Let me begin by saying that my statements, particularily in the beginning of my paper, were by no means an affirmation of the fact that I no longer think photography is art, or that I no longer think the concept of what is art is relevant. I realize I over qoute him, but a former professor of mine Phillip Perkis enlightened me with the realization that a good photograph always exits on a plane between description and abstraction, meaning that form must always follow function. In other words, it is not enough, in my opinion, to say that a picture is good because it is beautiful. Now this may seem to some quite irrelevant, in the same way that many see art as irrelevant, but I would argue that the discussion surrounding photography is a perfect example of what can happen with accidents and therefor an ideal argument for why thinking about art IS relevant.

The fact of the matter is most of us who make some form of media content are artists. The reason most people do not classify themselves as such, or rather run as far away from this classification as possible, is because of predefined concepts as to what art actually is. I do not, by any means, profess to have an answer to the "what is it" question. But I will define why I call myself an artist. You see, the secret truth is I think i might be an artist because I can't define myself in any other way. I'm not really a photographer any more, I'm not a filmmaker, I'm not a musician or a preformer, I'm not really a writer and I'm certainly not a programmer or even a hacker. But I do play with the accidental descovery of the tools of these trades. I think art is not so much about intention but more about result. Perhaps art is anything made that illicits an emotional response that changes something, either your day, the way you feel about a particular subject, your mood, etc. In this way a photograph is as much art as a song or a film, or a painting, or maybe even a website. Then, perhaps, good art, is something that informs your consciousness while at the same presenting that information in a way that is interesting and trancendental.

So how does this relate to ideas surrounding the formation of new media or the ideas I presented in the rest of paper. I think it is important to note that art is often produced and conceived by accident, when we are in fact trying to do something else. As a second year photography student, the first assignment Phil gave our class was to go out take a picture of something interesting etc. and then turn around and take a picture of exactly what was behind us. We were to shoot as many rolls of film as we could in this way in one day. I don't remember exactly how many I shot, but it was more then five and do you know that once I looked at the contact sheets, there were more pictures I wanted to print of the frames I shot "by accident" when I turned around then of the one's I had consciously decided to take. This goes back to the idea that the hardest thing for most people to do is actually see and not think about what they're seeing . That it is difficult to remove meaning from life and just be present in the moment. This is why I feel it so important to explore the idea that content produced on the fly, with relatively little concern as to the actual "production" by people whose intent is not to "make" art or even make relevant information may be extraordinarily interesting.

This is not to say that intention is not important in some way. But intention can also ruin everything because along with intention comes preconceived ideas of things without letting it just be what it is. My favorite saying: It is what it is. And in reality thats all that it is in anything. What it produces in you is not so much about what it is, but rather about what it means to you, psychologically, sexually, politically etc. And what it means to you may not be what it means to me, but maybe by making it I've done something I didn't expect and you've felt something you didn't expect to feel.....all by accident. And maybe this is why art is important......

more to come one day