Finishing reading some theories written by the proclaimed patron saint of the Wired magasine Marshall Mcluhan I started creating in my mind some parralels between hypoteses that where launched by him and real events that are happening in over times . His theories where quite complex and their spam predicted the event of globalisation and the ememrgence of a new type of culture . he was a media theory guru and started analysing what is the impact of media in general on the world . His
theories made space not for answers but for more questions and he predicted the emergence of the informational culture before anyone could even see things coming .
One of his theories was related to the electronic age in witch we find ourselves ; and age in witch there are no such things as remote places and where everything is happening now because of the hyperconnections and linking possibilities that the world wide web offers . He started comparing humans with the cave man in a metaphorical way describing the living spaces from the cities of the twenty first century as electric caves that are interconnected trough digital media . From television that became a window to what is happening in the world to the communication networks that where brought out by the emergence of the world wide web . This concept is powerful because it puts people in general in new aura transforming the cosmopolite inhabitants of the city in “ cave people “ that are connected trough the web . There is one subculture in witch the same phenomenon happens and that works on the same basic pattern ; that subculture is the otaku culture that is formed out of individuals that become part of an unreal universe and that enclose themselves in this universe becoming part of what is called a subculture . These people are connected trough digital media and the new places of encounter are not the corner cafe' s but chat hubs or topic related networks that are virtual . They are an indoor species that are addicted to the web and subordonate to their tool of communication . They are invisible enclosing themselves into a new world where socialization and outer daily activities are part of a new type of comunication , information being transmitted trough different auxiliary and sometimes
un ortodox ways . Being connected to this a network and having the russian constructivist theory that said that “ time is measured in distance “ in the back or our heads puts things in a new light . If “time is measured in distance” and the distance in the digital age is realtime is not the web the highway of the future , in witch the response is real timed and telepresence is the new presence . We are comunicating more and more trough squares ( monitors) being trapped into cave like universe where the web is becoming the new outside .
Another thing that can be related to this theory are the paintings that where made by Mandeloin Visendorp ,the cofounder of OMA and the wife of Rem Koolhaas ,when she was still in the Architectural Association in London . Her paintings have a surreal flair and expose urban minimalist composition where there are no people that inhabit the “outside” So if the monoliths that are painted on the canvas represent a form of inhabitable architecture that means that the “outside “ is of no interest for the inhabitants of these forms . They are focused on the web generated reality where everyone can communicate and participated to onn line conferences of meetings at any moment of the day . With this technology the remote dissapears and everyone be part of the same action . This form of communication is pushing the boudaries of things is all kinds of directions transforming communication as we know it into a form of dynamic experiment .
If the television was the infrastructure for an informational society where you could take your information from different sources channels then the web is the infrastructure for a prossumer ( as writer phillip K dick said ) society where one individual is not only a reciver of information anymore but he becomes a producer of information that can be distributed trough all kinds and different means , from avatars to social networking hubs and all kinds of information placement tools .
A prosumer can be seen as a filter between the real and the virtual ; anyone is a filter to something for exapmple a painter makes a painting that in manny cases can be a reinterpretation of the real world or a new world that only exisists on the canvas but it was generated by the brain that worked as recomposing machine of the real and generated the outcome of an abstract painting .We cannot deny that imagination is under the influece of the reality and that we are inspiring ourselves sometimes involuntarily out of the real world .
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Background
Living in a foreign country and interacting with people that ask about your cultural background and roots makes yourself wonder sometimes about who you really are . In the last year I started wondering about that because of the bits and pieces of information that I gave out of myself about here i come from and how are things in that part of the world . I tried to think about what my country is and how can i describe the situations and the mutations trough witch it went and still does . One of the ways in witch these things can be explained can become very political and I tend to avoid politics because personally I did not see any salvation in politics what so ever ;so I tried to take things on a biographical level from witch I'm aloud to explain things in the circumstances of my own experience .
so i started thinking about my child hood going back to my first memories about things and I started remembering the way I was going to the kindergarden in the communist period when everyone had to adore and hail one singular image the image of our dictator , the one person that had guided everyone until the revolution came in 1989 . In that period things where slightly grey , the food was rationalized , was not avalbel all the time and we all where wearing blue uniforms . I remember that food was poor and that I was waiting with my grandfather at the long queues to by food . The best memories where when I was taking trips with my father at the factory where he was working and I saw the first computers that where working in that period on magnetic bands and perforated cards , those where the things with witch i was playing and having fun . At the kindergarden we had a strict program and we where singing the national anthem each morning . After that the revolution came and things changed fast . I remember being followed together with my mum by the secret service that was looking for the families of the persons that where part of the revolution ( that being my father ) so for a period of two weeks we where changing locations and staying in the night time with the lights off . In that period i saw for the first time the television program change because until then things where the same the same programs all the time . The revolution passed and i found myself in the second grade in a democratic society . This was the period when the explosion of privatization brought the western type of products into the city where I was living in and suddenly the windows of the shops became colorful and animated by the people that started to buy products in a free economy that was promising prosperity and a better life to everyone . this was the period when I saw the first films that where smuggled in the country by the people that started traveling abroad and bringing video tapes that where quite rare in that period of time the same case in the music tapes that where rare because there was no entertainment industry back then .everything was new and fake in a lot of cases people where eager to make money and develop no matter the ways in witch they where doing it . A lot of i-legal things happened and you could see how fast the things where changing , there was only one type of car back in the communist period and now there where hundreds . The school became a colorful place where in a lot of cases the teacher where confronted with situations that where completely different from what was before . The difference between generations was becoming more and more obvious . In the same time we where under the influence of television and music that was new and wester and in many cases did not had the best quality because of the commercial infusion of media that was happening . Each one of us took things for granted and digested everything that was given out with no definition of taste or what is good or bad , nobody knew so we took things as they where .
