itookthepillyougaveme

Tag: art

  • Blog #10- Erudite Exclusion

    I strongly dislike a lot of things.

    Digital spaces can include or exclude their audiences through any and all design choices. The formatting, background, and font of every button is a signaler of the virtues the hope to portray.

    (exclusionary bloke)

    I have a habit of being exclusionary with my work. It isn’t necessarily to slight those excluded, it’s more of a filter I place both consciously and subconsciously. As with any artist’s work, they are the most aware of the target audience, therefore part of that perception is wrapped into the work itself. The piece presents itself in drastically different ways each individual, allowing for a myriad of possible perceptions. For example, you could say this blog is ableist due to there being no text to speech option, yet the gray area found in digital mediums is the adaptability of it. Every device you could consume this on would have a text to speech option, so you’re sort of let off with those regards. Digitized stuff ey. My website is relatively redundant, both in content and available navigation controls.

    Art is inherently exclusive. Always has been, always will be.

    Let’s say I were to read this site’s posts from another set of eyes, ones’ less tainted by the horrors of our reality, or perhaps just more optimistic ones. I’d find whatever bloke who is writing this material a bit insufferable, in the sort of way where he’s making a good point, while being a bit of a prick about it. He babbles over all those matters you’ve just never cared enough to mull over, the ones that float just a little too far above what you call reality. There’s something soothing about it, the ingestion of a rant that doesn’t shatter your world.

    “inclusion often sustains exclusion while pretending to fix it”

    I cannot detail the ins and outs of what I am catering to in regards to the needs of my readers. As with most things I do, it simply is not for them. It would be disingenuous to trade my integrity for a more consumable medium. They can find their corporate slop bowl somewhere else. However, in all seriousness, I make it a priority that each post contains at least two or more mediums. Hyperlinks to images, videos, and definitions are commonplace here. I’ve updated all images in past posts to include alternative text, allowing for a wider

  • Blog #5- Communication Control

    Here we are, floundering in yet another rhetorical medium. Lovely. We’re back to third spaces: the cigarette stained stoops, the pavilion amongst the felled oak trees; those spaces in which existence is less so guided, and more so encouraged. Except now, they’re magazines. Zines, to be specific. These are basically small-form printed written works, often including visual elements, sort of pocket books for the people if you will.

    Upon exploring a few zines on the internet archive, I was not convinced they can be considered third spaces within themselves. I’d say that they can be a very useful medium for circumventing constricting idealisms, but they’re a medium. There is no reflected discourse within them exactly, it’s the discourse that exists around them in the communities they help curate. One could say, well third places in general are just a medium. The place is just a place until you define the place. And I would have to agree. So, I suppose there is essence in claiming them as a place for conversation. For expression. An extension of the imagination if you will. I suppose the main issue is interacting with them digitally. I’d hope for some sort of chat feature or digital discussion room, as that would complete the third place definition for me. Zines are akin to posters, to songs, to notes scribbled then tucked into the drawer of International. They are simply another means to an end.

    That being said I do dig some of Licona’s sentiments regarding imagination as within the realm of positive application. That it is indeed productive to endorse one’s imagination, that it transcends escapism. It’s a nice thought, with a lot of truth to it. Among explored zines was the Warrior Crowd Control and Riot Manual . It was neat. Here’s a little taste for you.

    a zine showing how to use riot control grenades, and how to combat them. It also shows the types of grenades- M7A3 CS, and M25 CS

    Tear gas types mainly utilized by police and military are detailed. One smells like apple blossom, one smells like pepper. Both will make you cry.

    While I feel someone could consume any type of media and be receptive to it, depending on both the topic at and, and their interest in it, I have enjoyed the images in these zines. The sort of pamphlet feel makes for a bit more of a hands-on vibe. Very effective for spreading rhetoric. I can already picture an “Earth First” zine in detail; Erika facing down bulldozers in Northern Arizona. Straight out of Hayduke Lives!

    I still don’t think zines are really third places(my earlier logic says otherwise) but I can understand and appreciate the niche they fill in spreading rhetoric, especially within marginalized movements or for more guerilla sectors, which they seem to be perfectly suited for. Dropping little zine manifestos from the sky. Soon enough. Sound familiar?