In the years following 476 A.D., various Germanic peoples
conquered the former Roman Empire in the West (including Europe and North
Africa), shoving aside ancient Roman traditions in favor of their own. The
negative view of the so-called “Dark Ages” became popular largely because most
of the written records of the time (including St. Jerome and St. Patrick in the
fifth century, Gregory of Tours in the sixth and Bede in the eighth) had a
strong Rome-centric bias.
While it’s true that such innovations as Roman concrete were
lost, and the literacy rate was not as high in the Early Middle Ages as in ancient
Rome, the idea of the so-called “Dark Ages” came from Renaissance scholars like
Petrarch, who viewed ancient Greece and Rome as the pinnacle of human
achievement. Accordingly, they dismissed the era that followed as a dark and
chaotic time in which no great leaders emerged, no scientific accomplishments
were made and no great art was produced.
For clarity, let us start from a
very basic beginning of the introduction.
My government name is Rocco Scibetta, a group
of letters unique in such a way that they identify me.
Hi, how are you? This is a common
introduction. Old-fashioned niceties like this are designed to pull people together
who do not know each other very well, it establishes a familiar rapport. These
days, however, the days of social media, no one is really looking for unique bonding
phrases; Speed, brevity, and destination make for quick exchange of thoughts
and ideas, with senseless chatter sometimes expelled as the flotsam by-product
of a dull day. That being said, You would be best entertained and informed by
my media name Rocco Bonfire, the pseudonym that graces the pages of my blogs
and media pages, and my alter Ego as well.
As Rocco Bonfire, I can be the
Artist I want to be, the writer I want to be or an anonymous monster raging
from the slab with no substantial equality what so ever; so long as I get likes
and followers I exist. All need be is to satisfy a group of readers whose
cultural aspirations and spiritual needs correspond with my own, together with
our community shares particular suitability.
As advanced as our new technology
brings us. I would like to go back as far as I can to ancient myth to try and
find a common thread that might link us at least psychologically to a common ground
that could unite us in our thinking.
Let us imagine for a moment that we are not on
an information highway at all, but a man-made ship. One designed to bring us
into unchartered places. I am referring of course to the odyssey. The best
seller by Homer; With Gods and hero drooping in their seats looking on from
Mount Olympus, let's make that our spiritual quest.
Let’s jump back and forth between
Genres for a few centuries; Timelines not being a hindrance. allow me for a
moment to blur the literary lines once more and allude to Gothic literature
where The old and familiar tale of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. hyde could be
demonstrated as our modern-day schizophrenic ailment. Not quite as brutal as it
sounds we are closer to the myths and rituals than we think.
I like to compare my odyssey
landing as a whimsical vacation on the shores of the social media landscape. if
you will indulge me, I like to think of my Jekyll and Hyde undertaking as a
personal ego trip. These specific references
of Gothic literature and ancient myth still continue to hold their own as both an archetypal example of Gothic literature as well as an ancient sea mariners tale. They set the stage for an excellent example of humankind’s yin and yang of psychological and spiritual balances.
I am In the Government issue form (Rocco Scibetta; a contemporary artist and an
author. My blessing is that through experience, much failure, human contact,
and social media I have met some very
wise people. My Curse, however, is that I have forgotten many things over the
years that some of my younger contemporaries have yet to learn; frustrating
yes, however, the blessing that keeps on giving is that I have managed to
linger on long enough to experience The worldwide web-WWW… cyberspace never
forgets anything. You can always look it up.
Proving and disproving, arguing and
discovering is much easier when fact gathering is at your fingertips. I doubt
if Guttenberg could have imagined this magical leap for humankind. How every word ever 4+ written could be
stored and transmitted through a thread thinner than a hair.
So what is it we do as exactly? How
is our human privilege serving us and humankind? How is it we can be one step
closer to the Gods and half a step away from the dark ages? We live in great
and fantastic times, no doubt about that. There is global wealth, and
transparency to some degree; extended mortality and anesthesia to name a few of
our comforting achievements- not to mention some great things we have become
jaded to for so long that we take it all for granted.
