Sunday, January 29, 2006

Intermedia, interculture.

Everyday categorization dies. Various types of media are blending like Hip Hop and R&B. Painting, performance, music, the abstract. Every kind of media in the past century has blended together in various ways. At the same time social structure is blending. You can be dirt poor and work with someone rich, or be among the richest in the world and depend on someone dirt poor. Everyday people are learning more about the other side of life, or the other side of media. And every day we learn how to utilize the strengths and weaknesses of the other. Human thought is not as segregated as we'd like to think at times. Many times we are as random as an organized mess, and others we are clear cut and simple. But nothing can ever be fully explained in one point of view. Sometimes we want to show more of our point of view by reaching out to other's point of view. Nam June Paik is a great example of this. He uses arranged Televisions in his artwork to communicate to his audience. What is on the various screens differs with each projects meaning. But you can hardly compare his art to anyone elses, or any other type of art similar to his, because it is unique and can only be judged for what it is in its own entirety. His art is not simply a painting, and it's not a cartoon or just a sculpture. It is one step closer to seeing who the artist is. Or what the artist wants to convey.