Are the Aspects of Lynn Hershman's Works Still Present?

I would claim that the categorical system that Hershman uses to classify her work resonates with society today quite well. The world, in general, are moving more and more towards what Hershman calls “ A.D. (After Digital).” If you take a look at different aspects of culture today, you can see the interactivity being worked in, along with the integration of digital technology.
If you are looking for a perfect example, look into the area of visual entertainment. The Nintendo Wii is a game console that put the user in the role of the character on the screen. The remote control responds to movements of the user, and translates them onto the screen in the form of character movements and actions. Watching a movies in your own home has also become an interactive experience. Surround sound is meant to put the viewers in the middle of all the actions, hearing effects and sounds in their own home in the same location as the actor on the screen.
Clearly, the aspects of Hershman's work are becoming more and more evident in today's society as the viewer become immersed in the form of art or technology.

Final Project Idea

My idea for the final project is to have a selection tool, like a vending machine, select a series of events in the daily life of a college student. I'm not sure exactly the direction I want to go, I still need to plan further. For instance, how the items will relate to an event. Thoughts?

What Drives the Unscripting of the Political Process?

In my opinion, the power of artists to unscript the political process comes from the artistic ability to insert their own vies into their artwork. In a normal news source, the opinion and bias is generally left out, enabling the viewer to input his/ her own morals and values to the situation. However, when the opinion of the artist is clearly expressed in the piece, it allows the viewer to see the message clearly. When considering my political advertisement as an example, I did not present the fact of Hillary’s campaign whatsoever. What I did was react, with my own opinion, to the media that I found and made a parody. A reasonably educated viewer can connect with the satire and realize that I was just inserting my opinion, not trying to present fact.
In class, we watched the Yes Men and were able to see their sincerity in their craft, but did not believe them to be anything but their opinions. To quote Randall Packer, ”The artist does not work in a vacuum.” The ability for an artist to use opinion and expression to look outside the box is what makes art, art, and what allows artists to use their work as a medium to unscript the political process.

Hillary for President, 2008

Political Assignment

The candidate that I will be doing for the political assignment is Hillary Clinton. I plan to play on one of the sayings, "Big Challenges, Real Solutions: Time to Pick a President, In to Win, or Working for Change, Working for You" to present a satirical approach to her run for presidency. I want to connect one of these, or all of these, slogans to her political campaign thus far.

Can Art Be Used to Evoke Political Thought?

Throughout history, artists have been a large part of the unscripting of the political process. From the Civil War era, to the Vietnam War error, art was used as propaganda to promote or denounce a cause. The art of society today serves as a free medium to express unrestricted thoughts and persuade an audience.



Steve Dietz talked about several examples of pieces in which the artist’s message was used to accomplish a goal. One example he refers to is the Cue P. Dolls. The artists used this piece to relay a message, and through their delivery, it worked quite effectively. Art can change political opinion by stretching the thoughts of the viewer. When the viewer is looking at a piece of art, they are subject to the unfiltered opinion of the artist. Sometimes, this opinion can be done in such a way that it persuades the viewer. Therefore, it can be said that in a way, art can play a role in shaping a person’s political beliefs.
For groups like the Yes Men and Billionaires for Bush, the most effective strategy is to operate on shock value. While they are still feeding the viewer an opinion, it usually comes from backward logic, found only when the viewer is done digging through the piles of satirical and sarcastic material. At the very least, their work is meant to evoke thought and create awareness— even if the political opinion of the viewer is not changed.



Yes Men Documentary

Is Art Becoming More Real?

When Wagner was creating art in his time, he was striving toward achieving the “total artwork.” While the concept of the “total artwork” is included in most works made by today’s artists, I don’t believe that it’s their prime focus. I think that the focus of the artists today is to blur the lines between the piece of art and the world we live in; what is art and what is reality. This goal is achieved by incorporating new technological advances in their works.
As the art is becoming more of a part of life, it is made more easily accessible to the average person; no longer does a person have to be considered an art enthusiast to be exposed to modern art. Video art has made its way, via the internet, into the majority of households. The broad definition of video art and the invention of consortiums to hold this media, like YouTube, have added to its success.
Having personal access at one’s own convenience created separation between normal broadcast televisions. No longer does someone have to tune in at a specific time. Instead, they can log on to the Internet and find what they need at their convenience. In addition, individuals are enabled the freedom or choosing to view what they are interested in. With this, there are less stringent restrictions on the media shown due to partisanship or bias— anything goes. This not only adds to viewer freedom, but also aids artists in their endeavors. For instance, the Lonely Girl Series would not have gained fame enough to be put on television. Because of YouTube and user-generated interest, it became popular among this new generation of video art.
As previously mentioned, artists today aim to blur the line between reality and art. In the Gary Hill piece, he uses the video art to create a space that simulates the reality of him being with his wife. While he could have just taken a photo graph or drawn a picture, he chose to represent his feelings in a medium that mimicked reality. This same technique is used in many different applications. Instant messaging has become more popular than e-mail because it gives the impression of actually having an active dialogue. One step further, web cams have grown popular because they allow two people in different areas to converse as if they are in the same room, on top of seeing the other person.
New forms of media will strive to meet these goals in the future. The future of art is the simulated melding of the viewer’s reality with the piece of art, in an attempt to make the distinction seamless. New technologies have enabled this, and will perpetuate it in the future.