Let's talk Andy Warhol for a moment.
Andy Warhol, was anAmerican painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. After a successful career as a commercial illustrator, Warhol became famous worldwide for his work as a painter, avant-garde filmmaker, record producer,author, and public figure known for his membership in wildly diverse social circles that included bohemian street people, distinguishedintellectuals, Hollywood celebrities and wealthy aristocrats.Warhol has been the subject of numerous retrospective exhibitions, books, and feature and documentary films. He coined the expression "15 minutes of fame."
Thank you very much Wikipedia you are the bread and butter of the lazy scholar.
So, now you are aware of Andy the artist and apparent socialite, but did you know that he was also a legitimate psychic. Yes that is right everybody Andy Warhol could predict the future!!! The term "15 minutes of fame" actually came from Andy's quote, "In the future, everybody will be famous for fifteen minutes." Now, look at theinternet sensation Youtube, or just look at this- I am sure it is familiar http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60og9gwKh1o Yes that is right the Numa Numa guy who was made famous by dancing to that god awful song. Remember this one? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXttxi82TCM
Yes, the dramatic chipmunk!!!! Whoa hilarious right? Not really? Well what if Samuel L. Jackson was tossed into the mix. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3HjGHVJdwk&feature=PlayList&p=9811D7E9B6CECDBF&index=35 I know, still not funny just stupid. Okay, what about this guy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwTZ2xpQwpA Or, recently this kid, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txqiwrbYGrs
Trust me you can surf Youtube for days on end and find worst videos. However, the point is that these seemingly simple, borderline stupid, things have made all of the participants famous. They were, just like you and I, insignificant people who became famous, but like Andy said only for 15 minutes.
So, it is established that Youtube has brought forth an age of, for lack of a better word, idiots. Now, I am not going to go on a rant about how Youtube just produces stupidity and saturated material. Nor will I complain about how Youtube gives Assholes a chance to become famous- because I am an asshole. I will in fact defend Youtube, and all online videos for that matter, by stating that like everything else you have to find the diamond in the rough. Yes, most times than not you will stuck with watching some dumb viral video at a party that you will see at least ten times throughout the night - depending on how drunk everybody gets.
However, every once and a while you will find this, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzqumbhfxRo A hyperactive editing of drums and piano done one drum/note at a time. Absolutely incredible!! These are the videos that showcase something worth-while, and not some dumb intense chipmunk that has now become somewhat of a cultural icon. Still not convinced? How about a Youtube subscriber named Kutiman? Kutiman utilizes the useless videos of others to create original pieces of music. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tprMEs-zfQA Kutiman, like myself, was most likely annoyed with the saturated garbage that he was overwhelmed with on Youtube. Instead Kutiman, UNLIKE ME, did something productive with his frustration and made these outstanding pieces of music/art. There is an astronomical amount of talent in what he has created, and I for one will respect that to the end of my time.
Youtube is filled with talent like Kutiman that are worth the time checking out. I could post several more links of amazing talent that exists, or made public, on Youtube. However, I want you to experience the self-satisfaction of discover some on your own. I may not want to submit to the stupidity that is the commenting section of Youtube, but I will absolutely continue searching for the "sweet meat" that exist behind the gross fat of Youtube.
Perhaps, it is a little extreme to say that Andy Warhol was a psychic, but he was at least one hell of a philosopher. I want to announce that Andy you were correct. Now everybody, thanks to Youtube, has the resource to become famous for fifteen minutes. However, should everybody be famous for fifteen minutes? Probably not, but how do you control that? Can you? Who knows? Maybe a war we should seek. Let us, you and I, battle the saturated, talent-less, mind- numbing, viral shit that makes it's way from teenage loner's bedrooms to CNN. Our weapon of choice, the spreading of obscure talented videos like Kutiman’s through blogs such as this one!!!!! Too much of an ambitious war plan? Sorry, perhaps a more Guerrilla style of warfare. Orders are to present a smug and pretentious attitude toward the millions of people who sat down and made the Numa Numa video a phenomenon. I mean being a little pretentious has got me this far so it has to work right? Meh..
To be honest sometimes both worlds collide. The viral world adapts and actually picks up a talented video (of a person etc.). Like this classic http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMH0bHeiRNg That video is the most hit Youtube video of all time (I think) and deservedly so. That guy has got fucking talent.
Just don,t get discouraged and keep surfing because like my pal DaneShavis says, "These social-networking sites are, like it or not, going to figure very heavily in the future of public discourse and information-sharing.” Youtube is all but a part of that future. Use it accordingly
Thought-provoking, mon frere. I can see that you've got a problem with the influx of amateur "entertainment" that YouTube is home to, and I think you're partly right. Breaking down the barriers and letting everyone post videos of themselves regardless of their talent can be a good and a bad thing.
ReplyDeleteAnother place to look is the music industry - what a surprise, I'm talking about music again! People are, more and more, releasing their albums on their own, i.e. without a record label's direction. The good news: talent and expression can try and get out from under the manufactured nature of pop music. The bad news: if the labels were to disappear, the market would be flooded with tripe, because there are no gate-keepers to keep, say, William Hung from releasing box-sets. Like them or not, record labels do know what sells... and music that sells sounds good, or people wouldn't buy it. We're sheep, but we're not zombies.
Anyway, what's my YouTube-related point? That, like you said, there are millions of videos that don't give viewers anything, that don't have much to say, and that frankly don't deserve to be the icons of our generation. But on the other hand, that's totally permissible. And if you want deeper meaning, if you want messages, you go and look for it. That's always been the way, though. All that's changed is that the bad art is louder - it just makes the good worth that much more when you find it.