Technologic

I was working on one of my newest drawing projects yesterday, and I was relying heavily on Google's image search for references as I am apt to do. While I was doing this, it just hit me that I live in a day and age where information and resources are abundant and easily accessible through the marvel that is the internet. As I was being amazed by and grateful for that fact, I was suddenly awestruck by the realization that it wasn't always the case.

It was a new found appreciation for artists and writers of the past. After all, the amount of effort required to acquire the information that one wanted or needed would've been substantially greater. That makes a piece of work more impressive because it indicates dedication to do the required research, or intimate knowledge of the subject through experience, or an impressive imagination to create a piece that is convincing and engaging.

That lead me to question whether or not living in this environment of technological abundance makes an individual more or less creative.

Buy it, use it, break it, fix it,
Trash it, change it, mail - upgrade it,
Charge it, point it, zoom it, press it,
Snap it, work it, quick - erase it,
Write it, cut it, paste it, save it,
Load it, check it, quick - rewrite it,
Plug it, play it, burn it, rip it,
Drag and drop it, zip - unzip it,
Lock it, fill it, call it, find it,
View it, code it, jam - unlock it,
Surf it, scroll it, pause it, click it,
Cross it, crack it, switch - update it,
Name it, rate it, tune it, print it,
Scan it, send it, fax - rename it,
Touch it, bring it, Pay it, watch it,
Turn it, leave it, start - format it.

Technologic - Daft Punk

On one hand I think that it's evident that exposure to more information automatically gives a person more material from which they can draw on and be inspired by. But quantity is not quality. The burgeoning of technology has in many respects removed the aspects of creation associated with menial labor. Photography is one of the better examples of this. Creating a decent image is so easy nowadays that everyone and their mother considers him/herself a photographer. That isn't to say that there aren't a lot of good creative people who work with digital photography or to suggest that we should go back to the olden days of darkrooms and chemicals. I'm no critic or purest. I'm just beginning to suggest that there is a lost sense of craftsmanship across the board where creativity is concerned.

I wonder if objectively the standard for creativity has to be higher now because technology-aided creation is so easy. Perhaps there is more of an impetus for creatives to be more innovative than in the past. Then again there is a distinction between innovation and creation, no? One can always create something and not be innovative about it. That probably goes back to craftsmanship.

I'm thinking myself into a downward spiral of philosophy, but the real sentiment remains that I am profoundly glad that I have the internet to give me references for hands. Damn hands are so easy to fuck up. (One would think that with the amount of articulation the hand has, any position would be a viable one, but that simply isn't the case.) I am so glad that I can just google "woman holding a platter" and look a myriad of photographs of women holding platters instead of just imagining it or using a mirror to try and model and draw at the same time or even weirder asking random people to model for you at the risk of having to explain what you're doing and why. I'm so glad.