mediums and messages
I've been reading a book by Marshall McLuhan, "Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man" and it's really made my mind spin. But the one thing that really has me freaked out is the concept, which is the book's first chapter, "the medium is the message." Ironically, you would think that someone such as myself who has graduate from a college of Media Arts would have heard of this before, but I hadn't. Or at least, I don't remember it. I'm sure it probably came up here and there in lectures, but it has never stuck with me. So the concept has really turned my mind nearly upside down.
This sudden jolt in my way of thinking feels like I've turned around in the middle of a marathon to start over, simply because I couldn't remember if I heard the starting gun go off. Furthermore, I'm still a little lost on my bearings and probably won't find them as I'm only half way through this book. What a quandary.
So I've been thinking how to put this concept to pratical use in art. Suggestions?
posted by Anonymous at 9:51 PM
2 Comments:
MediaThumb, did you sleep through COM 001? I think Dr. Main made that point about a billion times... Aside from his, "YES! 'B' Bravo!" I'll remember that class for the phrase "the medium is the message"
MT - don't feel too bad. If graphic designers weren't such nerds to repeat "the medium is the message" over and over again, I wouldn't have heard this before either (even though I could probably dig through and find my Com 01 notes).
So...to go out on a limb and ask a question I probably should have years ago...what does that mean...'the medium is the message'?
If we use TV for a commercial or program, our message is simply about the TV? I guess that could be right since by using TV we're promoting it's use for our message. Wow - that's big picture...
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