A Collision of Worlds

This week, I found a scholarly article using TAMU LibCat online services.  I determined that the article was scholarly by reading the information tab provided that specified the article as scholarly, and by the credentials of the author, Ryan Shin, who is an Assistant Professor, Art andVisual Culture Education, at the University of Arizona, Tucson.  The article appeared in Art Education and is titled "Taking Digital Creativity to the Art Classroom: The Mystery Box Swap."  The article starts out introducing characteristic creative outlets of digital natives.  Shin divides creativity into two categories. "capital C," which encompasses  creative works comparable to those of Leonardo da Vinci and Einstein, and "little c," which includes everything else from Facebook pages, to text messaging, to blogs.  Shin then goes on to give three examples of modern digital creativity he has found on the web.

His first example is the digital artwork of a young woman named Roz Dimon.  He praises her innovative use of digital tools like the web and Adobe Photoshop among other things.  She creates a wide variety of art, ranging from digital stories to portraits to traditional oil paintings.  Shin focuses on the digital stories she creates.  The picture she makes is a layered collage that builds as the story she writes to go along with the picture unfolds.  readers can click on each line of the story and build the picture in different orders.  The interaction is what makes her art so different.  The reader can be creative along with the artist.

The second and third examples of digital creativity that Shin discusses are the eBay Mystery Auction and the Coraline Mystery Box Swap.  the eBay Mystery Auction was a big event where sellers put together mystery items in a box or package and sold them to the highest bidder.  The creative part that Shin talks about is not what was inside the Mystery package, but how the sellers marketed their merchandise.  Sellers wrote stories, told humorous anecdotes,  and explored other creative avenues that provoked interest in buyers.  The Coraline Mystery Box Swap was just the opposite.  A group of bloggers got together and signed up to make Mystery Boxes to swap with each other that commemorated the release or the animated feature Coraline.  In these boxes, the participants included hand crafted trinkets from the movie, jewelry, and letters to their swap partner about their thought on the movie.  The boxes were cataloged for viewing on Flickr.  One of the coolest things about the box swap was that it didn't stop on Flickr.  The bloggers wrote about i the swap and their experience, made videos, etc.

Shin then goes on to discuss an art project he assigned to his art students to demonstrate how contemporary digital tools can be used and integrated into the classroom.  His project was a modified version of the Coraline Mystery Box Swap.  HIs students were asked to create and decorate a box and fill it with objects that symbolized memorable moments in their lives.  Shin's main point in his article was to show that digital creativity should be embraced in art classes and teachers should not just focus on famous works and traditional medias.  He argues that digital creativity is here to stay and is an important part of digital naives' lives.  Why not let students excel in their element?

Overall I feel that this article conveys a successful rhetorical message because Shin lays out his argument clearly at the beginning of the article, made his point using interesting and innovative examples, and closed with a personal example of his experience and success with integrating digital creativity into the classroom.  He demonstrated that if approached correctly, digital integration can be done and it can be wildly successful.

Works Cited:

Art Education [0004-3125] Shin yr: 2010 vol: 63 iss: 2 pg: 38 -42

New Developments

I have some family friends here in town and their oldest daughter is a junior in high school this year.  She is extremely gifted at drawing and painting.  Every year for my birthday she draws me a picture and then paints or colors it and her mom gets it framed for me.  This year however, I wasn't able to be in town for my birthday.  I was really bummed because its a tradition to go get my picture each year and I told her that I was really upset about not being able to see it.  To my surprise, I got an email on birthday instead of a card.  She had drawn the picture on her computer using a tablet and then sent me the picture so that I could still get it on my birthday.  I was astounded!  I had seen her use the tablet before but I didn't even think of the possibility of sending pictures that had been drawn with it over email.  I thought that was so creative.

The tablet its self only allows you to use the pen as a mouse, almost like writing with a pen and paper except the paper is the computer screen.  She also has a special paint program that combines the layering techniques in photoshop with the tools and paint brushes in Microsoft paint studio.  I've watched her draw on it before and its absolutely amazing.  She can pick the exact color she wants with a swipe of the pen and the art that she creates is breath taking.  with the tablet and the paint program she can blend, sketch, add effects and layer.  She is so good at it too.  I always winder at how something that I find so complex and cool can be just an easy way for her to express herself.  She once let me try to draw a picture and I could not do it at all.

