Listening to the Medium is the Message was honestly terrible, and a little horrifying. Since it’s really hard for me to focus, the entire audio kept throwing me off, making it hard for me to hear the actual reader of the information.
And that’s the point. The title explains exactly what happens. In the audio, the main information is read off by a man in monotone, this makes it easier for all the side sound effects, music, and readings to detract from the main information. This ties into the meaning of the piece: that in modern time people, but particularly young people, need a ton of information thrown at them all at once, or at least that they comprehend more things even with distractions. The older generation is still attempting to teach in such a way that worked back in the day, but now with all of the easy-to-find distractions, and the influence of television has altered the young way of thinking. In this way, it’s more obvious to the viewer why there is so much going on at once, and that this rapid type of audio helps create the message.
Similarly, the print form of this piece still gives off similar vibes that can throw off a reader easily. By juxtaposing distracting pictures, various colors of underlining, red circles around certain passages, etc. the message begins to be lost in the storm of the printed piece. It doesn’t ring bells at the reader, but it does cause a mental background noise because of the different markings and repetition. The meaning of the piece is also reduced because of the distractions. Whether it’s in print or audio, the point remains the same: the format of the media can alter the meaning of the work.
As it relates to project 2, collaging works in a similar way. By layering different images and different kinds of textures, one can add different feelings over other pieces. Although meaning can be added, so covering up aspects can create a completely different meaning.