High school started and in many cases the school was accentuating the gaps that started dividing on a social level things . The television was the same and nobody was thinking about the future only in terms of tests and exams . The school was a mix of things we where studying everything and nothing in the same time . The world was a small place school home and the best entertainment that you could have was hanging in the neighborhood with the outer guys or going at the neighborhood parties where i n a lot of cases the most important thing was how big your muscles are .
High school was passing away and everyone was in the situation to think about the next stage of their lives and choose a university . i saw this as an escape from the daily school routine and I wanted to study something that was related to the creative environment so I choose architecture . I met a couple of young architects that opened the doors of my imagination and made me think in a whole new and different way . I started the school and things became different . I started traveling and the world suddenly became a bigger place full of unexpected situations . I realized the way people from abroad where seeing the part of the world from witch I was coming and every time I was coming back” home “
I was seeing more and more flaws in the system where I grew up and in the school . From the neighborhood to the international art and architecture events was a big leap and there was nothing in between the school was not compensating for the desires that such events and new places triggered in us . everything became unbalanced and to a certain degree there was to much impute things where changing on all the levels there wasn't one channel at the television like in my childhood , now you could choose between one hundred channels , at the school you where hearing bad comments from some teachers that you did not had enough culture and that in this way you will never sucsede in our line of work . In the same time the question related to identity and what are we was raised and there was no explanation . The forty years of communism in witch society became industrialized erased the former traditionalist identity . We where pulling forward and the teachers where pulling back trying
to ressurect some form of vernacular way of dealing with forms . I realized that I was learning more
by traveling and from movies than from the normal relation between teacher and student . There was always the question of what is value and what is not to be valued and the answers that I recived where opposite to the actions so i started constructing my own system of values and under the spell of travel I decided that It would be a good idea if I would try to see things with my own eyes and be in a different environment. I was not the best person or student but how can one be flawless when so many changes a occur in the world in witch you live . Architecture was a dream world in witch everything was possible until people where dragging you back into the real and making you realize that the outcome depends on multiple factors and that if you want to realize your personal vision you have to put a lot of energy in all the chapters of the process and that architecture and the creative field in general are submitted to individual points of views that in many cases leave talent and imagination behind making place for the so called forplay with the investor. The way i started seeing things was not clean anymore it became corrupted by all the outer parts that where required from a creator to materialize the starting vision .
After all the struggle i decided to leave for Amterdam bradded as a “creative city “ where cultures clash and the events related to them are happening on a daily basis , a city where you can bee old and new in the same time where artists from different corners of the world are mixing ideas and where I wanted to feel the community consciousness that drives things in a certain direction . I started realising here that art and the creative realm in general has the purpose to “ alter your eye “ and to make you see things in a different perspective . In many cases here there is no place for small talk there is a sort of jargon language that takes you directly to the point of culture and concept talk and this makes one to develop a new breed of language that can be applied only in specific places .
I left behind the memories of primary school ,where we where fed with the so called eurotrash music by mainstream media ; the memories of home and enclosed “space”of the home networks where in some people could give their opinion about everything that was happening in the world , to start understanding the world and the people from outer parts of the world and to see the different relations that can be established between people , situations , systems and subsystems ( culture can be represented under the form of a system )
so i started thinking about my child hood going back to my first memories about things and I started remembering the way I was going to the kindergarden in the communist period when everyone had to adore and hail one singular image the image of our dictator , the one person that had guided everyone until the revolution came in 1989 . In that period things where slightly grey , the food was rationalized , was not avalbel all the time and we all where wearing blue uniforms . I remember that food was poor and that I was waiting with my grandfather at the long queues to by food . The best memories where when I was taking trips with my father at the factory where he was working and I saw the first computers that where working in that period on magnetic bands and perforated cards , those where the things with witch i was playing and having fun . At the kindergarden we had a strict program and we where singing the national anthem each morning . After that the revolution came and things changed fast . I remember being followed together with my mum by the secret service that was looking for the families of the persons that where part of the revolution ( that being my father ) so for a period of two weeks we where changing locations and staying in the night time with the lights off . In that period i saw for the first time the television program change because until then things where the same the same programs all the time . The revolution passed and i found myself in the second grade in a democratic society . This was the period when the explosion of privatization brought the western type of products into the city where I was living in and suddenly the windows of the shops became colorful and animated by the people that started to buy products in a free economy that was promising prosperity and a better life to everyone . this was the period when I saw the first films that where smuggled in the country by the people that started traveling abroad and bringing video tapes that where quite rare in that period of time the same case in the music tapes that where rare because there was no entertainment industry back then .everything was new and fake in a lot of cases people where eager to make money and develop no matter the ways in witch they where doing it . A lot of i-legal things happened and you could see how fast the things where changing , there was only one type of car back in the communist period and now there where hundreds . The school became a colorful place where in a lot of cases the teacher where confronted with situations that where completely different from what was before . The difference between generations was becoming more and more obvious . In the same time we where under the influence of television and music that was new and wester and in many cases did not had the best quality because of the commercial infusion of media that was happening . Each one of us took things for granted and digested everything that was given out with no definition of taste or what is good or bad , nobody knew so we took things as they where .
