Great post. Web 2.0 was an expression of our collective psychosis. But calling it madness or psychosis lets people off the hook. Web 2.0 also enabled individual hubris. Egos on steroids. “Here comes everyone” was not quite right. “Here come the sociopaths, manipulators, and narcissists” would have been a truer title.
The minute Obama got on Twitter, politics changed forever. Of course it didn’t matter that it was Obama, he just happened to be in the right place at the right time. But 2007-2008 was a turning point in terms of amplification. By that point, the web had truly become a propaganda machine, and Twitter and FB were the proverbial nails in the coffin of any lingering dreams of an open source, decentered, democratic Internet.
We like to talk about “media literacy” in education, but I don’t think we’ve progressed much these past two decades. Chomsky and Herman’s "Manufacturing Consent,” which was published in 1988, is still one of the most relevant diagnoses of our media-led politics, and Web 1.0 only really got going in 1989.
I think your early puppet series captured glimpses of Web 2.0 insanity. As you say, the puppets don’t lie. The puppeteer may lie. The interviewees may lie. But the whole point of the medium is that it exposes the manipulative gap. Puppets are lifeless until someone picks them up. And you can’t deepfake the material presence of a puppet--at least not yet. This is why theatre has always been one of the first mediums that authoritarian regimes try to shut down or control when taking power (e.g. appoint yourself chair of the Kennedy Center).
But if Web 2.0 was toxic, I can’t begin to imagine the sorts of backroom games that go on today with influencers. Documentaries like "Fake Famous" and "The American Meme" have gone some way to exposing the field, but still don't get into the games behind the games.
Wow! I had no idea of all of this history. I can't remember how we actually met though it was on Twitter and before silenced. In any case you have tasted the highest and the lows of life and you still make great art. Thank you.
I am even more glad I know you now having read your back story. Keep being creative. 🤗
Great post. Web 2.0 was an expression of our collective psychosis. But calling it madness or psychosis lets people off the hook. Web 2.0 also enabled individual hubris. Egos on steroids. “Here comes everyone” was not quite right. “Here come the sociopaths, manipulators, and narcissists” would have been a truer title.
The minute Obama got on Twitter, politics changed forever. Of course it didn’t matter that it was Obama, he just happened to be in the right place at the right time. But 2007-2008 was a turning point in terms of amplification. By that point, the web had truly become a propaganda machine, and Twitter and FB were the proverbial nails in the coffin of any lingering dreams of an open source, decentered, democratic Internet.
We like to talk about “media literacy” in education, but I don’t think we’ve progressed much these past two decades. Chomsky and Herman’s "Manufacturing Consent,” which was published in 1988, is still one of the most relevant diagnoses of our media-led politics, and Web 1.0 only really got going in 1989.
I think your early puppet series captured glimpses of Web 2.0 insanity. As you say, the puppets don’t lie. The puppeteer may lie. The interviewees may lie. But the whole point of the medium is that it exposes the manipulative gap. Puppets are lifeless until someone picks them up. And you can’t deepfake the material presence of a puppet--at least not yet. This is why theatre has always been one of the first mediums that authoritarian regimes try to shut down or control when taking power (e.g. appoint yourself chair of the Kennedy Center).
But if Web 2.0 was toxic, I can’t begin to imagine the sorts of backroom games that go on today with influencers. Documentaries like "Fake Famous" and "The American Meme" have gone some way to exposing the field, but still don't get into the games behind the games.
Wow! I had no idea of all of this history. I can't remember how we actually met though it was on Twitter and before silenced. In any case you have tasted the highest and the lows of life and you still make great art. Thank you.
I am even more glad I know you now having read your back story. Keep being creative. 🤗