Well, I think the biggest problem that I've been having with my paper as of right now is that every time I sit down to write, I am writing a new paper, because my thinking on the matter has shi
fted in one direction or another. My original stance was one highly critical of digital media, and though I felt it was representative of what I had actually experienced myself and witnessed in the lives of others, I didn't feel like it was the whole story. My most recent shift in thinking, which came about thanks to some really savvy feedback from +Eileen and Dr. Burton, has helped me to look at the Internet in a much more balanced light, seeing the good and the bad and recognizing the Internet more so as a tool than an influence--as something that cultures whatever we put into it. The problem is, that has brought me to a new impasse, in that such a stance paints societal "progress" as the source of modernity's awe deficiencies.
Silva has a vast following, and his works have apparently inspired awe within thousands of individuals worldwide. I am going to try contacting him to get his take on the idea of digital amplification--the notion that the digital realm essentially cultures whatever we put into it, both the awe inspiring and the mundane.
2. Google+ Communities
There are a number of digital art and new media art communities (abcd) to which I'm going to post some of my intermediate work for social proof, and they may be interested in the final project as well. There's another community dedicated to "Digital Biology," and I feel like my discussion of awe and the digital through a psychological/biological approach would probably appeal to some people there.
3. Jeffrey Davis
Writer and creativity consultant for "Tracking Wonder" (a sub-site of Psychology Today), which is dedicated to the connection between awe and creativity. This is right up my alley, and I bet Mr. David could be a huge help.
We went over some brief drafts of our literature reviews in class Monday, and I wanted to post what I have so far for anyone who's interested in reading. This will hopefully provide a groundwork on which I can build the rest of my paper, though Monday's talks helped me to see that there are a lot of things that I could do to shore up my foundations.
I've been thinking about what I wanted to do to try to make my creative project more personal, because as Dr. Burton aptly noted, the personal has legitimate power and serves as a way of making something more relatable and interesting on a number of levels. In some sense, I really like the way that Jason Silva does his videos (see his newest one to the right, for example), where he intermixes the personal and the scholarly and all that, but at the same time, I think with my project, I want the two to be more subdivided. Silva's downfall is that he's creates a cult around himself without giving his ideas (which are remarkable, in many cases) the prominence that they deserve.
So, with that in mind, I'm going to be doing a short introductory section where I talk about my experiences with digital media and kind of the back story of why all this is important to me. Up until two years ago, I was one of the most ardent critics of digital media, and I had renounced video games almost entirely as time wasters. My paper for the first of my classes from Dr. Burton was one about individual creativity, and I think it fitting that my final project in my capstone class will be revisit both the disillusionment and the creative component as dual edges of the digital realm. Realistically, I'll probably just tell my story briefly and then talk about how the creative component of my project is, in itself, an attempt to bring into reality the kind of creation that I propose in the second half of my paper/project. Thus, it's kind of self-reflective and recursive and wonderful (or at least that's the hope).
Another benefit of that is that I can get out the analytical part of my creative project briefly and reserve time in the creative component just for the emotional and poetic. I've seen some instance where a combination works, but I think it helps to have some kind of subdivision to help the mind change modes. Anyway, what are your thoughts? Do you feel like that will be successful, or will the introductory portion not be relatable enough to keep people interested for the latter portion?
Working Thesis (which will surely undergo drastic revision): While the digital age
affords us seemingly infinite opportunities, with those opportunities comes the danger of
destroying mankind's most fundamental and universal quality, his capacity to
experience and create awe. Realistically, you should probably just skip to the end and read my end commentary, because I'm tweaking my emphasis a bit, and that's the part where I'd be most interested in hearing your feedback. Thanks!
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Adorno, Theodor W and Max Horkheimer. "The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception." Dialectic of Enlightenment. Trans. John Cummings. New York: Herder & Herder, 1972. 120-167. Print.
Adorno and Horkheimer propose that modern media encourages passive consumption over true creativity and that in their aspirations toward popularity and industrial utility, they have fallen into a state of artistic or aesthetic impoverishment. This ties into my focus on digital creativity as a means of overcoming the impoverishment and rising from passive consumption to a state of "flourishing" productivity.
Arnold, Matthew. “The Study of Poetry.” 1880. Poetry Foundation. 13 Oct. 2009. Web. 19 Mar. 2014.
In this essay, Arnold proposes that the measure of a work’s poetic or artistic greatness (and I would argue, it’s potential to inspire awe) is based on a combination of personal and historical perspectives. Great works, then, partake of the same spirit as landmark works that have come before--touchstones, as he calls them. This in some sense helps to overcome the sense of subjectiveness that many of us have been struggling with in defining awe.
Well, after way too many hours of learning Lightworks, Part I of my project prototype for "Reclaiming Awe" is complete. The videos are CC Attribution-Sharealike, so I'll put links up in the final version. The piano music is a bit rough at this point, as I didn't have time to schedule a studio with a real piano. Anyway, I hope you like it! I'd love to hear your feedback!