High school started and in many cases the school was accentuating the gaps that started dividing on a social level things . The television was the same and nobody was thinking about the future only in terms of tests and exams . The school was a mix of things we where studying everything and nothing in the same time . The world was a small place school home and the best entertainment that you could have was hanging in the neighborhood with the outer guys or going at the neighborhood parties where i n a lot of cases the most important thing was how big your muscles are .
High school was passing away and everyone was in the situation to think about the next stage of their lives and choose a university . i saw this as an escape from the daily school routine and I wanted to study something that was related to the creative environment so I choose architecture . I met a couple of young architects that opened the doors of my imagination and made me think in a whole new and different way . I started the school and things became different . I started traveling and the world suddenly became a bigger place full of unexpected situations . I realized the way people from abroad where seeing the part of the world from witch I was coming and every time I was coming back” home “
I was seeing more and more flaws in the system where I grew up and in the school . From the neighborhood to the international art and architecture events was a big leap and there was nothing in between the school was not compensating for the desires that such events and new places triggered in us . everything became unbalanced and to a certain degree there was to much impute things where changing on all the levels there wasn't one channel at the television like in my childhood , now you could choose between one hundred channels , at the school you where hearing bad comments from some teachers that you did not had enough culture and that in this way you will never sucsede in our line of work . In the same time the question related to identity and what are we was raised and there was no explanation . The forty years of communism in witch society became industrialized erased the former traditionalist identity . We where pulling forward and the teachers where pulling back trying
to ressurect some form of vernacular way of dealing with forms . I realized that I was learning more
by traveling and from movies than from the normal relation between teacher and student . There was always the question of what is value and what is not to be valued and the answers that I recived where opposite to the actions so i started constructing my own system of values and under the spell of travel I decided that It would be a good idea if I would try to see things with my own eyes and be in a different environment. I was not the best person or student but how can one be flawless when so many changes a occur in the world in witch you live . Architecture was a dream world in witch everything was possible until people where dragging you back into the real and making you realize that the outcome depends on multiple factors and that if you want to realize your personal vision you have to put a lot of energy in all the chapters of the process and that architecture and the creative field in general are submitted to individual points of views that in many cases leave talent and imagination behind making place for the so called forplay with the investor. The way i started seeing things was not clean anymore it became corrupted by all the outer parts that where required from a creator to materialize the starting vision .
After all the struggle i decided to leave for Amterdam bradded as a “creative city “ where cultures clash and the events related to them are happening on a daily basis , a city where you can bee old and new in the same time where artists from different corners of the world are mixing ideas and where I wanted to feel the community consciousness that drives things in a certain direction . I started realising here that art and the creative realm in general has the purpose to “ alter your eye “ and to make you see things in a different perspective . In many cases here there is no place for small talk there is a sort of jargon language that takes you directly to the point of culture and concept talk and this makes one to develop a new breed of language that can be applied only in specific places .
I left behind the memories of primary school ,where we where fed with the so called eurotrash music by mainstream media ; the memories of home and enclosed “space”of the home networks where in some people could give their opinion about everything that was happening in the world , to start understanding the world and the people from outer parts of the world and to see the different relations that can be established between people , situations , systems and subsystems ( culture can be represented under the form of a system )
Monday, December 24, 2007
Fragmentation ,
Fragmentation has many reasons ; trends , fashion , movies , food , lifestyle , smoking or the way people interact . More and more we live in a fragmented universe where one has to act in many many situations as a puzzle composer putting things together to have some sort of outcome . We see thin phenomenon happening from music, where things are recomposed in tunes that consist from the mixing of a number of different tracks to the way products are sold and advertising works making connections between all kinds of different events that at first sight are not connected in any way . Fragmentation in many cases determines some sort of social order and makes people come together according to their interests in one subject or event . The puzzle of reality does not stop here on the contrary as more deeper we go n a subject in a lot of cases we discover that things are dispersed in a lot of directions . One of the first philosophers who saw the fact that things are fragmented was Derrida a french philosopher with a controversial life and background but interesting theories for a period when things where seen quite homogene by a lot of outer philosophers . His theories caught the attention of people outside Europe and especially in the political active campuses from the united states where people where experimenting in that period with all kinds of ideas related to philosophy , politics and social order . His concepts where taken forward and became part of many theories related to architecture and art . The deconstruction of an event became construction in a different field and from a postmodern view they became updated in the present time when a lot of scholars are seeing the logic in ideas that where not logical in the beginnings .
In the same time a lot of contemporary artists are working with the idea of fragmentation in their work applying the concept on a certain subject and on their work in general recomposing different elements that are already there as part of their past work in new pieces of outcome . In many cases there is a desire of staying original so the inspiration for the future work is searched in the past one and the future outcome becomes a reinterpretation of the past . The answer to the question that is put in these cases is related to the way people or artists , designers or outer people that work in a creative industry is why to use past work ? is there some kind of fear sentiment related to the fact that originality is becoming an more and more transparent set of ideas or the fact that this way of working with things can become a sort of protection system against the critics and the people that are forging outer peoples ideas.
fragmentation is present everywhere from the way media is working transforming one person in a godlike creature , a superstar that is wanted by everyone with a strong aura that makes his or her presence in a place an event in its own right ; to the fact that media has the same reverse power in witch it can go beyond the private factor of one individual and fragment him or her into bits and pieces of information related to his or hers private life and events .