My point in this story is that some one thought to create these tools that she uses so casually every day.  She took these tools and molded them to fit her creative style.  Its so much easier for her to draw now.  Two years ago she would have spent weeks sketching and drawing and water coloring my birthday picture.  Now, with her tablet and paint shop, she can make an even more amazing picture in a matter of days.  This goes back to one of my first blogs on creativity, technology hasn't dumbed down creativeness, its made it more attainable.  Its more feasible for my friend to spend time doing what she loves to do; creating art.  Technology has allowed her to expand her talent and become a better artist as well as save her time and money on art supplies.  Below I have included the picture she emailed to me for my birthday this year.  She drew it from scratch, starting with a blank computer screen, sketched the picture, added flat color, shaded and added effects.  It still takes my breath away every time I look at it.

Cut the Rope and other nonsense I spend hours doing

This past week I came across a game that has me transfixed.  Cut the Rope.  Its an app for my phone and I know it's been out for a while, but I randomly came across it while goofing around in the app store and I LOVE it.  For anyone who isn"t familiar with the game, theres a frog thing that you have to feed.  It eats candy but the candy is suspended by ropes and other obstacles and you have to figure out how to feed the frog in the least time possible without losing the candy.  Conceptually its pretty simple but as you progress through the levels more obstacles pop up and it can be pretty challenging.  I'm impressed not just with the game but with the ingenuity that went into creating it.  each level brings a new puzzle and I really have to think outside the box in the upper levels to get the frog his candy!!  I think I like it so much because its not just a mindless game.  I have to think and be engaged in the activity thats going on to do well and since I can spend 2-3 hours straight just playing the game, its nice to feel like i didn't waste all that time doing nothing.  I feel like my brain gets a workout every time I sit down to play.

There are tons of other games that I've come across that do the same thing; Angry Birds, UnblockMe, Words With Friends, and also Hanging with Friends are just some of the games I've come across.  They force me to be creative and at the very least put some thought into what I'm doing when I play them.  And the funny thing is, I can't get enough of them.  I play all the time and I never get tired of it.  They really get my creative juices flowing so to speak.  I feel like I always have to approach the games, like the ones I've mentioned, differently and constantly change my strategy.

My point in bringing up these games is that technology like apps and online games have changed the way we think and we don't even realize it.  It's really cliche, but when we play games like the ones I've mentioned and even video games like COD or Dead Space, our generation is learning new skills like critical thinking and effective strategizing.  We may be the "laziest generation yet" but we're also the smartest and most cunning and ironically its thanks to the games and programs that are supposedly corrupting us the most.

Betty White's Appeal

    This week, I'd like to discuss the thought processes that go into making commercials and selling big name products to consumers.  When I think of the best commercials, I think of the Superbowl.  Everyone  knows that big companies pull out all the stops and spend all year planning and creating fantastic commercials to air during the prime time Superbowl slot.  Last year, my favorite commercial had to be the Snickers commercial featuring Betty White.  I want to look at this commercial a little closer and delve into what the creative designers and commercial specialists at Snickers were thinking when they came up with the concept for this particular sales pitch.

To do this, I'm going to be using a method of analysis called Toulmin Analysis.  If you haven't seen the commercial or watched the video I've posted above, the commercial opens on Betty White playing football and getting tackled.  It's obvious that Betty White's presence in the commercial is a metaphor for the guy that is playing football not being himself.  His friends tell him he's playing like Betty White and his girlfriend gives him a snickers and he turns back into himself.  

Because this commercial originally aired during the Superbowl, the target audience was the people watching the game, thus people who enjoy football, so having a commercial featuring a football game is appropriate for the target audience.  Through this commercial, Snickers is claiming that it is a satisfying snack when your hungry.  Their slogan is "You're not you when you're hungry.  Snickers satisfies."  Its evident, by using the contradiction of Betty White (an old woman) playing contact football, that Snickers is trying to show when you're hungry, you don't perform at your highest level.  This can be applied to almost any situation, not just the case of a pickup game.  

Warrants used in this commercial include the assumption that the audience knows who Betty White is and can see the humor in her playing football.  Also, Snickers assumes that the audience will know that in a situation like playing sports, you don't want to eat a big meal if you're hungry because you'll get sick, so a light but satisfying snack (like a Snickers bar) is usually the best way to suppress you're hunger until later.  Another big assumption that snickers is making is that the target audience will be able to apply the commercial's message to other situations like snacking throughout the day, or a quick pick me up before a test or between classes.

Here is the link to the commercial where I found it on Youtube.

Intellectual Property: English Please...

Over the course of this blog I've discussed creativity; being creative, creation, how it influences others, and I've also touched on piracy; what it is exactly and the issues that surround it.  I'd now like to shed some light  on the  topic that I think ties creativity and piracy together.  Intellectual Property.

