A multi-author discussion of the creative industries in the digital age
First, there were matchmakers. Then there were personal ads. Now there are dating sites and apps. Big differences in mediums here, but they all involved an algorithmic element of chance, and they still do. In his book, We Are Data, John Cheney-Lippold describes the social and technological phenomenon that is the dating site/app. Sites like OkCupid, […]
“A star is not born. A star’s image is meticulously made and remade…” (Cheney-Lippold, xi) In We Are Data, John Cheney-Lippold’s book on the algorithms of digital agency, he discusses the online personas we as Internet-users cultivate, and those personas that are cultivated for us. He describes the phenomenon of the Internet celebrity—someone whose online […]
Nearly every century has had its share of creative sparks, but the 20th century somehow managed to produce not only periods of innovation and spectacular creativity, but also sustained high productivity, particularly in industries like music and film. During certain decades of the 1900s, media industries—and their titans—were able to tap into a no-fail formula […]
“The outsider has nothing to lose” (Wu, 20). It is just this mentality that Tim Wu maintains throughout most of his book, The Master Switch, describing the world’s most innovative tech inventors. Wu argues that these creators, the so-called “outside inventors,” function at a distance from business regulations, monetary pressures, and other conditions that affect […]
Ken Robinson, in his TED talk, “Do Schools Kill Creativity?” makes a crucial distinction between children and adults, highlighting the effects of education on creativity. Robinson claims that children, more than adults, have an expansive imagination and are able to express themselves in more creative ways (Robinson). As we grow, we lose some of our […]
Since pretty much the beginning of time it’s been the case that artists support themselves with “day” jobs. Even Vincent van Gogh had a number of “day” jobs—he worked as an apprentice to an art dealer, a lay preacher, at a bookstore, and even as a schoolteacher in England (Nix). Teaching is often a route […]
Film and Digital Media 