Fragmentation can be a process of going deep into a subject separating different elements and recomposing them in a third
piece of information that can be the total outcome of the process .
In a lot of cases the way a concept it is made is basically a fragmentation action up on a given subject that is transformend in the so called concept or start idea .
In the same time a lot of contemporary artists are working with the idea of fragmentation in their work applying the concept on a certain subject and on their work in general recomposing different elements that are already there as part of their past work in new pieces of outcome . In many cases there is a desire of staying original so the inspiration for the future work is searched in the past one and the future outcome becomes a reinterpretation of the past . The answer to the question that is put in these cases is related to the way people or artists , designers or outer people that work in a creative industry is why to use past work ? is there some kind of fear sentiment related to the fact that originality is becoming an more and more transparent set of ideas or the fact that this way of working with things can become a sort of protection system against the critics and the people that are forging outer peoples ideas.
fragmentation is present everywhere from the way media is working transforming one person in a godlike creature , a superstar that is wanted by everyone with a strong aura that makes his or her presence in a place an event in its own right ; to the fact that media has the same reverse power in witch it can go beyond the private factor of one individual and fragment him or her into bits and pieces of information related to his or hers private life and events .
Fragmentation can be a process of going deep into a subject separating different elements and recomposing them in a third
piece of information that can be the total outcome of the process .
In a lot of cases the way a concept it is made is basically a fragmentation action up on a given subject that is transformend in the so called concept or start idea .
About directing .
Making a short video movie and outer things that are related to video art and content in general can be
quite a hard task in some cases . First of all as a strategy there has to be a main concept that makes and unites and can add or reformulate basic cuts and small ideas that can make a difference in the film or video . The construction of such thing can start form a lot of different places . The inspiration of the story writer or the fact that the director has a strong vision about how things can or should be can transform things and make them appear in a new light .
Starting from scratch put's the initiator of the project in a position where he has to concentrate on a range of things that are related to movie making in general . The fact that a movie is basically a bubble that will stay in time,a micro universe in witch a series of actions are happening or are triggered by a certain event or events makes things more difficulty and statement related . The director does not only send out a message under the form of the movie but can also control the story and give a personal impute, adding an individual flair to the final outcome .
There is the also the part in witch the movie making process is considered a form of art because the story is put together the way the footage is edited , locations , characters , clothing and the way the acting is done ( the acting represents a big percent of the success of a movie) are elements that count .
There are many categories of movies from science fiction to psychological dramas and movie that combine all kinds of puzzled elements but the thing that is quite important as general approach is the way a movie or the content of the movie associates with the viewer . The viewer is the final and the in many cases the most important factor that determines the way and the evolution a movie or a video clip
is going to make a difference . The way the viewer is digesting the information has a quite an importance and this is the place where the mastermind of the director can be seen and judged .
A movie can generate an intermediate and invisible presence between the screen and the viewer transforming the movie theater in a hot place full of different mind states and moods . In the same time it offers to the viewer the possibility of choosing a side and self relate with characters that are caught in the series of events that generate the main story line .
A director has the task to take the viewer on the unknown tehritor of the universe that is presented in the movie defining proportions and personalities trough the tools that are at hand in his position . A movie in the same time is a complex mix of concept with technology in our days we see directors that are producing movies with the help of computer technology and we see directors that make an anti statement to this way of indoor production feeling the need of real sets and real locations for their stories because (back to the basics) a director is a story teller that puts out a story trough the medium of movie making .
The viewer is under the spell of the director for a short period of time making the experience of watching a sort of trance experience in witch the viewer has a strong impute of information. Because the experience of watching is static on a physical level but dynamic on the level of perception , the movie is a metal infusion of actions ,images, musique and characters that caught in the series of events that are edited by the director .
Because a movie does not require the imagination of the viewer like a theater play does in some cases the canvas on witch the director works is becoming much broader ; in this way the director becoming the first true postmodern artist because of the fact that he has to manage all the information that is creates the movie .
From a personal point of view a movie is a composition of elements that have the purpose of transmitting the story and making the characters , locations , events and soundtrack to blend together in a singular type of vision that gives the needed impute to the viewer ; because in a lot of cases the events can be much more strongly presented trough one sight or one eye that makes in this way the association between reality and fiction more palpable .
quite a hard task in some cases . First of all as a strategy there has to be a main concept that makes and unites and can add or reformulate basic cuts and small ideas that can make a difference in the film or video . The construction of such thing can start form a lot of different places . The inspiration of the story writer or the fact that the director has a strong vision about how things can or should be can transform things and make them appear in a new light .
Starting from scratch put's the initiator of the project in a position where he has to concentrate on a range of things that are related to movie making in general . The fact that a movie is basically a bubble that will stay in time,a micro universe in witch a series of actions are happening or are triggered by a certain event or events makes things more difficulty and statement related . The director does not only send out a message under the form of the movie but can also control the story and give a personal impute, adding an individual flair to the final outcome .
