Exit through the gift shop blog post

Exit through the Gift Shop

Exit through the Gift Shop was a very entertaining documentary. It was the first one of its kind meaning, there has never been a documentary strictly about “street art,” or graffiti. It is a whole new world that was opened up. The film really gave street art a story and told of the artists and how much of their heart, time and effort they put into making these images. Thierry Guetta filmed everything in his life which is true reality T.V and eventually stumbled upon his cousin Invader. His cousin was a street artist and he decided to document his art work and where/how he made it. Thierry filmed others including Banksy who really made sense of the film and the reasoning. The Film/documentary was intended to give street art a longer life film because street art does have a short life span. Also, by filming these works of art more people are exposed to it and have a better understanding of the reasoning behind these images. It is not just a random picture on a wall, it is meant to send a message to people in a creative and artful way.
Bansky is a very interesting character. He remains anonymous throughout the film and allows Thierry to film his art and travel with him around the world to capture the images he creates on tape. It was fun just to look at these images and how creative and well done they are. Street art is amazing because people can always find it no matter where they are, it is everywhere. Thierry however became too caught up in the film. Later in the documentary Banksy decides to film Thierry and his “supposed” art work that was actually created by other people. When money is involved everything changes and people change. Thierry becomes Mr. Brainwash and his complied art work gets noticed by companies and papers like the L.A weekly and he sells his art for millions of dollars! It is crazy to think about how much some of this art is worth. It would have been nice to watch just the artwork around the world that was produced and the crazy places these people would go to produce that art. It puts into question; do some artists create art just for the money? The key for art is creativity and exposure. This film was great for both and was a very entertaining look into the life of the artists and just how much these pieces of art affect their lives and how much of a life style street art is.
When compared to reality T.V the film “Exit through the Gift Shop” serves a much more different purpose. It is meant for entertainment but it is also meant to document these artists and tell their stories and show viewers their craft (art/street art) and exactly what the purpose of it is. “Reality Shows” on MTV like the real world are mainly for viewer entertainment. Yes, the life stories of the individuals in the house are briefly explained but the main purpose the real world, is to put a bunch of people who are different from one another and watch how they interact. It is almost like forced entertainment, the real world cast has a timetable for how long they live together and the show focuses on the drama between them. The people in the show are told where to live and what the purpose of the show is. “Exit through the Gift Shop” is more open, meaning it is rawer. Thierry started filming right from the get go. Nobody informed for example, Invader what was going on, Thierry just filmed him and his art work and the process that went with making that art work. The future was uncertain and at the same time a whole phenomenon was being introduced to viewers and that phenomenon was street art.
So both reality T.V and this film are similar because they are both unscripted, allegedly, and are about people who are not made up or celebrities. They differ in the purpose served. “Exit through the Gift Shop” is more about life story of these individuals instead of just strictly entertainment.

Grade update

Vector Image

original logo and new logo

Vector Logo

Democratized media

1. How does keen define democratized media?
A democracy is when people get to elect representatives through a clear consensus and have equal control over certain matters. So basically it means being free to listen to who you want and to what you want. Andrew Keen doesn't mind the internet but he does mind what it stand for. He calls it democratized media. People can post there opinion about anything, record music and make art and put it on the internet. According to Keen this puts artist and musicians out of work. Anyone can upload a video and edit it without any film knowledge and put music on the internet without any recording experience. So users on the internet can download and view that art without paying for it. Mere amateurs can produce art or any content and put it on the internet, putting real artists out of business, that is what Keen has a problem with.

2. Keen vs. Rushkoff view on social media.
Both Keen and Rushkoff have a problem with social media in that it has taking control over people and their view points. The internet and media, no matter how biased or conniving it may be, has drawn people away from the appreciation of the work they do, for example the things they create and produce. Keen has a problem with the internet and how it makes the "amateur" something that they are not. It makes users look professional while the actually professionals are loosing money. An example is a musical artist who's music is being stolen offline for free instead of being bought. Rushkoff has a problem with the internet and media in that it forces people to work and produce just for corporations. I really find Ruchkoffs argument interesting. Social media has drawn people away from face to face contact, it has drawn people away from self worth. Everything is a monopoly and instead of creating for pleasure people are creating for corporations so they can make money.

Postings

I commented on Chris Delano and Colleen Sheldon's postings

Whither the indivdual comment

My partner for this assignment was Kelly Tranfaglia and her main thesis was that people use the internet to expand their identities and to reach out to people all over the world. Also, each generation and each individual uses social media in different ways. It is the users choice in which way to use the internet.

Whither the Individual?

