Web of Concepts

After absorbing heaps of knowledge, I was truly relieved that the midterm was a take-home because the night before I concocted a finely detailed study guide to work with. It was put to good use in the first section, although as Erika explained some of terms on the left (i.e. content and message) overlapped with similar ideas on the right, making matters a bit thorny. I found that Marshall McLuhan tied into four of the five terms I chose, so I was challenged to be creative when making connections to avoid repetition. The second section was rather strange because it appeared very subjective, and I found it difficult to prove that a certain term was “critically interesting” or “most thought provoking.” However, arguing that concepts such as the “role the new media artist” and “technological determinism” were socially important came fairly naturally because ideas crossed with explanations made in the first section.

The essay proved to be the most demanding and compelling component because it called for imaginative and unconventional thought. As many have said before me, the key here was to make thoughtful connections between relative ideas, for example, I compared a new media artist to an inventor metaphorically. I also implemented some discussion in the Waking Life such as the scene when the scientist explains how through the telescoping of time, evolution can now be experienced within on lifetime, and related this to the historic evolution of artistic movements. On “part d” I really had to stretch my imagination to relate the light bulb as an electric medium to the new media artist. Once again metaphor came into play, as I explained that the artist is challenged to “illuminate the minds of the viewers” and “shed light on progressive patterns.” When the midterm was said and done, the key terms and people fell into place as an interrelated web of thought, putting into perspective everything we’ve studied thus far.