There is the also the part in witch the movie making process is considered a form of art because the story is put together the way the footage is edited , locations , characters , clothing and the way the acting is done ( the acting represents a big percent of the success of a movie) are elements that count .
There are many categories of movies from science fiction to psychological dramas and movie that combine all kinds of puzzled elements but the thing that is quite important as general approach is the way a movie or the content of the movie associates with the viewer . The viewer is the final and the in many cases the most important factor that determines the way and the evolution a movie or a video clip
is going to make a difference . The way the viewer is digesting the information has a quite an importance and this is the place where the mastermind of the director can be seen and judged .
A movie can generate an intermediate and invisible presence between the screen and the viewer transforming the movie theater in a hot place full of different mind states and moods . In the same time it offers to the viewer the possibility of choosing a side and self relate with characters that are caught in the series of events that generate the main story line .
A director has the task to take the viewer on the unknown tehritor of the universe that is presented in the movie defining proportions and personalities trough the tools that are at hand in his position . A movie in the same time is a complex mix of concept with technology in our days we see directors that are producing movies with the help of computer technology and we see directors that make an anti statement to this way of indoor production feeling the need of real sets and real locations for their stories because (back to the basics) a director is a story teller that puts out a story trough the medium of movie making .
The viewer is under the spell of the director for a short period of time making the experience of watching a sort of trance experience in witch the viewer has a strong impute of information. Because the experience of watching is static on a physical level but dynamic on the level of perception , the movie is a metal infusion of actions ,images, musique and characters that caught in the series of events that are edited by the director .
Because a movie does not require the imagination of the viewer like a theater play does in some cases the canvas on witch the director works is becoming much broader ; in this way the director becoming the first true postmodern artist because of the fact that he has to manage all the information that is creates the movie .
From a personal point of view a movie is a composition of elements that have the purpose of transmitting the story and making the characters , locations , events and soundtrack to blend together in a singular type of vision that gives the needed impute to the viewer ; because in a lot of cases the events can be much more strongly presented trough one sight or one eye that makes in this way the association between reality and fiction more palpable .
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Replicating culture
Being in a sometimes confusing environment where a lot of people talk , share , participate and generate cultural events at one point you start wondering what and from where does culture come and how does it spread . Some of the answers that popped into my mind here related to the desire of one person or a group of individuals to become part or to express themselves in a larger scene . Thinking from a different perspective culture can be linked to some kind of pattern behavior or a “common ground “ of group and self expression . There are different aspects that can be connected to the term culture some people have a deep academic way of looking at things and outer people take different elements and generate culture in their own way . In many cases this kind of surface mix that is generated by what is called popular culture is reflected in art , film and outer forms of expression .
In the world of today there is a slight contrast between what the globalization brings and the sometimes fragile vernacular culture that is strongly preserved by groups of people . The contrast is generated by the fact that there are still remote places where media ( the carrier of information ) does not have access
and the fact that culture is static in a lot of cases it remains the same and it can be carried by the next generations of people to come : this phenomenon happens usual in traditionalist type of societies where
things are layered in a certain time spam , but in a western type of society were media is the main information transmitter things can be slightly changed and leave to interpretation a lot of broadckasted
events . On the outer hand things can change fast in a media guided culture the things tend to become surffacy and the content can be provided by anyone .
On an individual level culture can be connected to the controversial memes that are cultural information carriers and that spread culture trough a group of people . So basically when a group of people is interracting they make an exchange of information without realising o the spot . The memes where discovered not so long ago and they are part of modern phsicology teories . They are considered controversial because there is no evidence that this is the true way the things work but the meme theory can give a logical explanation to how the things happen on an different level than usual . The mix of culture and cultures that is happening in todays world makes things complicate to explain and to see in advance so if we look trough a postmodern lens and magnify the interconnexions that are happening on a daily basis between people and the that some people influence outer people or groups of people the memes theory can become quite plausible .
Can macro things be reflected in the micro universes that surrounds one individual or a small group of people ? and is it possible that a pattern seen on a scale reflect and repeat itself in a fractalic way in another complete different environment
So going back to the beginning part of things culture can be seen as a perpetual machine that is a web of connections and patterns that function together and bring things from different levels on a common ground that generates the information that is becoming culture . In the same time everyone is a producer of information , so in a society where one person can produce media and transmit some sort of information the question comes if that part of information is culture in a primal faze or if there is a process that filtrates information and transforms it into culture . This another part of the process where memes intervine and become important on some a level ; the part where common habits are transmitted trough the meme way and becomes a common habit or activity .
As a conclusion memes are still controversial terms in the psychology of behaveiour and in the theories related to the way culture is transmitted on a small scale but the way they work is logical and can be seen in a lot of of interaction cases between different individuals .
In the world of today there is a slight contrast between what the globalization brings and the sometimes fragile vernacular culture that is strongly preserved by groups of people . The contrast is generated by the fact that there are still remote places where media ( the carrier of information ) does not have access
and the fact that culture is static in a lot of cases it remains the same and it can be carried by the next generations of people to come : this phenomenon happens usual in traditionalist type of societies where
things are layered in a certain time spam , but in a western type of society were media is the main information transmitter things can be slightly changed and leave to interpretation a lot of broadckasted
events . On the outer hand things can change fast in a media guided culture the things tend to become surffacy and the content can be provided by anyone .
