Art, Technology, and How Religion is Obsolete in the 21st Century (Introduction)

It is hard to deny the power of technology, few would even attempt to do so (those who would are likely religious zealots who use technology to tell you to "repent" now OR ELSE!) If you live in a first world country, few go even an hour per day without being affected by it. It makes our lives better, and is progressing at an exponential rate. It won't be long before we as humanity will take to the stars. Such action is necessary, as the Earth will only be usable for so long. This post will be part of a series on the relationship between Art, Technology, Humanity and the Antiquity of Religion. I will attempt to make it as sequential as I possibly can; but... as I work a day job like most of us do, and am not a professional writer, I won't make any promises. I might add pieces here and there that seem out of order, but will do my best to keep it on track and in logical sequence.

With this first post I would like to start by giving a brief introduction on how I intend to synthesize these concepts. They may at first seem somewhat unrelated; or perhaps, you might already have some guesses as to where this discussion will be going; hear me out if you're interested in seeing where this might lead.

Lets start with Art and Technology.

Humanity is being coming increasingly dependent upon technology as the progression of civilization continues to become ever more difficult and complex. We develop technologies, naturally, to make our lives easier, more comfortable, or offer some service to us. As technology develops and increasingly envelopes our being, I argue we are also being somewhat dehumanized. For example, more and more people are turning to technology to be social, listen to music, enjoy themselves etc.

All of the things that it used to mean to be human are being sequentially replaced by technological bastardizations of what they formerly were. There is nothing wrong with this progression, rather, it is something that is unavoidable and actually necessary; however, it isn't without cost. As we lose touch with our humanity, some are finding themselves depressed, because our layered brains, forged from billions of years of evolution out of primordial ooze, can't quite convert themselves effectively in a span of 30 years (which is effectively how long the cyber revolution has been gaining ground) to being happy in a situation so far removed from our evolutionary heritage. Species evolve, but it has, traditionally, been an agonizingly slow process. Never before has a species evolved so fast as humans (that we know of) on this planet.

This fast transition into a vastly different set of stimuli and requirements is often overwhelming, to the point where individuals become sad or depressed. Our brains are still set to hunt, gather, have sex, converse with other humans via our physical bodies, laugh, love and other crave pleasures entirely based in the flesh. These things were all necessary for our evolution as a collective species, as humans are far more effective when working in a tribe, our power of communication is so great that we have achieved the grandeur of civilization through it. Those who didn't have the desire to exercise or exhibit the traits and activities described above, were less likely to reproduce; and over thousands of years we have become accustomed to these things, subconsciously, if not consciously. We have shaped our own evolution, and we should continue to do so in the future as we are the sole determiners of our fate.

Enter Art.

I argue that Art can lessen this blow sustained by technology on the human psyche. Art is the expression, it's always done for the sake of expression. It shouldn't be because you want money from it, it shouldn't be because you want fame or power or nonsense like that. Although those things often accompany great art, as they should. Art should be about the pure joy of expression. Without feelings, what is the point of living? Sure you can go to your 9-5 job come home and plop down exhausted only to drown your sorrows in fifth of whatever liquor you happen to be able to afford, but where's the fun in that? For me, that would quickly lead to depression. I definitely am not the healthiest person; but I'd be dead after 5 years of that (emotionally if not physically). Even if you're not an artist, the pure joy of looking, listening, tasting, reading, watching a great work of art is invigorating. If you turn on the television, (not that anyone has cable anymore) you will quickly find yourself being confronted with what I call "counterfeit" Art. That will be a topic for another Steem article. But in a nutshell, counterfeit Art is everything you typically find in the mainstream, because those people are by definition doing it for a living and not intrinsically motivated. I am of the opinion that great Art MUST be intrinsically motivated.

I am a music producer, and horrible one at that. But I don't do it for a living, and I'm proud to say that. I like the fact that I can do whatever I want Artistically, which often involves a high level of experimentation, different live and digital instrumentation, as well as all-original abstract poetry and is pretty much entirely off the cuff/improvised. If you're expecting to be trailblazer in the avante-garde world you've got to take risks, and I think that's what art is all about. It would be very easy for me to just look at what types of lyrical content, instruments, and chord progressions are "trending" in pop music (I IV V) and emulate that sound wave to suit a wide audience, but where's the Art in that? You're just recreating someone else's feelings. Avante-gardians can never be mainstream because the public just doesn't want to hear what you have to say. The masses don't want to be challenged (they want to be lulled or pleasured!) and avante-garde can be downright brutal at times; because it's challenging the accepted norms of a particular form. Expression is so much spicier that way though. Can you imagine some Pop artist putting out an avante-garde album expecting to sell the millions of copies necessary for their excessively high standard of living? They're not going to do it. They're not in it for the Art, they're in it for the money. Nothing wrong with that, it's human nature, and there are worse jobs. But the really intriguing artists are the ones out there doing stuff that pushes the envelope to the point where you're still enjoying (question how that is) it, and wondering how it even has 12 plays (not a bad thing). Thought provoking, interesting, something new.

Whoops, bit of a digression there, but still somewhat on topic.

So how do art and technology tie together then? Well in the dehumanization that the technological revolution is bringing, Art offers us a way to retain our sassy roots. With greater technology comes greater potential for the works of Art that are to come. Using stringed has been done for thousands of years, but it is only in the last 20 that we're starting to see analog instruments become digital representations of themselves. Sure, you lose the 111111 in favor of 01101010101; but at the same time, the choppier nature of a binary sequence of sound can be used in the artist's advantage using creative digital compression techniques (and many other forms of digital sound manipulation). Having the recording studio at our fingertips enables the artist to be in full control of the direction and potential of the music (not always a good thing, as in my case). The only limiting factor is the human brain, specifically, concentration. I'm not saying I'm a "good" artist, fuck, I'm far from it. My music is atrocious, but at least I'm always looking for the next thing to take my music past the edge of where it's at now; and also see how many Followers I can ditch with the latest .wav file. Falling down is what I do. In the process of seeking the ultimate gratification from Art, I'm constantly disappointing myself, but also creating a fiery sense of purely human passion. No other animal will devote so much time and effort to something that has 0 chance of bringing in any type of tangible benefits. And this is proof that our evolution as a species is sacred and we humans are different. We will need to embrace both technology (for reasons of survival and comfort) and Art (for reasons of passion and a pulse) in the coming years if we are not to forget what beauty is. If we allow humanity to be swept under the cold steely rug made of copper and silicon, I think future generations will never know what they are missing. This is what I fear most. I want future generations (even if they are bionically augmented and can lift cars) to be able to still get goosebumps from hearing a song, or brought to tears of joy from a piece of provocative visual art, and perhaps see the brilliance in a writers thought processes.

As technology becomes more and overarching and antithetical to what it means to be human, we must never lose sight of art and what it can offer us. Art can be that slap in the face or it can lul you into submission. Or maybe we can lose sight of what it means to be human (you may not think this is a bad thing, an I still love you, damn you're spicy), this is up to you, to decide; I'm just offering my thoughts and would love some commentary from other people on this. There will be more to come but this is my first post and I haven't done any serious writing in a few years so forgive the choppy style.

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Next in the series:
How Tech and Art Make Religion Obsolete (and show it to be regressive)