A reflection on Mashall McLuhan and Quentin Fiore’s “The Medium is the Massage–An Inventory of Effects”

McLuhan and Fiore mix pounding prose and a deliberate, repetitive, rhythm of bold and ghostly imagery, which questions personal existence, the interconnections of social forms that exist outside ourselves, and the heavy effects social things have on our inner core.

McLuhan, a media analyst, and Fiore, a graphic designer, expand and define the impact of media on humankind. They combined their ideas and talents to produce this work.

I found the energetic circling and underlining of paragraph intriguing, as well as the name of the piece (“message” would make more sense, but “massage” provides more of a sensory effect).

One part of this piece began remind me of an episode of The Monkees, a show that was filmed in the years 1966-1968 about a group of young musicians who get into all sorts of situations. Although on the surface the Monkees were quite goofy, their material often dealt with serious and thought-provoking subjects about culture and meaning.

In this particular episode, titled “Monkee vs. Machine”, the Monkees had to confront a computer-like machine that was taking jobs away from people at a toy factory. The toy-makers had become obsolete and no match for the computer’s intelligence and efficiency. 

One by one the Monkees have to have a meeting with the computer, with the computer greeting them officially and powerfully. However, one of the Monkees charmingly defeats the computer through quick-witted, silly puns and mind-games that the computer could not comprehend. They soon succeed in giving back the jobs to the workers, despite the hard-headed boss’ adamant push towards replacing every job with technology.

I think this episode provides a rather triumphant ending of humans over technology and the influence of hype and media. It contains a similar theme that the phrase “Come into my parlor,” said the computer to the specialist”  in “The Medium is the Massage”.

While writing this reflection, I researched more into the context of “The Medium is the Massage”, and it turns out that it was released in 1967 (in the same era as the Monkees, the Beatles, and others!!). It’s funny that I connected the two without knowing the time period that “The Medium is the Massage” was created in; its so interesting there’s a consistent theme of challenging images and objects present among these minds and culture.

In a review of the audio pieces and book I read online, by Brett Milano on AllMusic.com, Milano discusses the intellectual era of “trippiness” and “surreal humor” that came about during this time. He also talks about the origin of the title, which McLahun stated was an spelling error from the editor, which he decided to keep because it seemed to be very fitting.

This opens my mind more to the power that this combination of talent has; it’s pounding, intricate, challenging, and gives off a restless, unsatisfied energy. I would love to do more research on other pieces produced within this time period.

This piece created developed a united message, conceptually and aesthetically. The images evoked various emotions through their manipulation in space. They played with motion, rhythm, and depth through the variation of photograph and text placement. For Project 2 (the collage project) I would also like to create this energy and unity by placing my photographs and textures in deliberate and interesting directions and meaningful places.

Note: I just realized that the colored “underlining” and “circling” that I talked about in the reflection may have not been a part of the work, but digital notes from the copy that we were provided. They did add a certain emphasis and severity to the book, even if they may not have been a part of the original.

Images taken from (links given):

“Monkee vs. Machine” shots  and group picture

Out of all the assignments for this week, I think I gained most from listening to the musician and producers of Spoon talk about their thoughts, inspirations, and processes as they generated their song “Inside Out”; it was an inspiring and informative way to look into the purposes beneath the rhythms and notes that we hear—to truly meet the artists’ intentions and their experiences with their creative processes.

I wrote down many points that the speakers came to, such as that they would just “throw down ideas” even if they weren’t sure if they’d be used; they would “mess with it” until they found an “emotional connection”. I also liked when they even mentioned how even intuition plays a role in their decisions (for example, when one of them mentioned, after he could “hear something in [his] head”, and that they should try something unique at a certain point of the song because “it’s be cool”!).

The cooperation for a common and exciting goal throughout inspired me as well because they all seemed to have an understanding and an open mind for exploring into the “unknown” and unfamiliar in order to produce something remarkable and purposeful.

This help me understand that music is not just an “art” (there to express emotions and other intentions of the artist), but also heavily a “design”. The producers of “Inside Out” focused strongly on the effective design and incorporation of different layers, inspirations, and elements. The comparison, evaluation, and dedication to the product (and its transformation through this process) is a major part of the art of music (and of any piece of human creation).

As I first watched Stan Brackage’s STELLAR [1993], I took down adjectives in order to describe what I was seeing and feeling:

Dark, rich, deep, quick,

Ominous, haunting, repeated,

Splattered, no rhythm chosen or catchable,

Erratic (but purposeful), pounding

Distorted images…

I watched the film a few more times, and after reading the end credits (where it states that it is composed by a “visual musician”) and after reading the reactions in the Youtube comments (some questioned, “Is this art?!”, while others described it as the “visions” of Brackage), I saw this spectacle as more of a piece than a random assortment of images.

One user who commented on the video recommended music to be played along with it (such as the band Joy Division, which I played along with it one of the times). But there is something about the silence that accompanies the onslaught of visual imagery that gives it its purpose and edge. It is its own music, in a way, composed of film, color, distortion, and speed/movement. I interpret it as music for the eyes.