Intellectual Property is one of those phrases where you're almost 100% sure you understand exactly what it means, but you're unable to put it into words the right way, so you're not sure if you're really understanding it.  I'm going to clarify so don't fret.  Basically, intellectual property (IP) is anything you think up.  If I were to make up a song about leaves or forks, no matter how dumb it is, that song is mine because I made it up.  That's a very basic example and in reality, IP stretches over everything that can be thought of and according to Wikipedia that encompasses "intangible assets, such as musical, literary, and artistic works; discoveries and inventions; and words, phrases, symbols, and designs."  That includes works on the internet as well.  Any logo on an ad that pops up while you're searching google or on Facebook. Videos and clips on youtube ranging from music to vlogs.  IP includes it all, which when you think about how large the internet is and everything that is available for your viewing pleasure, it can be somewhat overwhelming. 


Now, its time to connect the dots.  IP is, in my opinion, the brainchild of creativity. (no pun intended)  Every blog we read, every picture we look at on flickr, all the songs on itunes are all there because of a series of collective innovations that someone thought of and then created.  I'm not just referring to the works we consume.  The websites are the IP of the computer engineers that coded for them and iTunes itself is the IP of Apple.  IP is everything we consume and touch.  What then keeps IP from being stolen and us, as the consumers who enjoy the brilliance of others, from getting in trouble for having it?  That is where copy right law, trademarks, patents, and trade secrets come in.  These guidelines/laws are all put into place to not only protect the vast array of IP of people, but also as sort of a filter for those that may  be trying to duplicate something that has already been made and pass it off as their own.  These thieves are also called pirates.  So we've come full circle.  Creativity leads to IP, which is protected by copy rights and patents from pirates and piracy.


with all that being said, I'll leave you with this, In our world of the internet and constant updates and new products like the new iPhone 4s, where do we draw the line on whether something is completely new or just a better version of what we've had before and how do we label each as such?

John and Jill: Some New Perspectives.

Over the last few days I've been searching around trying to find some other blogs that relate to what I consistently write about. (creativity, piracy, and intellectual property if you hadn't picked that up already)   I came across two blogs John Palfrey and jill/txt which deal with the issue of on campus internet usage by students.  Although they are not about exactly the same thing, they can still be compared quite nicely.

I'd like to start off by saying that both authors are educated and teach at the collegiate level.  Both do research in their fields and attend regular conferences and summits regarding their area of expertise.  In many ways they are similar, and thus, so are they're blogs in some respects.

John's blog, Laptop and Filtering Policies for Classrooms, is centered around the idea of what the rules or policies in schools of both higher and secondary learning should be regarding students and laptops in class.  He did an exercise with his class (which consisted of teachers and professors) where they split up into groups and discuss whether there should be  policy or not and who should control that policy.  John doesn't explicitly give his opinion.  Rather, he appeals to the logos of his readers and presents what the class groups came up with, letting the readers decide for themselves what they think.  His blog is run much like his classroom it seems, where he gives a little insight as to what the assignment is and then leaves it up to the class (and readers) reach their own conclusions.


Jill discusses her plans for a discussion/class assignment for her students where they will examine the  Norwegian policies of privacy for college students using the university wifi network.  She doesn't really go in depth as to the policies that are currently in place, but does post a few links to information and articles discussing the policies.  This is, in a way like John, where she posts the information and lets the reader/students do with it what they may.  She does briefly touch on he main point of the policy which bans universities from keeping identifying information about what students are doing on the internet at school, even if the students are downloading illegal files.  She, like John, gives the facts (using logos) and doesn't directly give her opinion, but instead, asks for feedback from her audience.  


These two blogs also differ in writing style.  John is very formal almost like he's writing a report.  Whereas Jill is pretty casual in the way she talks about her ideas for the lesson and also how she asks for feedback from her readers.  I'd also like to point out that this difference in tone and presentation is noticeable even in the addresses of their blogs.  Jill uses the name jill/txt which is very casual and youthful, almost like a screen name and John uses his full name, which is formal and gives off a more mature, professional vibe.

