I absolutely loved the “ThruYou” site and video by Kutiman. I thought it was perfect and I felt like I completely understood what a net artist was trying to accomplish without reviewing the material over and over, (though in this case I was so interested in the “ThruYou” project that I was happy to research the artist further).
My immediate take on the piece was that Kutiman wanted to produce a video on an array of wildly different musicians to see what happened when those artists (and their songs) came together. The title of the work speaks for itself as well ... through you (the different musicians) Kutiman was able to execute his collaborative idea. In an on-line interview Kutiman acknowledged that the internet had the ability to become what it is through the people who post themselves on it. It was the general you that allowed Kutiman to have such great success in his own piece. He also noted how much he loved the internet because everyone can be taught and inspired -- regardless of who you are, where you are from, or what language you speak -- by the people who post themselves and their work.
Apart from the revolutionary music creation aspect, Kutiman’s project also has an interesting social media angle. Before the project went viral, or the the buzz of it forced the site to crash, the root of it all came down to three people. Only e-mailing a handful of individuals, the site took off from there in an accelerated snowball effect. The team around Kutiman attribute much of their success to word traveling through Twitter. Therefore Kutiman may in fact be the first music star born on Twitter, leaving no question that the world is sure to see this trend expand.
Similar to the recent popularity of Twitter, net artist Liz Filardi developed a new type of social-networking status updater: the “Status Grabber.” I found this to be absolutely hilarious. When asked for a better description of what the Status Grabber is, the anonymous caller responded “it’s a 100% free, verbal social networking service that allows us to communicate in brief updates intended for a general social audience.” This definition directly translates to Twitter; the only difference being one gives updates on the phone and the other gives updates on a website. What made it so funny was that the people who were asked to give an update through Status Grabber seemed quite alarmed, yet I wouldn’t doubt that half of those people have Twitter accounts, so what’s the difference? “I’m not stalking you, I’m socializing.” Too funny.
It makes you wonder .. what has the internet become? A collection of creepy websites that allow millions of people to post useless information about themselves and for others to “follow”, comment on, or “like”? That’s not to say that I don’t have a Facebook account and partake in those same “creepy” behaviors ... it’s addicting. Even now, I am writing for the purpose of my blog: in order to post my feelings and opinions, with the expectation that others might possibly respond to or at least read it. Filardi’s exploration of how social networking changes the ways in which we relate to one another and enrich our lives is extremely interesting. It forces people to view their everyday social networking routine in a different light. Is it right or wrong? Or does it have to be either? Can’t it just be for fun?
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