Amy Tan’s TED Talk that focused on the origins of human creativity and mental associations/discoveries reminded me of the importance of becoming a part of the creation and staying mentally and emotionally active and curious about life experiences. Tan made many points throughout her presentation that made me rethink the way I thought about creativity.

I really enjoyed the way that she related and compared Quantum Mechanics (used it almost as a basis of explanation) to explain the human experience while creating. “The Observer Effect” was one issue that stuck with me; if we only search for what we hope to find, we will not discover anything deeper than that. Creating, then, almost presents an opportunity for the creator to have an inner transformation.

I currently believe that we all can become creative if we push ourselves to reflect on our experiences and to go in challenging directions. Humans can create and think of new ideas through inspiration and cultivated knowledge over time (which means I would  agree mostly with the “nurture”  side of creativity). However, Tan also discusses that there may be things that happen inexplicably by nature (but this may also be a case of experience and inspiration).

Her focus on the balance of the universe and her own beliefs that formed while she was writing and planning her novels made me grasp onto that one of her central ideas: we must take on the beliefs of our creations in order to answer the questions we have concerning their placement in the world. Creativity happens through “questioning” and the understanding that “there  are not absolute truths”.  I believe it takes someone to open their mind (to the past, present, and future), and cultivate a steady, curious, determined spirit as they work for them to create to the best of their ability.

In the reading titled “What Is Design?” by Kenya Hara, Hara’s use of language  and history as he discussed the concept of deign greatly affected my viewpoint on purposeful inner-mechanisms of humans’ abilities to solve problems and communicate with one another.

One line that really struck me as intriguing was when Hara states that, “the beginning of human wisdom may have been the beginning of design”. As I read on, I began to understand design as more as a process of translating and planning a solution worked around a “problem”. The “problem” may be a defensive issue (in that case, designing a weapon would be a choice); or providing a house for a family (architectural design would work here). This understanding of my personal definition seemed to be consistent throughout the article. However, it did not seem as concrete when Hara began discussing the decorative side of design.

Although I would always hear, “fashion designers” and “interior designers” when I was little, I never understood the meaning beneath their work; I would always simply assume that they magically created things that looked nice or elaborately decorative for the consumers to purchase and enjoy. Even if this may be one main motivation for some/many designers, I never did track the origins of thought, motivations, and connections that actually went into creating the pieces and designs. What was the purpose of swirls on ancient vases, or the need to make objects or solutions interesting and aesthetically unique? I then began to think back to the need for communication and understanding among cultures. The intricate art within the process of design—across cultures—makes all of the difference in communicating styles and evoking emotions. Kara discusses this when he emphasizes the impact of industrially made products on the craftsmanship of designers. Although I may agree that producing monotonous products poses a challenge, I believe that there still are designers at work.

Overall Hara’s point of view made me realize that there will always be more for me to learn and experience with design because of its history, inspiration, and importance within our daily lives.

This article, titled “High Concept, High Touch”, by Daniel Pink, made me realize the general shifts in society’s needs that take place overtime as well as the importance of art and creativity in today’s age.

Pink discusses the different ages that have occurred and claims that we are passing the “Industrial Age” and entering the “Conceptual Age” of “pattern recognizers” and “meaning makers”. I agree with this because of the way that technology enables us to reach information with ease and express ourselves. We have enough stability technologically (to an extent) to have a higher number of people able to explore the significance of human connections and reach a higher level of thinking.

It excited me when Pink points out that we are moving towards an age where not just art, but emotional and empathetic understandings are being recognized as useful and valid advantages within many disciplines (in comparison to past eras when feelings towards one another were generally suppressed and untapped). He discusses how even in scientific and medical fields that they are becoming inspired and incorporating the useful perspective that the characteristics of artists supply.

In my view, art is very closely linked with human nature as well as complex, synthesized thinking, problem-solving, and expression, which makes it a very useful mechanism for many fields. I’ve been noticing (throughout high school especially) that creative and perceptive skills are being recognized more and more  as valuable; many of our teachers motivated to view things in different ways and utilize various personal methods to synthesize our point of view. The students who worked creatively and adamantly seemed to retain more knowledge and understanding after projects than the students who only tried for the minimum.

I never fully grasped the concepts of “Left-brained” or “Right-brained” thinking, other than what both approaches entail (one analytical, orderly, detailed, and logical; the other creative, intuitive, visionary, and holistic). In the article, Pink states that “Left-direct thinking is indispensable”; however, “Right-direct” thinking is now rising from irrelevancy, to secondary, to now almost primary importance. What I found very interesting was the very end when Pink ended with the observation that in a way many people now aren’t mainly motivated by values of wealth, but more so by exhilarating self-fulfillment; not knowledge, but understanding.

All of these connections make me even more thrilled for the future of many disciplines…especially this renewed appreciation for art and design!