Living on Someone Else's Bright Ideas

Up until now I've been talking about creativity and what it takes to truly be creative with the technologies that are at our fingertips and now I want to look at creativity from the other side of the spectrum.  How does other peoples' creativity affect the general public?  Take Apple for example; Mac has revolutionized the way computers are used, viewed, and marketed.  With the invention of the iphone, ipod, ipad, and tons of other cool gadgets that people can't fathom living without, it's easy to see how much a little creativity can do to influence the population.

http://kproductions.deviantart.com/art/iPod-Evolution-through-2010-178826619

I myself, have a MacBook Pro, an iPhone, an iPod Shuffle, and an iPod Classic.  (I don't use the latter all that much anymore but I like to think its a way to save my phone battery when traveling to have the iPod with all my music on it.)  My roommate has a MacBook, an iPad, an iPhone, and and iPod Nano.  That's not counting the THOUSANDS of students that have just as many if not more Apple products that live on and off campus.  It's wild to think that one company could in just a few years take the world by storm with its products.  I'll be the first to admit that its scary sometimes how much I depend on my phone or my computer.  Everything important to me is saved on my computer; contacts, music, files, pictures, school work, receipts, even goofy videos that my friends and I have made.  A day without my phone is a day of seclusion and confusion.  I could never fathom designing something as small as an iPod and watching it explode onto the market, knowing it was my creation, my idea that opened so many doors to change the way we think about communication and the accessibly of technology.  Apple is the root of so many innovations.  Since the launch of the iPod and iTunes its easier than ever for artists to showcase their creativity and everything from videos to music to movies is all right on one place easily searched and purchased in one application.  

Computers and gadgets aren't the only types of creativity that touch the lives of millions of people.  This past summer I interned at The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research (TIRR) in the Houston Medical Center.  I was exposed to so many types of technology from high tech machines to life saving drugs.  Almost everything about TIRR was complicated and advanced.  With all the tools there to use and help in the recovery of patients I was intrigued by the methods of the physical therapists. A lot of the tools they used were things you could find in an average home.  Duct tape was used to hold together absolutely everything, broomsticks and foam were used to make obstacle courses and balance aids, and as the patients' abilities changed with the progress of their recovery little tweaks were made to challenge them on different levels.  I was floored by how little things like a stretch band or a full length mirror could be utilized so many different ways to make such a momentous impact on the quality of each patients' life.  I came into the hospital looking at patients who couldn't even stand and left at the end of the summer watching them walk across the gym by themselves.  

I used to think that creativity was something that left you with your mouth hanging on the floor from astonishment, but I've seen first hand that from iPods to duct tape, a little noodle work and elbow grease can have big effects on thousands of people and their day to day lives.

Crossing the Line: Piracy and the Internet

Lately I've been thinking about creativeness and what all goes into making something unique and I began to wonder at the talent and skills required to produce a movie or music.  It can take months to record a record or to edit a movie.  Hundreds of people collaborate and spend countless hours to perfect projects.  They don't want others to be able to take credit for their hard work so they copyright it as a means of protecting themselves and their work from pirates.  But why are there pirates in the first place? Why would people steal material that they didn't make?  Why would they not pay for movies or music that they like?  Almost everyone that owns a computer has at one point or another pirated material whether they know it or not.  I found the cartoon above on another blog that I came across (AJs Online Journal).  I think it portrays the duality of our society's ideals on piracy.  

Firstly, it depicts punishment for the crime of piracy, which is illegal and generally thought of as stealing  by the vast majority of the population.  It also highlights the ridiculousness of some of the actions that are considered to be piracy.  Something as seemingly small as downloading a Barney song online for personal use without paying for it can be punished to the same degree as making copies of movies and selling them to make money.  Yes, not paying for the material is wrong, but if I were an artist I'd rather people stole my music than the music of another artist.  What harm does taking one song really do compared to trying to make a profit off of someone else's work?  Does the crime really deserve the punishment?  The struggle between prosecution of wrong doing and putting the problem into perspective creates a great rift in society's thoughts about piracy.  

I also thought it was interesting that the cartoon was not colored.  Instead it is plain.  Black and white.  No embellishments or eye catching design.  It is simply laid out for the reader to see.  It's somewhat ironic because the issue it deals with is anything but black and white.  As I said before, there's a rift in the ideals about what piracy really is and what to do about it.  Theres no simple solution, in fact it's realistic to say that there isn't a solution.  The internet is a vast abyss with no defined beginning or end.  There is never a lack of room for information, its nothing you can hold in your hand or take a picture of.  In reality the internet is imagined.  We as humans are defined by boundaries.  Boundaries of the capabilities of our bodies and minds, the boundaries of the space we occupy, the boundaries of money, the boundaries of the law, and the boundaries of our morals and personal beliefs.  The internet has no boundaries.  Nothing is ever forgotten or erased completely, nothing is right or wrong, and theres never a lack of means or ability to do anything.  The internet is completely wild and therefore it cannot easily be controlled by the government or by laws.  That's why its easy to pirate information and not realize it.  Theres nothing that says you can't do it; no boundaries or rules to follow regarding its use.  What then, can be done about people pirating material off of the internet?  