That being said, the bastard child known as
social media is spinning its web across the air-ways and cyber-ways of our tiny
planet, a world that is made smaller every day due to the exchange of ideas and
commentary available on your blue screen. But more so, what I
referred to a “Bastard child” Is in effect the emergence of
telecommunication and the internet; the timely attachment to the very fiber of
what makes us human, the extraordinary leap from a service provided to becoming an
evolutionary-part of our fiber … our egos demanded it. Dr. Jeykill needed to explore it; Hyde needs
to exploit it.
The essence of social media is revealed, by
its form and content, mediated by human communication, language and time. It
might be easier to compare it to what it is not. It is not a television. It is
not scheduled programing. It is not a phone, but it is a telecommunication
device. It is not a letter per se but it is a type of mail service. It was born
from a need to communicate more quickly building on the overload of new
information dispersed amongst an impatient and changing generation.
A new ritual springs forth; a new form within
an already existing family. There are no head journalists or anchor people, no
newsrooms and on the spot reporters. We the people are the judge and jury. Our
new group of readers is a large one- the largest in history. Our members not
always very well educated, the problem with this being inequality. The larger
the numbers grow the more progressively less educated everyone becomes. Due in
part to the process that there is always something hidden.No one fully
understands how all this works, the
issues cloud, creating an electronic tower of babble, to say the least… but you
can still find some great sales at expensive stores if you are diligent enough
to read between the lines and follow coupon ads. Pop up ads, by the way, are a
great distraction from the missing links.
The age-old axioms of warnings that
were prevalent in Homers time were information passed down; wisdom bestowed on
the fledglings so they might avoid the pitfalls. At one point in their
evolution, they became synonymous with bumper-stickers on psychedelic
Volkswagons warning people not to trust anyone over thirty. Or “make love, not
war.” The form and content changing to the needs of the cultural timeline. Proverbs
of simple wisdom have become media memes taking their cues from those old
Volkswagon bumpers- stickers and protest signs thus replacing Poor Richards Almanac.
However traditional truisms come
from a humble place in history brought on by experience usually by an elder who
was deemed respected by the tribe. The
young ones could always benefit from their “elders and betters” was the
discipline. Wisdom was sought after and revered, so it was since Solomon. What changed? The prodigy of the future does not have to
have to be wiser, smarter or quicker at the shoot than their elders, they just have
to believe they are. With the help of social media always on the cusp to supply
cutting subjective symbolism quicker and faster. The Volkswagen philosophers
are replaced by social media memes.
“ Believe nothing of what you hear,
and only half of what you see”-is a
warning against over-reliance on one's own experience, recorded from the
mid-19th century; a related Middle English saying warns that you should not
believe everything that is said or that you hear, and a letter of the late 18th
century has; ‘You must not take everything to be true that is told to you.’
However, like so many other prophetic sayings, this too has landed into the
annals of obscurity. In a card game with lepers, the one with the most fingers wins.
Not quite an anecdote worthy of Erasmus but pretty damn close. Erasmus did say
by the way, and I quote; “Your library is your paradise.” He would have done quite well these days on
social media, and the worldwide web with that thinking.
As we slowly become Igor, to social
media’s technological mad genius legions of IT
people are changing our lives every day by upgrading and replacing. In
some cases almost in an organic way, technology mimics our own evolution
pattern. Old outdated programs are weeded out and quickly replaced by the newer
faster or better-performing ones - ( survival of the fittest and (fastest)in
the digital market place). We seldom shed a tear for these extinct programs
because we still regard them only as extensions of our selves, improving our
social lives; serving us, making our lives simpler less complicated. In some
cases an accessory, like a watch or a pen.
however, Weare evolving also, becoming a passive
participant to social medias body or should I say brain. Clutching to the only
vestiges that separate us, a nervous system and a human mind; hardwired for
emotion.