On an individual level culture can be connected to the controversial memes that are cultural information carriers and that spread culture trough a group of people . So basically when a group of people is interracting they make an exchange of information without realising o the spot . The memes where discovered not so long ago and they are part of modern phsicology teories . They are considered controversial because there is no evidence that this is the true way the things work but the meme theory can give a logical explanation to how the things happen on an different level than usual . The mix of culture and cultures that is happening in todays world makes things complicate to explain and to see in advance so if we look trough a postmodern lens and magnify the interconnexions that are happening on a daily basis between people and the that some people influence outer people or groups of people the memes theory can become quite plausible .
Can macro things be reflected in the micro universes that surrounds one individual or a small group of people ? and is it possible that a pattern seen on a scale reflect and repeat itself in a fractalic way in another complete different environment
So going back to the beginning part of things culture can be seen as a perpetual machine that is a web of connections and patterns that function together and bring things from different levels on a common ground that generates the information that is becoming culture . In the same time everyone is a producer of information , so in a society where one person can produce media and transmit some sort of information the question comes if that part of information is culture in a primal faze or if there is a process that filtrates information and transforms it into culture . This another part of the process where memes intervine and become important on some a level ; the part where common habits are transmitted trough the meme way and becomes a common habit or activity .
As a conclusion memes are still controversial terms in the psychology of behaveiour and in the theories related to the way culture is transmitted on a small scale but the way they work is logical and can be seen in a lot of of interaction cases between different individuals .
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Design
An controversial figure in today's fashion world is Tom Ford the american designer that reenergized the house of Gucci in the 90's and became known for bringing the 70's hedonistic party mood on the catwalk and in the products of the house . Having the vision of a movie director he created the character that represents the gucci brand and gave new meanings to the word designer and creative director . There where a lot of articles regarding Tom Ford and in the same time he has a constant media presence because of the openings of new stores and the launch of his own brand but what I find interesting about him is the fact that he gave a new meaning to the word designer . A designer is the person that basicali designs the product that is going to be marketed and sold but in the case of Tom Ford the things are slightly different . He moved from the this faze and became implied in the buissnies side of things and in the strategy of the company , in the same time he controlled the communication and the image of the brand selling a mix of Tom Ford and Gucci and infusing his ideas in the designs giving the products a “Tom Ford look” that became the blueprint of the brand .
He was one of the first designers that crossed the lines that separate different functions in the structure of a company and he was one of the first ones that designed in a way that makes me think about what culture can mean . In a lot o cases the designers are just part of the process and do not imply themselfes in the communicational and strategical thinking of the brand they are the so called artists that do not deal with numbers they deal only with the creative concepts and have the mission of making the products that come out of their hands unique and original in all their aspects . Back to the case of Tom Ford,he was different becoming one with the brand and directing the visual aspect of the brand in a specific moment in time makes me think about the fact that probably there is some kind of mathematical pattern in the way the creative process of designing works . In a society where we are constantly bombarded with new products because of the shopping phenomenon Tom Ford started seeing the things in a simple way creating a new path and selling a lifestyle associated with the brand and with the house that he was representing .
There are a lot of theories related to what a designer can be and has to be but in a lot of cases the fact that a designer puts and creates some kind of “space “ to make things happen is neglected in a lot of cases . The designer is regarded as the person that designs and not as the person that can see the missing pieces of the puzzle and bring people together for a specific cause and with a specific reason .
A designer can be a “space creator “ and the person that gathers people together having the capacity of thinking from macro to micro ( or reverse) and applying some sort of cultural learnings on the creations that come out of his imagination . A designer can also be the person that can step away from the process and become a sort of annalist or observer ( trend-watcher ) of things being implied in the design process just by influencing the people that actually design .
On another level the designing process can be quite difficult and complicated because of the way it works and the mood of each designer . The mood of things is very important the way things work and are created is influenced by this . Designers often seek inspiration in the “outside world “ and this world can be the fine art world , the world of advertising, nature, music or life in general , so this human factor called inspiration often produces the link or the bridge between different types of thinking and working thus the inspiration factor can make the difference between sterile creations and successful outcomes . So the empathy between different people can bring out of the nothingness of the scratch beginnings a good product .
In the last few years the designer term is also became more and more a definition of the process more that on the people that are implied in it ( a good example for this is Ole Schefer one of the partners in charge of OMA that had reconized in an interview that sometimes you cannot work with a fully professional team and that sometimes the need of a free mind without professional dogmas is needed) . Because of the complex world that we are living in today a world that is under the pressure of constant shifts and associative problems ( see globalization ) the design process started to require more and more a multifaceted way of thinking so in a lot of cases people that have nothing to do with design can be implied in the actual brainstorm that generates the next phases . Designers are obliged in today's world to learn from different fiends and to generate a coherent concept that can be user friendly and have a longer time spam .
He was one of the first designers that crossed the lines that separate different functions in the structure of a company and he was one of the first ones that designed in a way that makes me think about what culture can mean . In a lot o cases the designers are just part of the process and do not imply themselfes in the communicational and strategical thinking of the brand they are the so called artists that do not deal with numbers they deal only with the creative concepts and have the mission of making the products that come out of their hands unique and original in all their aspects . Back to the case of Tom Ford,he was different becoming one with the brand and directing the visual aspect of the brand in a specific moment in time makes me think about the fact that probably there is some kind of mathematical pattern in the way the creative process of designing works . In a society where we are constantly bombarded with new products because of the shopping phenomenon Tom Ford started seeing the things in a simple way creating a new path and selling a lifestyle associated with the brand and with the house that he was representing .
