Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Tweet Love

Here's another blog concerning new technologies and contemporary art. Artist Jessica Tankersley won a $1,000 award from Creative Divergents for her sculpture, Twitter Heart, which moves or "pumps," whenever the word "heart" is tweeted.  
Twitter Heart by Jessica Tankersley
According to the artist, "The sculpture anthropomorphizes social networks by representing Twitter activity in a form similar to something distinctly biological, a heart."  Ms. Tankersley also describes a personal instance in which she was cut-off from her social networks and came to realize that her online experiences provide the "framework" for her real life. 

If you took a sabbatical from social media, would you feel as if a part of you had died? Although the Twitter Heart interests me, it doesn't truly speak to me. Perhaps I need more "followers." 


1 comment:

Earl Grey said...

Thanks for this post and bringing our attention to this sculpture. I was interested in reading more, so I clicked on one of the links you provided. There, the artist exclaimed after having a 6-month self-imposed break from social media, "My social media sabbatical revealed that I do not maintain “online” or “offline” experiences that can be compartmentalized; rather my online interactions provide the framework for my offline life, that which is now dependent on social networking."

I am not surprised at the interconnectedness of online and offline lives, but am concerned about dependence on social networking. I can find great examples where that dependence would make sense -- for example, we have students who study abroad and use social media to connect (for free) with family and friends. But, surely, the phone or device is turned off for part of the day, no?

What do you think? Dependence or interconnectedness. . .