The answer, like the problem, is both simple and complicated.  The internet cannot be subject to rules and regulations because it constantly grows and changes, unlike written laws which are usually only relevant for a certain amount of time before they have to be altered to keep up with the changing times.  What it all boils down to is what people think.  If a person thinks its not a crime to download a Barney song off of the internet, then they are going to download the song.  If they don't agree with the common definition of piracy and what it entails then they won't abide by the rules based on that definition.  The solution to the problem is not trying to harness the internet, but to re-evaluate what piracy really is and change how people see it.  This is not to say that if we change the working definition of piracy and therefore, copyright laws, that piracy will be completely wiped out.  There will always be individuals that steal, just as there will always be individuals that speed on the highway or smoke no matter how much they are told not to.  I'm saying that if people see piracy in a different, more modernly defined way, they will be less likely to do it.

Finally, I'd like to comment on the picture itself.  Its a picture of a child, a "Digital Native" according to authors of the book Born Digital John Palfrey and Urs Gassier.  Piracy, for now, is a crime that can be committed by even the most innocent of the population.  My idea of a pirate is a smelly old guy sitting in his filthy apartment in a stained shirt all day at his computer stealing music and software from unsuspecting victims.  In reality this isn't at all true.  It reminds me of the Geico commercial that says, "So easy, a caveman could do it."  Piracy is so easy, a child could do it.  It's crazy to think that, but its undeniably true and the problem can only be remedied if society's mindset is altered.  

Thinking Outside the Box: Who does the box belong to?

It's a familiar phrase that everyone has heard at least 200 billion times in their lives:  "think outside the box."  It is sometimes used to inspire a creative breakthrough, or to answer a question you've been asked that you don't really know the answer to.  Its also a compliment for creative achievement or problem solving ("Way to think outside the box!").

It is assumed from a very young age that everyone knows what "the box" is, but I can't remember anyone ever actually explaining it's meaning to me.  Nor can I recall whose box it is that I'm thinking outside of.  Who determines what thoughts originate inside vs. outside the "box"?  After reading into it, I have discovered an answer to the question of what the box is.  According to a wikipedia source, thinking outside the box "is to think differently, unconventionally or from a new perspective. This phrase often refers to novel or creative thinking." So now that we've figured out what "thinking outside the box" actually is, it can be concluded that "the box" is conventional or uncreative thinking, but I still haven't figured out who the box belongs to.


When I was younger, my father often told me to think outside the box when I couldn't figure something out.  I am a "one track mind" kind of person and I sometimes had difficulty seeing other alternatives to my problem besides the one I had already tried, and that had failed.  I would eventually find a different way to look at the issue and fix it, but it took a while before I automatically tried a new approach when my first one didn't work the way I had hoped.  The point I'm trying to make is that when looking at a problem or a project, "the box" can be thought of as our personal limits to everyday thought.  In essence, everyone has a different box, THEIR box.  The challenge then, is not to think outside of a general box, but to think differently than one would normally think.  For instance, when I was about 4 years old I remember my father and I were going to a family reunion and my job was to put two bottles of water (one for me and one for my dad) into the truck.  When I got to truck, water in hand, I realized that I couldn't open the door while I was carrying both of the water bottles, so I told my dad, who was sitting in the drivers seat.  His reply was to think of a way to open get the door open.  "You can open the door for me!", I exclaimed a little perturbed that he didn't think of this himself.  "yes, I most certainly could, but how can YOU open the door?" he asked through the window.  A minute went by and the thought hit me like a stone brick.  I put the water on the ground and opened the door, then picked up the water bottles and put them in the seat.  I wouldn't have normally thought to open the door myself.  Being only four, I was still used to people doing things for me when I couldn't and I had never needed to be very independent.  


It's difficult to wrap your head around "thinking outside of the box", but given instances like mine where you have to think about things you've never thought about before, you might be surprised at how easily alternative thinking comes to you.

Creativity is Expanding

What does it take to be creative?  Creativity is a means of expression, but 15 years ago creativity was limited to drawing a cool picture or making a killer mix tape.  Now with the window of opportunity wide open, creativity is as simple as a clicking a button, taking a picture, or opening a computer program.  Technology has brought creativity to our finger tips and our ideas, once trapped in one place, now have the potential to spread to every corner of the earth.  Through avenues like YouTube, Photoshop, Etsy, and Flickr this generation's creations flow freely from one computer screen to the next, making creativity easy and accessible.  From making vlogs, to singing, to putting together visual art through video, to posting a 365 or showing your subscribers what you can do with a little time and a camera, these sources have revolutionized the way we see creativity.  What once took months in a studio with pen and paper to accomplish now only takes a few hours and a computer.  It goes without saying that technology has raised the bar on creativity's never ending expansion.