We found “Medium is the Message” to be excessively cryptic. However, it contained an interesting idea (which we think was taken too far into the land of absolutes): that the medium itself carries a large importance, beyond the level of one’s individual contact with art, at the level of the change it brings to society. The arrival of the printing press and the internet are excellent examples of this. However, discarding entirely the relevance of the content and the context behind art is obviously not necessary his argument.
“Media Hot and Cold” further explores some properties of media. McLuhan suggests medias have an inherent tendency to engage senses to a certain intensity; “cold” medias are discreet, while “hot” medias require much more attention. We found that this quality is not strictly given by the media; the content also contributes to this (one could say ambient electronic music is cold, while experimental IDM is hot, and similarly, a TV channel broadcasting a fireplace is cold, while prestige TV is hot).
No comments:
Post a Comment