Reading response A
Assignment:
Read three texts:
- Jill Lepore, "The Cobweb: Can the Internet Be Archived?"(2015)
- Alexander Galloway, "Jodi’s Infrastructure” (2016)
- Conversation 2, "Reliability" (2017)
Then, find a specific section of the conversation you're interested in. Copy and paste this section into your "reading-response-a.html" document, and use the appropriate HTML tags to render the text legible. Now, insert your own opinion or response by writing your name and what you'd say into the section. When you're done, make sure you link this from your class homepage.
Nilas: I think it’s about the individual freedom in what you want. For some people, it makes sense. I know
people in my class, our class, who document stuff and put it online and as they are here. I personally don't
do it. Growing up with the internet in the way that we all have here, we’re all changing our approaches to it.
For example, Facebook is suddenly a lot bigger than it was when we joined. Once you put something out
there, you lose control of it, and maybe some of us are hesitant about being public with stuff because we
felt we’ve lost control of things. Especially in an educational situation, where you are here to change or
develop, you might not relate or identify with the work you did two years before you came here, because
being here can elicit a significant development. But also after your time here, you might develop further. If
you’re a person who changes so much, then the identification, the internet as a mirror, can be frustrating
LC: I’ve been thinking about the implications of publishing art work online, whether it be on a personal website, Instagram, or tumblr. When I first started posting my work on Tumblr five years ago, I did not understand or even think about the implications of posting an image online. I posted artwork on tumblr in a light-hearted and non-self-conscious way, since art was truly just a hobby at the time. Before posting an image, I did not stop and think – “is this an image I want my name to be permanently associated with forever?”.
A couple days ago I did an extensive google search of my artist name and Instagram handle and I was surprised by the results. Of course there were many cringe-worthy artworks I’ve posted on Tumblr when I was younger that I would rather not be associated with anymore. Although I have since deleted those images off my Tumblr, they remain associated with my name forever, due to the nature of the reblog function on Tumblr.
I also noticed something strange. The publications/interviews that I have done with larger press outlets had been copied and pasted onto strange websites in verbatim – some of these sites had urls that indicated they were from Russia, China, and France. These sites weren’t art blogs – these sites appeared to be bot-generated. If I was ever so unhappy with a publication, I could maybe have the article removed by asking the publisher. With these bot-generated sites, I would never be able to track down the publisher or ask them to remove the article. These bot-generated sites help solidify the permanence of the original publications.
However, the strangest thing I found from my online search was when I google image searched my Instagram handle. I wasn’t surprised to find that the search yielded images of my original posts, posts I’ve deleted, and posts I’ve liked. However, I was very startled to find the appearance of several images I have only looked at, but have definitely not liked. It is frightening that the things that we think we are looking at in private can be published online in a very visible way.
Laurel: The never ending stream.
Dan: The never ending stream.
Ayham: The never ending stream.
LC: The never ending stream.
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