"Being and Seeming: The Technology of Representation"
In this essay, Richard Powers gives us his take on the relevance, and progression of art itself, from past, to present, to future. He makes several very interesting points, and of them all, I found this is the most striking, and the most concrete:
"Where painting and writing and even music represent things, architecture is one of our few pre-information age arts whose products are the things they stand for."
Beyond architecture, Powers states that invention and innovation only somewhat, recreate that which already exists. We're just doing it a little better. Every time something is created to make things easier, better, faster, more efficient, we then sacrifice our own natural ability to function without. He brought up the invention of writing >> now that we can record history through writing, our own memory is obsolete, and phased out for the most part. It is disturbing, but it is the truth - whether or not we choose to accept it. From that single point, the list could go on and on.
And so, art undergoes innovation, just like anything else. He believes strongly that data storage will become recognized as a new revolutionary art form. Practical applications include virtual reality (which he goes on, and on, and on about... sending you through a world which he creates, and in which he explains to you how you'll feel, and react to). I believe this was the downfall of the essay. This section was 1. Too long, and 2. Too concrete, disregarding subjectivity and real human interest. This just seems like a well versed illustration of his own interests and thought process, and finally his perception of time.
He makes many bold and absolute points. I can't knock him for that, but I'll never have him read my palm, or look to him for advice on how to live my own life. I think that in a massive opus of words, philosophies and predictions, he'd subtly suggest that I live his own instead.
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