There are a lot of theories related to what a designer can be and has to be but in a lot of cases the fact that a designer puts and creates some kind of “space “ to make things happen is neglected in a lot of cases . The designer is regarded as the person that designs and not as the person that can see the missing pieces of the puzzle and bring people together for a specific cause and with a specific reason .
A designer can be a “space creator “ and the person that gathers people together having the capacity of thinking from macro to micro ( or reverse) and applying some sort of cultural learnings on the creations that come out of his imagination . A designer can also be the person that can step away from the process and become a sort of annalist or observer ( trend-watcher ) of things being implied in the design process just by influencing the people that actually design .
On another level the designing process can be quite difficult and complicated because of the way it works and the mood of each designer . The mood of things is very important the way things work and are created is influenced by this . Designers often seek inspiration in the “outside world “ and this world can be the fine art world , the world of advertising, nature, music or life in general , so this human factor called inspiration often produces the link or the bridge between different types of thinking and working thus the inspiration factor can make the difference between sterile creations and successful outcomes . So the empathy between different people can bring out of the nothingness of the scratch beginnings a good product .
In the last few years the designer term is also became more and more a definition of the process more that on the people that are implied in it ( a good example for this is Ole Schefer one of the partners in charge of OMA that had reconized in an interview that sometimes you cannot work with a fully professional team and that sometimes the need of a free mind without professional dogmas is needed) . Because of the complex world that we are living in today a world that is under the pressure of constant shifts and associative problems ( see globalization ) the design process started to require more and more a multifaceted way of thinking so in a lot of cases people that have nothing to do with design can be implied in the actual brainstorm that generates the next phases . Designers are obliged in today's world to learn from different fiends and to generate a coherent concept that can be user friendly and have a longer time spam .
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Disapointement ,
Living in Amsterdam makes one to become an opened minded person in all kinds of directions ; the city brings together different races and different people from all kinds of places thus creating a strong mixture . On the other hand the fact that a lot of things are tolerated and allowed , makes the mix of cultures, behavior typology and lifestyles more interesting and sometimes weird for the people from outside . Amsterdam is not a big city compared with outer world cities but it has a strong identity because of the mix of cultures and the continuous cultural events that are happening with a sort of periodicity in different places . People generate this kinds of events and in a lot of cases make the best out of them . So in this scene the medium educated person should realize the fact that people in general can express themselves in all kinds of different ways , and have the need to express and create from a group to their personal identity because of the fact that the Amsterdam scene varies so much .
From the ancient times people expressed themselves trough body painting , piercing , tattoos , hair style and make up , clothing or rituals the fact that they are part of a group or the fact that they are simply different from a group . In a lot of cases the search for individuality of one can generate an
entire new cultural current .
Last weekend it happened an interesting thing that caught my attention . I was out partying at the last Raw party from this year , a party where usually there is a high mixture of people that express themselves in an different way . They are the people that create the party scene of the city and they are not afraid to show more that the rest who they are and implicitly what they like . I came at the party after twelve o clock and it was already full the musique was good and vibrant and everyone was having fun , talking , chilling or dancing . I went to the bar and ordered a beer and went to the dance floor to enter in the party mood and worm up myself ; I lit up a cigarette and started to pay attention to the musique and to the people around me . At one point i found a place near the dance floor that was not so crowded and I parked there . The Dj was amazing and behind him two people one male and one female where entertaining themselves on the rithm of the musique . The girl was dressed unusual in an dress that was home designed (the designer was behind her and the dj booth ) and the boy was half naked with a blond punk haircut and some piercing and make up . This kind of view is normal for an raw party so i was not intrigued by their look , what intrigued me was the comment that I heard when another guy with a punk haircut and with some chains and interesting costume passed in front of me . The comment was “what the fuck !!!” ; I turned to my left instinctively to see who make the comment ...now usually do not judge people but the guy that made the comment was a pathetic “party animal “...
he was the classic corner dancer that dances half of the night looking at the floor and with half of his shirt opened . for a moment I thought that I'm not in Amsterdam I thought that I'm again at the school parties or the neighborhood parties at witch I attended when I was younger , parties at witch everyone was looking visually in the same way or everyone was part of the same trend ...
In a few seconds my brain filled up with questions .. and related to the comment that I just heard . I did not say anything I just changed position and started asking myself all kinds of things . I one person not allowed to express itself trough piercings or make up or strage haircuts . In the world of today we see a lot of people that express the fact that they belong to a type of urban culture like hip- hop culture that is a movement or the punk , queer , rock and rasta that is more or less part of the world that surrounds us . Why are these people considered by some to be mutants of weird ? just because one hair cut or just because of the fact that they were piercings in places that outer people do not even dream ?
In a place where tolerance has a different meaning than in general and where bigger sins are committed than just having piercings and different haircuts you hear this commentary “what the f**k!!” . The only thing that one can do is to mirror back the question and make the “ what the f**k “person become the freak in the show .
Let's dance !
From the ancient times people expressed themselves trough body painting , piercing , tattoos , hair style and make up , clothing or rituals the fact that they are part of a group or the fact that they are simply different from a group . In a lot of cases the search for individuality of one can generate an
entire new cultural current .
