Dead birds all around. [Part 2]

Bird 11, originally uploaded by digtem.

Birds : Signs Book page num. 11
by Joseph Stengel

A couple of summers ago I stayed with a good friend who lives in a cabin in the Catskill Mountains near the reservoir for NYC. My plane came in late at night and the drive back from the airport took an hour or so. Once at the cabin we sat down, had a few beers and exchanged some stories. It was very late when we finally decided to get some sleep. I was asleep for about 45 minuets when all of a sudden the birds started chirping and cawing. The woods seemed to come alive when the sun crested the horizon and the birds signaled the event.

Dead birds all around.

Bird_04, originally uploaded by digtem.

Bird : Signs Book pg num. 7

As I have walked around many towns in America, I have often come across the bodies of dead birds. This has both fascinated and scared me. What killed the birds and why did I come across so many bodies? One day I decided to take photographs of the birds to document the event.

Miner birds used to be used in mines as indicators to the quality of the environment in the mine. If the bird died, miners knew they had to get out of the mine fast. I wonder if the dead birds I find are an indicator of some greater environmental issue?

Tue Nov 28th

by Joseph Stengel

Manipulation

Once we import media into the computer everything is converted into 1's & 0's. This means that in the mind of the computer everything is just on or off. Digitization empowers the computer to alter or manipulate almost anything that is imported into it. Manipulation is one of the computers most important abilities. Imagine writing a research paper and not having an undo function or the ability to cut and paste.

Where do we see the use of manipulation in American culture? What has computer manipulation changed in film, music or politics?

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Mon Nov 27th

Appropriation

A major aspect of digital art is appropriation. A computer, the main tool of the digital artist, is empty. It requires some form of media to be useful. A photograph can be scanned, a DVD and audio CD can be ripped. These media formats are used by large corporations to create (& sell) the visual and audio culture we interact with everyday. The computer allows artists (and everyone else) to take control of the media from mass culture and re-process it through our own unique filters. The mashed-up music album "the Grey album" and "Star Wars the Phantom Edit" are two popular examples that show the re-working of media through appropriation. Of course with the use of media comes power, the power to sway thought and implant ideas. The fear of relinquishing this power is what drives the increasing lockdown of media content by large corporations (along with the fear of loosing money).