“DiY Survival”

In reading the first part of “DiY Survival,” it’s interesting to read that artists have tried to teach the viewers that the internet isn’t as secure as most would think.  In fact as much as I thought up till now.  Brooke Singer’s way of informing a viewer on her website was very clever in making people realize that they gave up their personal information without knowing, and in doing this showed that it happens more often then not with what’s done on the computer.  Definitely good information to know if you’re not one to realize it off the bat.  The most shocking was the serveillance cameras that would watch the streets with people nonethewiser.  I had no clue they were even doing this that far back, and more so after 9/11.  To read that your everyday errands aren’t just your own anymore…it takes away that sense of privacy that we all think we have, even when we get on the computer and write a simple blog.  It all changes when you’re informed and it’s good, because then you’re a little more cautious with things, people (as well as me) tend to forget that things aren’t as secure and private and it throws you for a loop when you read what’s been studied in this book. 

A fun part of the book was reading of the Shopdropping trip, I never would’ve thought of that as art, but it is just like anything else that’s created.  I personally wouldn’t want my products/art to be bought by someone especially since it would be worth a lot more then what it’s sold for in a grocery store.  But to see what would happen if someone noticed that it wasn’t supposed to be in the grocery store, now that would be fun and interesting.  I’m sure it was for the artists.

Linkania, I must admit that first reading that made me chuckle, but it really is true.  Our digital world of communicating through emails and blogs really is another kind of world that people live in and brings a whole new outlook on how we all communicate throughout the world.  We’re all people without faces (or even with faces)  that have something to say, and we say it, not thinking of much else other then to get our view across or inform the next person with what’s going on.  In a way, I’m happy that the media on television is loosing it’s hold on informing us because it’s become so corrupt (or always has been) and they censor so much that we truly don’t know all that is going on.  It’s the total opposite when you go on the internet.  There’s mass amounts of information for anyone to find and read and learn from and it’s this world that we have created that’s creating an even more vast amount of knowledge and enlightenment with what not only goes on in your friends lives, but the lives of others around the world.  It’s a culture all its own. 

And I must say I love Oscar Wilde’s quote at the end of the Linkania discussion, “life is too serious a thing to be taken so seriously.”

Graffiti, still being debated upon which is very understandable.  I understand both sides of it very well.  On the one hand it’s seen as a crime, something that’s meant to strike fear, or the thought of gang related vandalism to claim territory.  And on the other, it’s art meant to express and show that you don’t need a degree to make wonderful organic pieces that get your point across not only to people that you would see going to galleries, but people walking the streets just going about their day.  It’s there, everywhere, on the walls, on bridges, covering the insides of tunnels that lead you under streets.  I was walking just today through one of these tunnles, and seeing the graffiti, the one thought I had at the time was, “I wanna get out of here quick…”  Because just the sight of it makes you think of a gang starting trouble.  So with that reaction, I can understand where there would hesitation with considering graffiti an art.  There’s so many different views and it really will be an endless discussion and argument with great opinions and outlooks on both sides.  I will have to agree with graffiti being an art form though, because it was created by someone’s hand and is a way to express what they’re wanting to show people.  All art has that motive, and with it being within the cityscape of where you live it makes it that much more available to see on a daily basis.

I was literally dumbfounded when reading about Me_arte.  To think that people actually pee on monuments to make a work of art, or give a different quality to the monument chosen….wow….Can’t say I would ever go this far to make art, and it’s not that surprising I guess that this has been done…people think of everything it seems.  And in regards to Starbucks coffee, first I (ignorant me) had no clue the issue that went on with people dying from the fertilizer use, and the like.  To find that a proclaimed “addiction” of mine is now completely changed in one evening of reading, and that these people would go this far to prove a point to the company as well.  It just goes to show that research is a must.  There is always something that’s overlooked, even when you know it’s a large corporation that’s banking big time on the consumers pocket change for that needed caffeine fix that we all crave…guess I’ll be rethinking things.  I was told awhile ago on a completely different subject and issue that pertains to this….now that you know the truth, you can’t continue to be ignorant to it’s information, you have to make a change. 

I haven’t gotten through the whole 110 pages unfortunately, but with a book like this, it keeps your interest the whole way through and the information is necessity.  I will definitely be finishing this.  Not only was it entertaining with the whole “Fuck off,” Starbucks attack, but the information is one to keep you locked to the computer screen taking it all in.

 The link:

http://www.williamlmoore.com/images/advanced/C6_DiY_Survival.pdf