Last weekend it happened an interesting thing that caught my attention . I was out partying at the last Raw party from this year , a party where usually there is a high mixture of people that express themselves in an different way . They are the people that create the party scene of the city and they are not afraid to show more that the rest who they are and implicitly what they like . I came at the party after twelve o clock and it was already full the musique was good and vibrant and everyone was having fun , talking , chilling or dancing . I went to the bar and ordered a beer and went to the dance floor to enter in the party mood and worm up myself ; I lit up a cigarette and started to pay attention to the musique and to the people around me . At one point i found a place near the dance floor that was not so crowded and I parked there . The Dj was amazing and behind him two people one male and one female where entertaining themselves on the rithm of the musique . The girl was dressed unusual in an dress that was home designed (the designer was behind her and the dj booth ) and the boy was half naked with a blond punk haircut and some piercing and make up . This kind of view is normal for an raw party so i was not intrigued by their look , what intrigued me was the comment that I heard when another guy with a punk haircut and with some chains and interesting costume passed in front of me . The comment was “what the fuck !!!” ; I turned to my left instinctively to see who make the comment ...now usually do not judge people but the guy that made the comment was a pathetic “party animal “...
he was the classic corner dancer that dances half of the night looking at the floor and with half of his shirt opened . for a moment I thought that I'm not in Amsterdam I thought that I'm again at the school parties or the neighborhood parties at witch I attended when I was younger , parties at witch everyone was looking visually in the same way or everyone was part of the same trend ...
In a few seconds my brain filled up with questions .. and related to the comment that I just heard . I did not say anything I just changed position and started asking myself all kinds of things . I one person not allowed to express itself trough piercings or make up or strage haircuts . In the world of today we see a lot of people that express the fact that they belong to a type of urban culture like hip- hop culture that is a movement or the punk , queer , rock and rasta that is more or less part of the world that surrounds us . Why are these people considered by some to be mutants of weird ? just because one hair cut or just because of the fact that they were piercings in places that outer people do not even dream ?
In a place where tolerance has a different meaning than in general and where bigger sins are committed than just having piercings and different haircuts you hear this commentary “what the f**k!!” . The only thing that one can do is to mirror back the question and make the “ what the f**k “person become the freak in the show .
Let's dance !
Monday, December 17, 2007
Surrealism and comic book culture ,
Fantasy can take different forms ; the comic book culture is an example of the parallel universe that imagination has created over the years the books start to have different values and the mix between the images from the drawing board and the dialog bubbles are becoming a new universe that takes life . The comic books have the information implemented is sort of cinematic and in the same time it can be easy for the reader or the person that translates this kind of “books “ into moving images, to understand the epic part of the events . These universes are quite diverse and divided in different genders and types of action . What is fascinating about them are the inhabitants of these comic strips . The characters have super powers and in many cases they can do unusual things that are more or less connected to the real world . In many cases these characters have interesting features , animal , nature related , robotic and hybrid . The universe where the action takes place has the same distorted features making the characters to become interesting and developed in a direction related to the place and universes from where they come . In a lot of cases we can se that some characters have features that are related to their powers and their body structure is changed in the relation with the way they function and the way they act as a character . In a lot of cases the interesting part of the story is the way the environment in witch the characters find themselves shapes the way they act and use their forces , their skin color , the way they look , the fashion that they use . These characters are alive and they interact trough their abilities to make things happen . The way they are concienved by their maker is unique and surrealist because of the way they are as characters and the unique universe where the action is happening . In a lot of cases the characters have a basic human personality because of the way the plot works but their powers are quite different from what human powers seem to be like they have amplified features more hair or special suites that can block or release some of the energy forms that are integrated in them as characters . On a different level some characters have an interesting backround and they can became what they are because of pervious events that happened in their past . The surreal circumstances are part of the way they live and at the same time the universe in witch they live is under the surreal trace
The place where the action takes place is defined by all kinds of adjectives like fictional places, dystopian society or places where man and machine are one . The heroes of these stories live lives that are part of these universes these kinds of things surround them on a level that makes things to take some kind of religious aspects . Their powers are unleashed transforming the places and battles into unreal bizzare energy releases . What is printed is becoming some sort of reality in the way that the people who read and follow these stories putting their imagination to work and expanding them .
There could be some examples of these short stories like the comic book culture from the states or the comic book culture from japan are based on the same type of interesting characters . On a different level these things are part of a bigger set , there are characters that are followed trough multiple story parts , the characters have an epic evolution that can be common or be individual . The comic book term is wrong because of the fact that only cumulated these comics can become a book .
The place where the action takes place is defined by all kinds of adjectives like fictional places, dystopian society or places where man and machine are one . The heroes of these stories live lives that are part of these universes these kinds of things surround them on a level that makes things to take some kind of religious aspects . Their powers are unleashed transforming the places and battles into unreal bizzare energy releases . What is printed is becoming some sort of reality in the way that the people who read and follow these stories putting their imagination to work and expanding them .
There could be some examples of these short stories like the comic book culture from the states or the comic book culture from japan are based on the same type of interesting characters . On a different level these things are part of a bigger set , there are characters that are followed trough multiple story parts , the characters have an epic evolution that can be common or be individual . The comic book term is wrong because of the fact that only cumulated these comics can become a book .
