So as we sit in class I jot down notes/ideas about what to blog about because I know I am much better at keeping a journal (sketchbook) than I am with keeping this blog. Some things I found interesting were:

Mash-ups (music)
Music Genres of Alternative Noise and Experimental
Graffiti- Altar your surroundings

These were just things that stuck out to me recently but I am now more concerned with trying to find examples of interactive spaces rather than just my thoughts on what happens in class.

Tactile Photography

Art With Heart

So the more I think about interactivity I keep trying to figure out how it can be worked in to the museum atmosphere. I think that having full-fledged interactivity within a piece may not be cut out for the museum because works that are in museums are generally thought to be there to be preserved. Whereas, in my opinion, interactive art is made knowing that there is a chance it could be destroyed or deconstructed.

Create your own adventure...

So I never fully experienced the greatness of being able to create your own adventure. I read the book at least nine times because I wanted a different outcome (being eaten by a giant, alien-rat did not seem like a good way to go). And I was not the only person who enjoyed it... I had a few guys at work who also read the adventure and recalled other books they read when they were younger. I found the endings to be rather silly but some of them were quite deep (I believe I was once just a soul waiting around for a body but it would take millions of years). Overall, it was an easy and fun read where I was able to control the way the story went (Time after time).

We are question askers, not problem solvers...

Interactions:
Virtual
Physical
Games
Musical
Communication (interpersonal, group, mass)
Travel
Social


So where does this leave us? We interact with each other but we choose not to. Instead we are living in a digital world where we would rather send a text than talk on the phone. There needs to be no physical interaction to go on successfully through your day. My parents are always amazed at how I am always texting... but it's just so easy. You don't even have to interrupt what you're already doing to talk on the phone or even write an email (or letter haha) I can be carrying on a conversation with anyone in person, I can be at work stocking shelves, I can be talking about something that I may not want my mother to overhear and I still have the satisfaction of having a conversation with my best friend all the while giving that person no actual attention or time. I suppose in our fast paced lives this is just the nature of the beast but what does happen when technology no longer works. I don't even know people's addresses. I have to google map everywhere I go because I can't read a map if my life depended on it. Would I be able to survive if there was no internet? If there was no phone? I can't even imagine how people got by in the first place. I also think there is a relationship between family dynamics and technology. Now, people don't ever have to hang out with their own family because there are so many other ways to communicate and other things a person wants to be doing. Back in the day all you had was family to hang out with so that was your source of entertainment. I think I must have enjoyed that in a past life because I love playing board games with the rents.

I find it so interesting that blogs are becoming so popularized. My brother recently started a blog that goes along with photographs he takes and I never expected him to ever be interested in writing about his experiences. My brother is not a very vocal person so for him to want to talk about his art and career seems strange but even before this class he explained to me that he needed to include one so that people would link to his tags and then visit his site from there. So for that reason it seems like a good way for other people find your stuff and get input.