Crowdsourcing

I have seen crowd sourcing done in many videos in the past, and I just think that it is the coolest thing. While I absolutely love crowd sourced videos and other media, I usually just take it in and then move on without much after-thought. After doing the reading and watching the ted talks it really opened my mind and made me stop to consider why crowd sourced projects can be so powerful.

Collaboration is so important to many art forms, and when you can see the individual efforts of every person involved it really makes you appreciate all of the work that went into making the final product. Crowd sourcing is a kind of mass-collaboration, where many many people can get involved and leave their mark on a project. It’s really cool to look at a video such as The Johnny Cash Project and know that every frame was created by an artist that dedicated whatever amount of time just to that one frame. What makes it so powerful is the way that it is a clear visual of how many people care about the subject. The dark and somber tones of “Aint No Grave” are portrayed in so many unique ways, showing how each person takes their own interpretation of the song and portrays it in a different way. I think that is wonderful and interesting, how in our individuality we can be connected to create one whole and functional piece of art.

Crowd sourced videos remind me a little bit of the experience of writing something like a play and passing it on to be produced. As the creator of the project, you are able to build a skeleton of what you would like to see. Then, through collaboration and different perceptions and interpretations, one whole project is formed. As a writer, you have to let go of your control and in the end it is one of the most rewarding experiences to see how everything comes together. This can relate to crowd sourced videos as they would be nothing without the input of many people and their own individuality. This individuality makes the project feel emotional and powerful in its personalization that is tailored to each person involved, including the viewer in order to feel more connected and effected by the art.

Synesthesia, Cymatics, and Ways of Knowing

Our three reading assignments cover different concepts that can all fall under the umbrella of methods of perception. There are so many ways to perceive the world and no two people have the same exact outlook on everything they experience. What really strikes me is how necessary it can be to blend the senses in order to understand stimuli. It seems that many people seem to have forms of synesthesia that vary in type and severity. When discussing synesthesia with my friends, many of them told me that they relate and also associate different senses with each other. I find that the blending of senses can also be very helpful in learning. Such as the visualization of numbers in space to help with math equations or relating sounds to numbers or letters to aid in playing an instrument. Our senses inherently overlap when experience the world and understanding this is essential to understanding perception in general.

             Synesthetic properties can also be mimicked through science as evident through the usage of cymatics. When sound waves are recorded visually we can portray a synesthetic experience that not only portrays the blending of senses but also the blending of disciplines, in this case art and science. Associating the experiences of senses can be effective when utilized in art in order to influence a viewer. Whether the effort is to portray the artist’s own synesthesia or an attempt to influence the audience to experience some synesthetic effect. Taking advantage of synesthetic perceptions can allow an artist to deeply effect a viewer through the full and rich experience of linking the senses and associations.