Technology isn’t just computers and circuitry. Any time humans advance a process it is a technological advancement. The wheel, tools, and machinery are all forms of technology. It is in our nature to stremaline processes that make our jobs easier and more efficient. The real question is, does technology actually make our lives easier or more effecient? Most people have cars, but to afford them we work 50 hours a week, so we can pay for gasoline, insurance, and maintenance. Before the invention of the automobile, people walked everywhere, but probably spent more time at home than most Americans do today. The computer was expected to change our lives drastically, but we had all of the same things before the computer as we do now. Now, however, almost everything we have contains some form of computer technology. Technology makes our lives physically easier, yet we have less time to spend in leisure. Instead of making our quality of life better, we spend more time tying to obtain more advanced versions of objects we already possess.
We are saturated with technology in all aspects of our lives and it is near impossible to exist in this world without it. As technology advances, humans become enabled and lose the ability to survive without it. We create it to do things for us, and then we forget how to do those things for ourselves. Not only do we lose the knowledge of performing these things ourselves, but the quality of the things produced by advancing technology becomes poorer and poorer. Here is an example, people use to make their own furniture. They cut down the trees and performed all of the preparations of the timber like stripping and planking. Then these same people had the skill to make the furniture for their homes, as well as the actual construction of the homes themselves. The items they constructed lasted 50 years or more, and could be repaired with minimal effort. Today, If I need a bookcase I go to Wal-Mart and purchase a case that is made from particle board with contact paper sheeting covering the surface. These cases are poorly crafted and wobbly, and only lasts a year or two. After only a short time the surface is scratched and peeling and this item is ready for the dumpster. When this item falls apart it cannot be repaired because particle board crumbles and chips. Everything I can afford to purchase is of this quality such as, cars, clothes, and tools. The things we own and create using advancing technology are disposable.
My art is affected by technology. Computer graphics does not exist without it, but the more I learn, the more it advances. Therefore, I spend more and more time learning programs and practicing exercises than learning how to think like and artist. Though I love creating art with the computer, technology makes me feel less like and artist because its craft is always changing, and in turn I have to spend more of my time keeping up. When do we have enough programs and applications to make our art?
No comments:
Post a Comment