Tony Jones
019: Vow of Silence: Twitter is my Voice
Over the course of the artist series, I witnessed first hand accounts of the preference and nepotism that shapes the mainstream. The experience led me back to high school, where there was a clear separation between those who were accepted and those who were not. I can easily visualize a high school cafeteria scene where Turrell, Abramovic, Arcangel, Prince, and Biesenbach are all seated at the “cool kid” table. As other unknown artists try to take a seat at the table, they are greeted with silence and cold stares. Rather than invited into the “cool” circle, they are treated as a lower form of being, a pariah. Humbled, the unknown artist rises from the cool table and takes a seat in the far corner, next to students from the Thespian Club.
As mentioned previously, I am a willing spectator of the mainstream art industry. I love going to museums and galleries. I love viewing new work. I enjoy reading books and articles about upcoming shows and exhibitions. Also, I’m sure that Turrell, Abramovic, Arcangel, Prince, and Biesenbach are, for the most part, respectable humans. However, the hierarchy that guides our society sickens me. The art “world” is not a world at all. It is a metaphorical high school lunch table that only provides seating to 1% of all artists. ONE PERCENT! As members of society, we accept the hierarchy. We tacitly accept the works of the 1% as if it represented a full spectrum of artistic expression. We accept the authoritative order imposed by our civilization. We accept without asking where, where is the other 99%?
One popular theory is that the 99% is surfacing through the use of technology. Our computer-based environment has blurred the lines between author/reader, amateur/professional, and artist/spectator. Through technology, we are able to assume roles as producers and consumers. Nonetheless, I remain hesitant to accept this claim. My skepticism exists because there is a clear definition between virtual space and mainstream institution. Agency within a networked environment does not possess the same validity as incorporation within institutional infrastructures. Indeed, until equality crosses over into brick and mortar institutions, this transformation will remain tepid. Vow of Silence: Twitter is my Voice is a call for artistic equality.
My premise was quite simple; I abstained from speaking with my vocal capacity. I only used textual language in the virtual world. Believing that my creative voice had been silenced within the real world, I chose to communicate with digital media. Over the course of a week, I did not speak to another human. My only form of communication was through the use of text via Twitter. In order to communicate, I would tweet my message and share the text visible on the display. By distributing my sentences across the internet, I ensured that my vow of silence was both singular and universal. I would communicate with individuals through live text and those same messages would instantaneously be distributed across the web. The reasoning is clear: the individual is as equal as the universal; silence is as equal as sound.
Over the course of the artist series, I witnessed first hand accounts of the preference and nepotism that shapes the mainstream. The experience led me back to high school, where there was a clear separation between those who were accepted and those who were not. I can easily visualize a high school cafeteria scene where Turrell, Abramovic, Arcangel, Prince, and Biesenbach are all seated at the “cool kid” table. As other unknown artists try to take a seat at the table, they are greeted with silence and cold stares. Rather than invited into the “cool” circle, they are treated as a lower form of being, a pariah. Humbled, the unknown artist rises from the cool table and takes a seat in the far corner, next to students from the Thespian Club.
As mentioned previously, I am a willing spectator of the mainstream art industry. I love going to museums and galleries. I love viewing new work. I enjoy reading books and articles about upcoming shows and exhibitions. Also, I’m sure that Turrell, Abramovic, Arcangel, Prince, and Biesenbach are, for the most part, respectable humans. However, the hierarchy that guides our society sickens me. The art “world” is not a world at all. It is a metaphorical high school lunch table that only provides seating to 1% of all artists. ONE PERCENT! As members of society, we accept the hierarchy. We tacitly accept the works of the 1% as if it represented a full spectrum of artistic expression. We accept the authoritative order imposed by our civilization. We accept without asking where, where is the other 99%?
One popular theory is that the 99% is surfacing through the use of technology. Our computer-based environment has blurred the lines between author/reader, amateur/professional, and artist/spectator. Through technology, we are able to assume roles as producers and consumers. Nonetheless, I remain hesitant to accept this claim. My skepticism exists because there is a clear definition between virtual space and mainstream institution. Agency within a networked environment does not possess the same validity as incorporation within institutional infrastructures. Indeed, until equality crosses over into brick and mortar institutions, this transformation will remain tepid. Vow of Silence: Twitter is my Voice is a call for artistic equality.
My premise was quite simple; I abstained from speaking with my vocal capacity. I only used textual language in the virtual world. Believing that my creative voice had been silenced within the real world, I chose to communicate with digital media. Over the course of a week, I did not speak to another human. My only form of communication was through the use of text via Twitter. In order to communicate, I would tweet my message and share the text visible on the display. By distributing my sentences across the internet, I ensured that my vow of silence was both singular and universal. I would communicate with individuals through live text and those same messages would instantaneously be distributed across the web. The reasoning is clear: the individual is as equal as the universal; silence is as equal as sound.