Reflection: The Medium is the Massage

When I first opened the link to the audio for The Medium is the Massage, I was beyond confused. I had no idea what I was listening to and for the most part, it made me wonder what on earth I’m doing studying art. The media we have explored for this class is unlike any other content that I have been asked to read or listen to for any of my other classes. However, if I interpreted the content correctly, I think that may be the point of The Medium is the Massage. It’s not about what you’re saying, but how you say it. After trying very hard to understand what I was listening to and looking at, I plugged the title into google and found a more comprehensive analysis of what the creators are trying to say. It just so happens that my preferred medium is a little more straightforward than the medium utilized by the creators of this particular project. However, I do strongly agree that the medium that we choose to portray our message has a lot of significance in how art can be interpreted. I’m very interested in our role as visual artists and our ability to manipulate information to change our relationship with that information. We have the power to change how others see what we see. Not to be too cheesy, but with great power comes great responsibility. We have to be very conscious of the decisions we make regarding our manipulation of elements of design and intentional about the medium we use in order to portray our messages most effectively.