Brian Arfanis
Whiter the individual
Digital Media

We live in an age where it is considered weird and “out-dated,” if we don’t use the internet. In fact it is nearly impossible to live without the use of the internet in some way. Jobs, companies, groups, organizations all use networking as a way to outsource and get in touch with people. Many companies look at a potential employees Facebook page to get a better understanding of them. They check to see what people they hang out with, what their interest are and simply who they are. People use the internet and social media to keep in touch with people, to tell their life stories and to give their so called “ego” a boost. People love to feel important and share their ideas to as many people as they can. Facebook, YouTube, blogs and even MySpace give people that opportunity. The question is, are social networks like Facebook controlling us or are we controlling them? We are indeed expanding/extending our identity when we sign up for Facebook. Hundreds and even thousands of people can view the information we put up. Facebook has exploded into a worldwide community and in many ways it is controlling the user.
Without even realizing it people have become addicted to the internet. It is a whole other world in many senses. I personally cannot go a day without looking at my Facebook page. We indeed decide what goes on these networks but we let it control what we put. Users write something and put pictures up that will appeal to other users and it’s not always something that they believe in themselves. For example users lie about their age over the web and lie about their interests or “purpose” on the internet, just to get other users to follow them or give them personal information. When we join Facebook or other social networks we are expanding our identities and putting ourselves out there for millions to see which has its positives, especially for business’s and people who are trying to reach out. But the internet does draw us away from who we really are at times. We are a different people with different identities online in order to become “user friendly.” People often try to become something that they are not when online. Users can pick a part facebook profiles and come to their own conclusions about others. We don’t always have control of who sees our information and that is what is scary about social networks.
Technology today is amazing and can wonders for everyone. I was truly caught off guard after watching “Digital Nation.” I cannot believe people can attend meetings and talk with others through avatars on the internet. There is not even a need for personal interactions if someone can sign on to the computer and simply talk to others in the confines of their homes. Is this really the direction society is going? People won’t need to learn social skills or proper people skills because they can interact with people online. So they way of the future is through “hyper people” or avatars based on what I saw in the film.
The internet and its social networks do wonders for people. It allows people to become what they want and write what they want and show what they want and strive for what they want. It is in fact an addiction though and in many ways social networks such as Facebook control the user. It gives us the opportunity to put what we want up but we don’t always get the option of who sees it or how they interpret it. We are living in an age where people are relying on the internet more for interactions and social purposes rather then ourselves.

Media 2.0/transparency assignment

1. Many T.V shows and advertisements look amateur because they are trying to imitate the Web, which has been changed from the "ground up."    I believe that amateur user-generated content will get better over time. So much of the media today is amateur made. Social Media has taken over the Web and users are exposed to facebook, twitter, blogs (etc) that have thousands and millions of users. Technology is growing each and every day and it makes it easier for users to access and use these new technologies. People can make a Myspace account for your band and can put pictures and ads and information up no problem. Social Media is the way of the future and amateur user-generated content is going to get better because the technology of today is becoming easir and easier for users.

2. I personally use facebook the most out of any socail media site.  It is more succesful than myspace because it is much easier to use and much more organized. The layout of you personal page is very "hands on" in a sense. You can comment on what pictures you want and if you want to create and event you can on facebook. You can invite what friends you want and you can friend who you want to friend. Facebook is here to stay for the long term. It has so may users and facebook is constantly changing to keep up with the social demands out there.

3.Transparency is a very important concept in the social media world. Transparency means being open and honest online. Users should always be aware of what people say on the internet. You can never be to careful. Say someone says they are looking out for your best interest and invite you to join a website. That Website is actually a scam but they lied to you so you would give up your personal info. The web is such a public place no matter how private it may seem.It is less important to the offline world because there are simply not as many people offline compared to people online. You don't always have a say to who views your social media profiles. 

new medium

This is a rough copy of someone praying for facebook. Facebook is a medium in that someone can literally view and be viewed by hundreds and even thousands of people. Pictures of yourself can be put up, any info you want can be posted and endless amounts of people can view it. So this image will show a man praying to facebook showing how facebook has affected society.

Medium is the Message photoshop

A medium of technology is any extension of ourselves and an example of that  is the iphone. We can talk to people, check facebook and basically reach out to endless amounts of people in the confides of our phone. This image represents the iphone or any cell phone and how it is taking over society. A few of the buildings transformed into iphones. This shows that the iphone has grown larger and is more controlling than the user.

Mediums in Communication

Texting is of course a medium and a growing piece of technonlgy. Texting allows the user to get in touch with anyone and it is useful in getting jobs and getting intouch with people, becuase everyone is texting now a days. I know of some people who send thousands of text messages a month which is insane. It is taking over the way we communicate

Myspace is kind of outdated with facebook and everything but myspace was a revolutionary medium. This was the first peice of technonlgoy on the web that allowed people to share thmesleves on the interent to endless amounts of people and influened facebook. Myspace was the first "medium" to allow people to create a digitsal version of there lifes and show it to other people.

Skype is an example of a current "medium" because it allows the user to interact with anybody through video. Skype allows the user to friend people and accept friends much like facebook. People can video chat and message each other through this program. It is a great way to keep in touch with people becuase you can video chat someone anywhere in the world.