And of course, a soul to mourn with. So long
as we don’t become extinct as a species.
What makes it tick?
What is the hidden thing?
To begin with:
The emptying of symbolic value from
the Written word creates a whole new language in which everyone has a voice and
opinion, however, a friend to everyone is a friend to none and soon enemies
will be made.
As the media must stay forever young; it’s
equivalent of aging is the dreaded code embedded into its hard drive. The kiss
of death is Obsolescence. The Grimm
Reaper for outmoded software looks probably more like the silver surfer than
our traditional hooded sackcloth and cycle.
Symbols create mythology and rituals. Art is
the human spirit acting as the great Ad Man. Through social media everything is
for sale or trade; your hopes, dreams ideologies, vacation plans religion, culture,
online degrees you name it. “Step right up “ cries the barker. We have all the information with no clear
theory. We will take your sovereignty of reason, your prime ideas, somehow
bypassing fact and move into the direction of realism. Everyone can create
their own propaganda information board. Create art. What is Missing? Singer-songwriter Tom Waits recorded it this
way;
Step
right up, step right up, step right up,
Everyone's a winner, bargains
galore
That's right, you too can be the
proud owner
Of the quality goes in before the
name goes on
One-tenth of a dollar, one-tenth of
a dollar, we got service after-sales
Do you need perfume? we got
perfume, how 'bout an engagement ring?
Something for the little lady,
something for the little lady,
Something for the little lady, hmm
Three for a dollar
We got a year-end clearance, we got
a white sale
And a smoke-damaged furniture, you
can drive it away today
Act now, act now, and receive as
our gift, our gift to you
They come in all colors, one size
fits all
Excerpt from “STEP RIGHT UP”
Tom Waits
What is missing is the thing.
The object.
While social media is objectifying
the information, no one is noticing there is no object.
Let's compare art for a moment
before it had its symbolic bowls slashed open spilling its content onto a large
canvas in Jackson Pollock’s Long Island studio.
We have an increasingly complex
social order. with art slowly evaporating, what is this invisible thing that is
going to save us? It is us. The thing that can save us; is-us and the thing
that can lead us down the path of mediocrity is us.
Once again the fight for individuality will
lead us into alienation. You can comment on twitter, but you cannot tweet a manifesto
You can create a blog then stand inline.
The same algorithms’ that dispense
order leave you waiting online with a cell phone in your hand.
Here is a crude example from an artists point of view.
I send you a fax or xerox copy of a
car with all the information about it. You do not have a car in front of you,
-you have only the information about the car. Based on the information I give
you -you can conjure up anything you want about that car. With the gestalt of
abstract thinking, you can let your imagination create a whole parking lot of cars.
Imagination is fun but made
possible in most cases by information.
I choose for my example Van Gogh’s
(empty chair) paintings. in which two quite ordinary chairs fill a space in a
still life with no significant meaning of what’s-so-ever. Empty chairs had a
very personal significance for van Gogh, who appears to have associated objects
strongly with people. Van Gogh personifies the chairs into representations of
the men themselves. Vincent's Chair is a daytime painting, with a golden wood
chair reflecting golden yellow sunlight. The angles are sharp and precise; the
colors are limited. The tone of this painting is somber with yellow, tan, and
orange highlights. The only change in color is a green door to the right of the
chair. Vincent chose a simple chair with simple colors to depict himself. The
emptiness of the painting is evident. A chair's purpose is relaxation for a
person. The painting, with an empty chair, leaves its audience with an
incomplete feeling.
