Sharing Art

Art in all forms has been a way of bringing people together and invoking an emotion. Art will always be used for that, but the way people view art has been changing. There used to be an elite culture associated with arts. The artists were rich and the people who viewed art were too. In order to have the supplies to paint or make a film, someone would need a lot money. Then when the art was displayed in a gallery or in a concert hall, people would dress in their finest clothes and pay to go see it. In Presspauseplay, Moby says "50 years ago, people didn't make things. People would go to photography exhibits. They would go to record fairs. They would watch movies. Now everyone is a photographer. Everyone is a musician. Anyone can make a film". The elite culture has disappeared. Everyone has access to the tools to make a more or paint an amazing picture. And now everyone can see the art. Art is shared with everyone. Sean Parker, co-creator of Napster tells interviewers "the vision behind Napster, in the very early stages, was to just come with a system that made sharing of mp3's so easy that a housewife or grandmother in Iowa could do it". Music is illegally and legally downloaded everyday all over the world. We all have the means to do it and music can reach many more people.

Is this widespread access a bad thing? If everyone can make videos and posts them, how do we know which ones are good? Andrew Keen says "a you Hitchcock or young Scorsese wouldn't make into the movie business today. They'd slap up their films onto YouTube and it would get lost in the ocean of garbage". It may be harder to stand out but it doesn't make the art any less important. Every video means something to the person creating it even if it just a good memory now. Art is made to capture a moment or emotion and that is what all of the YouTube videos do. They are not all Golden Globe winners but they are art. Another debate in the advancing world is if a computer can be considered an instrument. Almost every imperfect sound recorded can be fixed with computer editing and many artist depend on that. Nick Sansano is a music producer and sees this happen more often than not. "Younger musicians and some older ones... rely too much on technology. They give a sub-par performance and expect the technology to compensate for it..." (Nick Sansano). I think it is still music. It is still an idea that people are choosing to share with the world. It is different but that doesn't make it bad. There is a lot to be said for those people who can play an instrument exceptionally well and produce record without any help. It is hard and they will always be admired for being able to do that. Those people who aren't that talented might have the same passion but are unable to express it. That is where technology helps. It allows people that are not as talented to still express themselves in the way they want. Human error is no longer our sole limitation.