career?

I find the concept of conceiving a career for myself difficult. I think part of me just thinks that I'll spend my college years trying to figure out what I love, and then check job listings to see if anything matches up. I do know though that further planning would ultimately prove beneficial to this process.

At the start of this year I was sure I could end up happy as a web designer. One of the things that I'm learning in IM II Design is that there is a massive community of web standards nerds. Web standards nerds are basically a community of people that busy themselves arguing over web semantics and compliance standards. Part of me wonders what they would do if the web didn't have so many limitations (IE typefaces, boxy layouts, etc.) since they would no longer have anything to complain about. Probably they would gripe about the good old days when every graphic designer didn't think they could do web design.

Nevertheless, I still see myself involved in the web. Ideally I would like to be involved in advertising (this is somewhat redundant since all web is advertising). I have a love of narrative - if I could get a job with one of the more edgy web advertising companies that would be ideal. I feel like advertising is one of the few business-related fields where the demand for creativity is still rising.

//start rant

Eventually, I think all media will be advertising. I mean, think about it - all mass media is essentially built to trick the consumer into sitting through hours of advertising. This model is obviously inefficient when faced with the option of making advertising so engaging that it replaces regular media all together. It's already happening - turn on the TV for half an hour and you'll probably be more impressed by the advertisements than the programming. It's only a matter of time before they get rid of the filler.

//end rant

In Regard to the Science Center

So apparently the Baltimore Science Center has a massive basement where they are hard at work cranking out the science center's exhibits - who knew? Frankly, I thought that any establishment of that size would outsource its production. I couldn't help but think that all of those design/development offices were a waste of space - then again, that might just be the New Yorker in me.

The actual job of conceiving kiosk displays for a children's museum did seem interesting - though many of the interfaces present in the museum left me wanting more. A simple touch screen is not enough to motivate a child through a boring slide presentation. The "interactive media guy" did seem to have a lot of freedom in his job, which is definitely nice - however ultimately I just didn't find what he was doing that interesting.

G A M E S E T M A T C H

G A M E S E T M A T C H was an encapsulating work that relied very much on two factors that cannot be completely experienced through video; these factors being that an integral part of the piece must have been participating in its execution and that all of the technology involved was cutting edge. Taking this into consideration is important when evaluating G A M E S E T M A T C H in a modern context.

That said, it is difficult for me to ignore the growing pains present in G A M E S E T M A T C H. It is as though the artists involved were given cutting edge technology and scrambled to throw as much of it together as possible. The result is a work that, while interesting to look at, hits me as a confusing mash-up of ideas stretched to accommodate technological innovations.

Technology should be used just as any other medium of expression - only when it compliments the content. G A M E S E T M A T C H is an example of technology diluting content.

Reaction: Interactive, Algorithmic

So, I'm really sick of thinking about art. What is art? Answer: I don't care.
Now, why exactly don't I care? Musing about the nature of "art" is an activity reserved for the privileged and the pretentious. I have found myself so utterly tired of this pursuit that I have tried to remove myself from it altogether.

Ultimately what, then, am I doing in an art school? Well, first of all I wish this wasn't called an art school. I would prefer it to be called the "Maryland Institute College of Creative Thought and Practice." My goal here is twofold: to expand the boundaries of my imagination and to gain the tools necessary to express my imagination.

Basically, I want to create works mentally that I find interesting and find better ways to communicate these mental works to other people (who I will henceforth refer to as users). What the users then do with these works is completely out of my control. Ideally they would be able to combine them with their own thought process to provide even more works.

It does not matter who experiences my work - just that someone experiences it, because it's almost useless kicking around in my head. From this perspective it is easy to see why I would find galleries counterproductive. I think art is most potent when it can make an average person stop for a moment and think creatively.

Preface Part One

New year, new work ethic.

And so this year's IM blog begins woefully late, as seems to be the trend for me nowadays. That said, this will be chock full o' update-y goodness from here on out.

my dorm, eh?

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