Gauguin's Chair is darker in
comparison to Vincent's Chair. There are two light sources in this painting, a
gas-light, and a candle, indicating nighttime. The color scheme in this
painting is bold and dark. The colors are richer and more saturated. The chair
is a piece of art, carved with expensive wood. There are two books lying upon
the chair "symbolizing what van Gogh believed to be the intellectual
nature of Gauguin's pursuits. The floor is distorted and unrealistic. In
Vincent's Chair the floor resembled simple tile or linoleum, but this, in
contrast, is confusing and scary. Again, the emptiness of the chair reveals the
emptiness in Vincent's heart. Van Gogh's temper was the primary reason for the
separation of these two artists. His temper is apparent the construction of the
two paintings. Vincent's Chair is soft and the paint is thin in most areas,
whereas Gauguin's Chair is painted thick and dark. Van Gogh depicts their
separation with a personification of two chairs
The analysis of these paintings can
run on through every inch of the composition, the piece is saturated with
emotional and earthly symbolism and an impassioned perception from the artist.
The aura of the
artist continues to infuse the stilllife with bolts of gestalt and some
Romantic history. If we study the case, as some do, Van Gogh and Gaugin were
said to have shared these chairs smoking their pipes and discussing lofty art
principles, local girls and absinthe. It is all Boheimien ecstasy until one
bores with it and leaves, that being Gaugin leaving a lonely and
disillusioned Van Gogh to wax artistic
over the loss of his friend and soulmate. This gestalt would add new meaning to
the viewer if they are privy to this information.
Let's transfer the aura to another head. A
different viewer from another era shares the same sense of loss because they
also lost someone they had a heartfelt camaraderie with. This transference of
emotion can be made possible by the universality of loss. The chairs themselves
remain empty objects. Someone interested in chairs might be stimulated by the
type of furniture two poor artists were using in Arles in the late 1800’S. The symbols are ripe and ready to be plucked. Michaelangelo was promoting heaven for the
Vatican his whole career.
Which brings us back to social
media and the slow death of art.
"Video Killed the Radio
Star" is a song written by Trevor Horn, Geoff Downes and Bruce Woolley in
1978. This song actually does play a small, poetically odd part in the drama
between radio and television. "Video Killed the Radio Star" was the
very first music video to air on MTV, and as we know, the music television
industry would soon become an indispensable staple in the music entertainment
industry. Unlike the opera singer in the short story, radio never did become
obsolete. It found a niche in broadcasting that didn't require its listeners to
imagine characters. It found its purpose in broadcasting music and news, just
as it had always done, only now it did so exclusively. Yet, with the dawning of
the age of music videos, it would appear that now even music sounds and looks
better after one's seen the video that goes with the song.
So, the question now evolves
forward, What is social media killing?
Its wide range engrossment of everyday things
makes it difficult to isolate, exactly what is it that makes it so attractive
to us as human beings?
Whatever you are in real life,
becomes secondary in your social media life. You can do this by objecting the
hidden thing. You can rant and rave, or just share information. You can live in
the past with nostalgic ghosts and online phantoms joining in. You can make
demons disappear with just one click, or praise any diety with a choir of
newfound supporters from all over the globe and all at once.
The irrational essence of social
media is revealed by its form, it is a form without theory. it was born by
accident from a mating of telecommunications and mega computer skills.. the
spawn of a highschool idea that hit a nerve with every person’s deep embedded
need to communicate freely and if need be anonymous. You can create sensational drama, locate
long lost people, and gather great information. Gossip without the water
cooler. What's more, things can be reduced to their simplest forms. That being
said, in all its victories, all of this is inconceivable without information.
It is a medium that suits everyone's taste.
You can find a forum and a friend. You can pick and choose your battles. And
you can post your grandmother's favorite brownie recipe without anyone ever
tasting the original. It can be stimulating to share highlights of peoples
lives.
We had more individualism I believe
when the course of communication was- one on one with books and the mysteries
they contained. The long-form book, with
its sometimes illustrated artwork, presented in a primitive form what social
media attempts to do in digital. It gathers information and illustrates- it
leaves the viewer to interpret as they wish. Or tell them, in one persuasive manner
or another, just what they want them to wish.
