Towards a Post-Internet Sublime
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Through Nine Eyes of Google Street View, artist Jon Rafman explores the world through screen captures of Google Street View, an attempt at digitizing the entire world. What is most interesting in Rafman's works (or posts) is that, while the images he captures are real, there is a sense that he truly never sees that world past his screen. Rafman discovers the world through representations of it. His romantic idea of reality furthers the notion of his search for the sublime. The Kantian theory of the sublime is double-edged, evoking fear in the limitations of man, yet pleasure in the capability to overcome them. Whether through nature or technology, the sublime consists of unimaginable scale and power. Rafman is able to capture the sublime as he peers into a world that is, while banal, virtually undiscovered and unlived.
This article interests me for a couple reasons. First, I never would expect to see serious artwork in the form of a Tumblr blog. While my idea of art form was always quite liberal, the field of art seems to be ever-expanding. As I study artist's books and, now, digital media, I see that art can be anything from a matchbook to a website to a blog. It's inspiring to see the boundaries of art pushed further and further while still dealing with serious and important concepts. Second, I appreciate how this article covers several different approaches that Rafman took. The article acts as an effective analysis of representation, post-modernism, romanticism, and the sublime. I love to constantly be exposed to different ways that art can embody these ideas beyond what I have learned in textbooks and I love how these theories can apply in even the most contemporary platforms.
Through Nine Eyes of Google Street View, artist Jon Rafman explores the world through screen captures of Google Street View, an attempt at digitizing the entire world. What is most interesting in Rafman's works (or posts) is that, while the images he captures are real, there is a sense that he truly never sees that world past his screen. Rafman discovers the world through representations of it. His romantic idea of reality furthers the notion of his search for the sublime. The Kantian theory of the sublime is double-edged, evoking fear in the limitations of man, yet pleasure in the capability to overcome them. Whether through nature or technology, the sublime consists of unimaginable scale and power. Rafman is able to capture the sublime as he peers into a world that is, while banal, virtually undiscovered and unlived.
This article interests me for a couple reasons. First, I never would expect to see serious artwork in the form of a Tumblr blog. While my idea of art form was always quite liberal, the field of art seems to be ever-expanding. As I study artist's books and, now, digital media, I see that art can be anything from a matchbook to a website to a blog. It's inspiring to see the boundaries of art pushed further and further while still dealing with serious and important concepts. Second, I appreciate how this article covers several different approaches that Rafman took. The article acts as an effective analysis of representation, post-modernism, romanticism, and the sublime. I love to constantly be exposed to different ways that art can embody these ideas beyond what I have learned in textbooks and I love how these theories can apply in even the most contemporary platforms.
ur dope as shit
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