art ed + web 2.0 + [e]merging media blog

How do you think the technology controls us? Do you mean how it controls what choices we make or what we are able to accomplish? Or do you mean about how much time it takes to do things? Or none of the above?

What I mean is that it controls the way we think and what we think we can do. It's hard to think of possibilities outside of Ps now because it is so robust. Years ago, I remember trying to put text on a curve and it required such an odd work-around (we're talking 1992 or 1993 here) that it was never successful. The technology changed my plan for my art. Of course, you could argue that all materials have their limitations and the way paint "works" will affect the way people use it. Also, once we see what it can do, are we able to think in new ways, or does it "fix" our thinking?

I can see what you mean now about how software's capabilities guides our thought and work process. I think students may be more able to be flexible and to push the boundaries of what the software is capable of. I think it would be interesting to make art with students who were able to write their own code. For example, I was talking to a firend of mine that is a programmer about wishing that there was a program that would automatically document the date a URL for each image I download from the internet so that I don't have to stop and do that each time. He suggested that if I learned to write some simple code that I could write a program that would do that for me. So I wonder how that might change the art that your students made...if they were able to write new code to make something possible that is not possible with existing software.