Hi Ernie, Thanks for taking the time to read the whole thing -- it was kind of long, I know, haha.
I'm largely in agreement with you about things moving in the direction of reconciliation -- though I'm *cautiously* optimistic about it, mostly because history is also full of failed movements that didn't really get anywhere because of the lack of compromise between various parties. It's a very difficult thing, especially in today's age of specialization, and I've found it sometimes hard to talk to tech people about the importance of the curatorial process, because it sort of runs counter to the ideals of egalitarianism that the internet was modeled after. (But if there was anyone who'd appreciate bridge building, I figured it would be the Radical Centrists here.) It's true that conflict can spawn inspiration, and that art itself never dies. Even if it means having to live in poverty, artists will continue to make art because they just don't know how to live any other way. But inspiration in itself isn't enough to really make works that we might consider "landmarks" or "groundbreaking", because it needs the active support and guidance of an enlightened leadership. This can either be in the form of patronage (private, government) or generous support from business interests who're looking to establish long-term relationships with emerging talent. The landscape as it stands now is very freelancer oriented -- one-time gigs here and there, short-term contracts -- works that are made very quickly, with speedy efficiency, and lowered cost. The things you see on Youtube these days tend to reflect that kind of intensity, and it's become acceptable for works to be a little rough around the edges, without any deeper meaning. But the practice of recruiting talent with the long term goal of *developing* their art towards a broader vision tends to be missing at the moment. "Artist Development", as its called, has been gutted out of the picture in the aftermath of the tech industry's quest to "remove the middleman", so to speak. The tech sector right now seems to be obsessed with the quick-returns of social media -- though that model will probably collapse some time soon because it's become over-saturated and people are now starting to realize the vapidness of a lot of these so-called "innovations". The good news is that the leadership seems to be aware of this (I read a lot of articles by tech leaders full of lament as of the late) and that real innovative concepts are projects that might take 10-year spans or more. What a lot of people don't realize is that art works the same way too -- that artists need the same piece of mind as other people in order to give them focus that they need in order to hone in on their craft. I've always felt that all the Valley has to do is extend their culture of meritocracy onto content producers, and the rest would probably take care of itself. Will it happen? Maybe. They have an opportunity to replace Hollywood as a whole (in its weakened state), or at least give them a run for their money in terms of producing quality content. The tech and startup people I keep in contact with right now are mostly among those looking to do that. On Mon, Mar 18, 2013 at 5:28 PM, Dr. Ernest Prabhakar < [email protected]> wrote: > Hi Ryan, > > Wow, brilliant piece! Thanks for sharing it. I'm a big fan of O'Reilly as > well. > > I did have one question, though: > > On Mar 11, 2013, at 8:41 PM, Ryan Tanaka <[email protected]> wrote: > > For those of us who dreamt of building a bridge between the world of art > and tech, these recent developments do not bode well for our near-term > futures. Art rarely flourishes during periods of conflict, and this time > around it’s not likely to be any different. But to a certain extent, the > clash between the two worlds was bound to happen sooner or later — a result > of pent up dissatisfactions and unexpressed opinions that have been > building up for decades on end, which is only now coming to the light of > the public eye. > > Is that really true? In my very limited understanding, periods of conflict > are actually a great source of inspiration for art. The sixties produced > some remarkable folk music, for example. > > More precisely, maybe there's a certain "critical level" of conflict that > is productive. With stasis, the classicists win and nobody does anything > new. With revolution, the technologists forget everything except survival. > > Perhaps art is only produced when the "conflict" is at a level where it > challenges but does not actually threaten our identity, so that we both can > and must question our identity and express it in new ways. Is that what > you meant? > > > But the silver lining is all of this is that these clashes are a sign > that the two sides are now in convergence, which will force a number of > interactions to occur, even if many of its initial contacts may start in a > hostile manner. After the dust starts to settle, however, new opportunities > are likely to emerge among the more moderate and progressive wings of the > two worlds. Then, perhaps a renewed interest in the creation of a bridge > once more. > > > I'm actually much more hopeful about the bridge. While I agree Schwartz's > death pushed my fellow tech-nerds to be more "radical", I interpret that as > pursuing engagement rather than violence. Even now, I'm seeing signs of > Silicon Valley seeking to emulate Hollywood rather than merely conquer or > displace it: > > > http://www.forbes.com/sites/gregsatell/2013/03/04/what-netflixs-house-of-cards-means-for-the-future-of-tv/ > > Would you agree? > > Cheers, > -- Ernie P. > > -- > -- > Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community < > [email protected]> > Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism > Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org > > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > > > -- Ryan Tanaka Ph.D, Historical Musicology at USC http://ryangtanaka.com - Scholarship, music, entrepreneurship. -- -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community" group. 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