How does technology mediate the artist experience?

My experience when I was doing the situational tour project was one with mixed feelings. There were both limitations and advantages to using digital media as the medium for creating art.

Some of the limitations that I encountered were that of capturing the moment. It was frustrating at first to try and capture a moment because sometimes the camera would not go off until a second too late. However, after a while it became easier to predict when something was going to happen, or have some idea of what it was that I wanted to capture. However, if a photograph wasn’t exactly what I wanted there was nothing that I could do about it, while drawing and painting allows for the freedom of creation, photography is about whether you capture the moment or not, you can’t recreate it or edit the movement in the picture. That was one of the limitations that I found to be frustrating.

When I was taking pictures I didn’t really see what was going to be the outcome, however to my surprise I captured interesting moments and it was the capturing of those moments that gave me the material to create a cohesive narrative. From there on it was just about choosing the pictures that I felt expressed a clear idea, or that would convey a message to the audience. It was very much like choosing what components go into a drawing, or painting. I, as the artist, chose what the audience saw when I was doing the narrative.

Overall, the situational tour project was a very interesting way of creating art. Just as in painting and drawing I was recording an event, or a certain emotion that I felt the audience should be able to observe. It was the capturing of a moment that could not be reenacted. While it does have its limitations there are also amazing things that can be done, especially since the final project is something real that other people can relate to just by being able to see other “real” people in the work of art.

Situational Tour: Internal Revenue Service Building

On Wednesday March 19, 2008 the streets of Washington, D.C.
rang with the cries of protest.
Protesters were chanting for America to wake up.
That Wednesday marked the 5th year anniversary of the Iraq War.

At eight o'clock in the morning, outside of the IRS building,
The protest was supposed to begin.
Yet, at ten minutes past eight there were only a handful of people.

The presence of authority was obvious given the large amount of police officers, yet
there were only a handful of protesters.
At a quarter past eight they were still largely outnumbered.
One reporter jokingly said that there were going to be more police officers and reporters,
than there would be protesters.

People were starting to wonder if the protesters were going to come,
myself included.
When all of the sudden in the distance,
at twenty past eight,
there came the sounds of a marching band,
cymbals crashing, trumpets sounding and a drum being pounded,
announced the oncoming march.

Everybody rushed to watch the march,
reporters, spectators, and myself.
Their voices grew louder as they came closer,
as they voiced their ideals and the change they believed in.
They were marching with a purpose.
For a few moments they blocked traffic,before moving on to their final destination,
the IRS building.

Outside of the IRS building the groups held their signs up,
so that reporters and passing traffic could see.
The group that stood out most was CODE PINK, and
before the protest began they were some of the few people there.
Going through the ritual of putting on their pink attire,
and writing slogans across pillowcases and umbrellas.

The protest was calm at first, and then the arrests began.
Protesters attempting to cross the security barrier in front of the IRS building,
were immediately arrested.
However, the arrests, rather then discourage the protesters, only served to spur them on.
With the arrests came the chant:
This is what democracy looks like,
that is what hypocrisy looks like.

The protesters were thrown on the ground,
their hands were grabbed and tied behind their back with plastic ties.
To an onlooker it may have seemed that they had failed,
but in reality, they made their point.

Amongst the protesters there walked a masked man
his mask was that of Bush, with horns.
The "torture president" stated the poster the man holds.
He was welcomed, and many people sought to get their picture taken with him,
almost as if he were a tourist attraction.

Throughout the entire protest,
the reporters documented every motion, every chant, every arrest.
It was their presence that ensured that the protest would be seen,
and heard throughout the nation.

The arrested sat behind the barrier,
waiting for the homeland security truck to come and take them away,
while they waited they chanted, they still contributed to the cause.
The main chant throughout the protest was:
Money for jobs and education,
not for war and occupation.
It was a cry of protest against the billions of dollars in tax money
that had gone into a war that so many have protested.


The protesters did not just protest what the IRS building stood for.
They also protested the interest in oil,
as their chant became louder the words became clearer:
Exxon, Mobil, BP, Shell
Take your money and go to hell

During the protest the authority of the police
kept the protesters from spilling into the streets.
They stood as spectators, not amused by the protest,
they were simply there to do their job.

Before the protest ended, I looked up at the doors and saw a man standing there,
he was inside, looking out,
safe behind the railing and the protection of the police officers,
and I could not help but wonder, what does he think of all this?

Situational Tour Location

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The location for the situational tour that I chose was the IRS building where the War Resisters League, and CODEPINK would be protesting the funding of the war. The reason that I chose this location for my situational tour was because it was one of the earlier events, as well as being conveniently located on the mall.


The way that I plan on photographing this event is that I plan to capture the action of the protest, as well as as taking pictures of the banners that they will be holding up. If there are police officers there I plan to take pictures that will show the contrast between the protesters and the police officers.


The way that the four key words ritual, security, authority and ideology will play a role in this event is not very apparent because I do not know what to expect as I have never been to an event such as this one. However I can hazard a guess and say that there will be a sense of authority with the presence of law enforcement. There will also be ritual if there are any chants that the protesters shout out. As for the ideology of the protesters, that is apparent as I suspect that they object the funding of the war with billions of taxpayer dollars.

The Impact of Certain Key Concepts on Art

One concept that was developed that created an impact on the multimedia arts was that of the graphical user interface. The concept of a graphical user interface was influential becuase it facilitated things for people who did not have extensive computer knowledge. The development of the graphic user interface allows for the ability to have things more readily available to one, as well as giving one the option of having various windows open, whether it be for the purpose of referencing or just for the intention of working on various things at the same time. It was the creation of the graphic user interface that allowed for artists to have an easier time to create art.