Bangbook

So I found in Bangbook an article I have been searching for since beginning this course--Is PD Art? No and Yes. Two Attempts. I've been looking for this article in order to get some other perspective and help me determine for myself whether I believe PD can be considered art.

I think one thing this article did for me was help me to realize how tricky this question can be. First, I think it's impossible for Pd to be art. Pd is a method--or a medium, depending on how you perceive it--for artists to create art. I don't believe Pd can be art any more than paint itself can be art, or canvas for that matter. Pd is an incredible tool by which art can be produced. Like the piano. The piano itself isn't art. It wasn't art when it was created. When Bartolomeo Cristofori developed the modern piano, no one cried "Artist!" until he played the thing.

With all of that said--and my mind still made up--I completely see how people see Pd as art. It's a piece of software, but it's constantly evolving and being manipulated by artists to create new and exciting products. I think the importance is that it is being used to create, which is a variation on the term technology. It's functionality is its purpose.

I know there is an incredibly long list of arguments to my own; however, I would much rather discuss them in person than continue to blog about it. Wonderfully interesting chapter.