Game

I like the associations drawn between popular psychology and the rise of the video game. Examples includes people continually wanting to recall, augment, or control their world. A lot of stresses could potentially be put on a youth that is raised with the video game objective-success mentality. One could develop a mind set that if one does not succeed at a given objective, it's game over. This could lead to depression or suicidal tenancies when one does not meet the expectations or goals set for them. They could be led to believe that if they don't complete everything they should or do it well enough, everything is a total loss and become helpless. In reality concepts of success are subjective, not delivered in black and white, and the objectives one believes are leading them there may not be the ones that will. One may be right in considering it a success to not rescue the princess but instead to lay in the sun on level one and count the blossoms. Who's to say they're wrong?

The Gun Camera

I have always been fascinated in the cultural associations with the camera and the firearm. Whether it’s the belief that a camera can usurp ones soul or the use of a camera gun apparatuses for target practice in WWII war birds, the two mechanisms seem to have an unusual set of relationships. I want to explore the ways in which people interact with and react to the use of cameras and firearms. I am particularly curious about both objects as a symbol of power and their implications in the public domain.
I believe that the cultural atmosphere is ripe for this investigation because of the recent passage of the concealed carry law allowing citizens to conceal firearms on their person and requiring businesses to post about forbidding weapons. It is interesting to consider where weapons are and are not allowed as compared to where cameras are and are not allowed. I want to probe the cultural consciousness and ask questions about the reasons behind these boundaries or lack-there-of for both machines.

Traffic

Sitting on a bridge, looking down amongst the steady flow of cars beneath my feet I am reminded of a river. It’s interesting to consider that every piece of steel is hurling onward to a specific destination charged with desire and emotion. Behind the nondescript shell is a human, a family with needs, hopes, and independent thought. Though as they toil in the midst of cars they seem more like zombies methodically switching lanes, speeding up, and slowing down in an endless rhythm. Which causes me to wonder, is this river of steel more akin to a machine, or the flow of an organic creek? Where does one’s humanity lie when confronted with mechanical obscurity?

The Gaze

In physics, the term observer effect refers to changes that the act of observation will make on the phenomenon being observed. This is often the result of instruments that, by necessity, alter the state of what they measure in some manner. Similarly in psychology, people change their behavior when aware of being watched. So too in media does the act of looking differentiate an object from the photographed object, for example. Consider the phone as an object, a tool with different associations. A photograph of the same phone demands a viewer’s attention and contemplation of the object and the intended gaze upon it. Thus, the photographed object is less about the object itself and more about an act or intention. Following the phone example, the act of staring at a phone renders thoughts of anticipation and anxiety while waiting for a call.

One From All

In a person’s life, with all of their prized independence and freedom, does one ever stop to wonder how tenuous that freedom is. It is fascinating to me that for everything we are or hope to become, we are forever indebted to others. A man may make it his goal to become free of constraint by making enough money and even becoming his own boss, but at the end of the day he is still at the whim of his customers and owes what he has to another’s interest. Thus, it becomes a question not of what one can accomplish, but with whom they do so.

Meme

For those of you unfamiliar with a meme, it is an image found on the internet that is accompanied by text. These images are quirky and in response or referential to popular culture. The text that accompanies them is overlaid onto the image, is punchy, and reactionary to whatever the image may be. The life of a meme begins with an image that has caught the attention of internet culture, is usually artistically rendered, and then placed on the internet as a blank slate so that text may be added to it by any user. The text expresses a sentiment and brings the image to a different, often poignant and humorous place. For the most comprehensive analysis and collection of memes visit: http://knowyourmeme.com.

More recently memes have evolved into a collection of slides akin to the comic book. The displays often feature a number of meme characters intertwined into a narrative that in my opinion reflect the pulse of internet culture. In a sense the meme is an amalgam of all activity on the internet. They are the artistic representation of everything spoken, explored, and questioned on the internet collapsed into a single plane.

Thought Crime

There’s a lot of debate about remix culture and the creative commons. For those of you unfamiliar with these terms, they deal with creative content licensing and the blurred line of what is acceptable reference and what is copyright infringement upon intellectual property. How does one determine the roots of the creative process in the whirlwind of media influence and propagation? Even if some piece of media is a rip off of another, consider this: imagine where scientific progress would be if physicists had a problem with letting other people use their equations. These scientists get published and recognized for their achievements and move on, allowing others to build upon their thought process. A musician that gets paid for his work shouldn’t be angry with someone using his “beat”, does it really hurt what he’s already done in any way?

Ownership

I enjoy how people can become obsessed with possession of an object or even a person. There are so many facets of our society that facilitate this notion, everything from the capitalistic model to marriage, even the family structure. Somehow, these concepts get blurred together and people begin to believe that something is deserved or expected from other people. That if you buy something it is entirely yours or if you invest time into something you deserve a return. The truth is, nothing is owed deserved or expected. No one person is ever truly indebted to another. Thus, the only form of “ownership” that exists is the loan, lease, lend, or what-have-you. A lot of human interaction is based in trust. Sure, money helps, but it boils down to trust between individuals. Trust that someone won’t sleep with my wife or take my car-for example. These are things that I believe to be mine. However, there is nothing stopping anyone from doing those things on a whim. So, I do owe a thank you to everyone for not.

Psychoanalysis

Catharsis occurs in art when a story or feeling is felt and thought over fully to the point of resolution. This is very important to human emotional stability. Often life leaves one without this resolution and they experience psychological dissonance or discomfort in conflicting or incomplete truths. It’s like the joke you can’t finish, the fact on the tip of your tongue, the love lost or cut short you could never understand. Real world examples are numerous. These things are enough to drive any human insane. Thus, people need art to supply the catharsis we lose in life or are never given the chance to experience in our own lives. Without it, a state of emotional unbalance can occur and kill as easily as a chemical imbalance from the liver during withdrawals. The body’s natural tendency is to seek homeostasis in everything from physical to mental states. If art can supply this, it begs the question of what advertisements can do-or rather, what they really do. Do ads for products hold equal or greater significance than the products themselves?

Why didn’t I think of that?

I’ve noticed in myself and others a failure to launch. Whether it’s lack of motivation or cynicism, it can be hard to finish something or even get it started in the first place. I like to fancy myself a thinker and tinkerer. I come up with a lot of different ideas and insights, but never find the time of day to do anything with them all. I even have the irrational fear that someone will take my ideas and distort them. Alas, I keep them all logged away. Hoping to do something with them, some day. Oh, look at this- a blog; a figurative launch pad.