{"id":688,"date":"2008-10-30T08:21:03","date_gmt":"2008-10-30T12:21:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/fall2008\/343\/?p=688"},"modified":"2008-10-30T08:31:48","modified_gmt":"2008-10-30T12:31:48","slug":"688","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/fall2008\/343\/2008\/10\/30\/688\/","title":{"rendered":"Technology – the pacemaker of contemporary life"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since reading our last two assignments in Electronic Literature<\/em><\/span><\/span>, I have become more aware of the many ways our contemporary life is interconnected with computer technology.\u00a0 Hayles talks about that interconnectedness related to the fact that “all communication…is mediated through some kind of digital code.” \u00a0\u00a0That is true, and, in reality, almost every facet of our lives is intertwined with digital code. My new computerized toaster oven has to be programmed in three steps before it will toast or bake.\u00a0 Gone are the days of just pushing a button or turning a dial. Walking on campus yesterday, I observed the people around me.\u00a0 Many people I passed were either talking on a phone or listening to an iPod. \u00a0Daily, we acquiesce in our coexistence with technology and plug ourselves in. \u00a0Although I am not dependent on a cell phone, I do depend on my laptop.\u00a0 It is my nerve center. \u00a0This is where I store and access some of the most important information in my life. Two years ago, I learned how critical my personal computer “nerve center” is to my well-being. \u00a0One week before finals and with all of my lecture notes on my hard drive, a power surge damaged my desktop.\u00a0 I could turn my computer on but could not boot up.\u00a0 Like a Siamese twin, as my computer lay comatose, I was panic-stricken for my own life.\u00a0 (The story ends well.\u00a0 My chivalrous computer geek neighbor was more than happy to flex his techno muscles for me and gallantly retrieved the most important documents from my hard drive.)\u00a0\u00a0 The encroachment of technology in our lives is not limited to the machines we choose to touch and hold.\u00a0 Technology permeates our existence.\u00a0 Computer chips are embedded in everything from our cars to our pets.<\/p>\n

So, it makes sense that our interconnectedness with technology would become reflected in our art.\u00a0 As we have seen this semester, the way technology is expressed in art is as diverse as the people who create it.\u00a0 The relationship to the Dada cultural movement has already been made.\u00a0 And clearly, some of the works we have explored are more abstract while others are more realistic.\u00a0 As we learned in ARTH 101, the world of art includes expressions that can range from a crucifix in a jar of the artist’s urine to the Mona Lisa.\u00a0 Not all expressions appeal to everyone.\u00a0 \u00a0I find myself drawn to works of art that in some way relate to or express my own life.\u00a0 My Boyfriend Came Back from the War<\/em><\/span><\/span> has been my favorite so far.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Since reading our last two assignments in Electronic Literature, I have become more aware of the many ways our contemporary life is interconnected with computer technology.\u00a0 Hayles talks about that interconnectedness related to the fact that “all communication…is mediated through some kind of digital code.” \u00a0\u00a0That is true, and, in reality, almost every facet of … Continue reading Technology – the pacemaker of contemporary life<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reflections"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/fall2008\/343\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/fall2008\/343\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/fall2008\/343\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/fall2008\/343\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/fall2008\/343\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=688"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/fall2008\/343\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/688\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":692,"href":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/fall2008\/343\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/688\/revisions\/692"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/fall2008\/343\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/fall2008\/343\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/fall2008\/343\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}