oh perceptions of privacy haha soooo funny

So today the article was called Sound scans of the urban body. I'm not going to finish this title because from the blogs that I have read so far all of them start with it. By now it has been read 3 or 4 times. The article is written by John Shiga if you still don't know yet.

The article talks about Dj Robin Rimbaud aka Scanner. The controversy with this guy is that he uses a scanner to pick up people's cellphone conversations and then uses their voices in his techno. The article goes on about how we perceive sound and how we have been socialized to use phones in a specific way. To us it seems like the cellphone user is having an up close and intimate conversation with the person on the other end of the line, thus adding to this modern view of personal space and privacy.

This view of the singular human by his or her self in an impenetrable bubble is starting to bother me, I am glad that Scanner is doing this. This may sound strange coming from me considering I am an Introvert that likes his privacy. But I know this is not a normal functioning state of humanity. Humans have lived in close quarters with out any need to rely on this state that we call privacy for hundreds of years. Now its almost the staple of the post-modern generation. My own ideas, My own truth, My own toys, My own music, My own personal bubble, My own cage. Yet there has never been such a huge cry out for community!

If people are so desperate to have a community of people, the online ones or your cellphone friends list will not make the cut. I hate to use this quote but I thought it worked well, "Introduce some Anarchy," and break some personal bubbles. Show people they aren't as isolated as they think. Changing peoples perspective on how they live and the things they are addicted to is fun. Try it! Do some scanning! Make some music! Burst some bubbles!
Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride.

PS. I liked Scanner's music though I guess if you're not a techno fan I could see it being slightly hard to listen to.

Don't sit on cathedral spires...

Michael Bull has a lot to say about the current IPod craze. He even goes as far to compare them to the sacred spaces of the Catholic Church. IPods are places where we can worship, find solitude, safety and connect with society? The main function of the church in the days of Cathedrals was to meet up with the people in the town and connect with people. IPods are not allowing this in our "global community". They are doing exactly the opposite, turning man into his own island. Or her own island if you want me to be gender specific.

Another way Bull likes to compare IPods to church buildings is by saying that they are the epitome of architecture in the 21st century. Bull obviously hasn't been in the tower 101. IPods are large brick like objects that take up more pocket space than a good sized hip flask and cause far more frustration. They tend to be dust magnets so when ever you pull them out of your pocket an asthma attack ensues. Though there are smaller sizes these tend to break easily when sat on the wrong way. Churches don't break when sat upon.

As people go about their daily routine, avoiding all human contact and interaction with the outside world, they begin to notice things: "My ears are hurting, oh well." Bull seems to think that allowing people to listen to music wherever they go gives them back power over their lives. I don't understand how this empowers people in anyway. The traffic will still take as long as it always does. Why not look for an alternate route instead of zoning out and ignoring potential traffic hazards. Having your senses completely closed off while walking through the city is in no way empowering, not only that you will miss the music that is the world around you.

You might get mugged to.