggest hit disco singles had come and gone". However, the movie Saturday Night Fever reminded people what real disco was all about. John Travolta's incredible and energetic dancing embodied what was so great about disco in the first place: it was a crowd pleaser. Disco music almost forces you to dance, and that's why it was so popular in the first place. Also without disco music, we would not have house music, which is a huge part of music culture.

Breakdancing

          Breakdancing, also known as B-boying, is a form of dance created in the 1970s by young blacks and Puerto Ricans in New York City. It revolves around hip hop music with upbeat tunes. Although it began in New York, the media helped it spread all around the world and turned it into a popular form of dance that anyone can get involved in. Some more experienced break-dancers often incorporate acrobatic and gymnastic moves into their dances, while less skilled dancers just stick to traditional hip hop dance movements. The four main break dancing moves are called the toprock, downrock, power moves, and freezes. Toprock is standing dance moves, downrock is dancing on the ground, power moves are acrobatic moves that require speed and strength, and freezes are held poses where a dancer must hold themselves off the ground. Overall it is a powerful and vibrant form of dance.

          Here is a video of breakdancing from the 70's. You can see how the emphasis is on floor movements, whether the dancer is suspending himself off the floor or actually dancing on the floor. It takes immense  strength and endurance to learn how to breakdance, and these dancers are amazing.

Matthew Barney

          Matthew Barney seems to have strange sources of inspiration for his work. The most normal is his use of ordinary materials and turning them into art, such as creating sculptures out of vaseline. I also noticed a lot of appearances by animals in Barney's work. He also seems to be intrigued by fantasy and strange creatures. For example, in one of his pieces he used the horns of a ram and in another video he used a person painted as a leopard clawing someones back. He also includes zombies in one of his videos in the Chrysler Building. He definitely stretches beyond the boundaries of ordinary human life and explores different creatures in his work.
           While he does incorporate non-human creatures, he definitely is interested in the phenomenon of human life. He explores embryos and their life cycle, and he represents human sexual organs through the positioning of dancers. Earlier in the film, it is said that Barney uses creativity and human biology to create a "vision of the meaning of life itself". I think that is what Barney's work revolves around. He is using art to discover what life is, and what the human's place is in this world.