The book as well as art, ceasing in its role to be a devoted shelter
where one can run to in need of collected inspiration. the community of social
media has set up camp, similar to that of (Flower children of the nineteen
sixties) who established communes for
the world-weary and unconventional.
The Rebel, of course, will always
exist in the heart not the mind of Sapiens. The question remains partly because
the whole of social media is still a work in progress. there is one mantra,
however, that should be ringing in true poet's ear, “First it will serve you,
then it will own you.”
Social media though it is many
other things, and has been adapted by the hearts and minds of a large majority
including some of the art community and much of the literary bunch, to which
the many benefits of outreach serves their own purposes.
Many of the classic art and great
literary giants are still kept in the ceremony, springing up in theme taverns
and restaurants. The great giants and revered “ immortals” are reduced to comic
book status and image libraries, Yet what is sought after by the multitude with
craven lust are images of their own lives. Projections of once unique dreams
and nightmares; all that was once held sacred and secure in the chambers of the
soul can be shared with thousands of strangers on a worldwide stage with only
the membership to a social media page.
It produces the illusion of
friendship and camaraderie without the full-body experience; it expands geography
and exposure. Human interfacing becomes less and less; most conversations and
relationships become digested and consumed in snippets and sound bites of
information, producing a minimal effect of watered-down versions of whole
genres and schools of thought. On the social fr social Petrie dish- ripe for giving birth to
more acceptable mediocrity and mind dulling bells and whistles. In all of this
is the hidden thing. There is no real object.; only information about the
objectified.
ont where the mass majority intermingle, groups of pseudo friendships and mediocrity form. A
ont where the mass majority intermingle, groups of pseudo friendships and mediocrity form. A
One of the standing obstacles with
the arts, all forms of the arts, is the conceptual form of it. The basis is in
concept. Theory in art and design, for example, plastique representation,
synthetic cubism as opposed to analytic cubism, abstract expressionism…Etc..
lofty concepts as in math and science appropriate too much time for the
everyday person scrambling to get the last newspaper before it is sold out; scanning
the pages to check the sordid current events of the day before going off to
their livelihood. Who had time for art or literature for that matter except for
a privileged leisure class who could indulge in it?
Warhol is often quoted about
everyone in the future will have their fifteen minutes of fame. On social
media, you can be a star with minions into astronomical numbers and still only
be an opinion in the real world; Sailing away on the good ship lollypop as
opposed to the calypso. That being said, it might be worthwhile to mention that
with the new media, 15 minutes might be too long to hold anyone's attention.
Fifteen minutes of pure knowledge
is quite a bit; and if it brings to the table a measure of wisdom- all the
better, that might even increase its shelf
life a little longer. However, as time
has proven, Old information may one day have to step aside for new information
causing stress upon the whole bulwark of prior history. The older generations might have to yield or
prove their case to a whole new generation of fledglings with even shorter
attention spans and more easy access media- lite knowledge leaving the elders
and wizards of the tribe holding obsolete cannons of wisdom gone by akin to
Poor Richards almanac.
“ You can’t teach an old dog new tricks”
was a familiar euphemism for a long spell. Now the old dog might have a chance
if he can overcome some fatiguing bouts of cognitive dissonance.
The human attention span could be reduced to
seconds if you removed concepts, theory, and substance, and just replaced it
with empty symbols and pseudo-love. Religious platitudes and sound bites make
it easy to follow God without all the time-consuming worship and guilt, not to
mention theology. This is strange and unusual alchemy presented to this new dark
age. one that can literally and figuratively change forms. It indeed changes
elements, but elements of conceptual form.
Empty symbols make the most noise in the form of senseless chatter and
throwaway news. The Epic hero at some
point must descend into the depths. The problem is there might not be anyone
paying attention long enough to notice. Welcome to the new dark age.
Celebrating Octoberfest at Germanic Park ceremonial Keg opening as honorary author and custodian of the Keg for this year's Oktoberfest celebration.
3 thoughts on “Meet Author and Artist Rocco Scibetta”