Day 9: Old Drives / TV Eye

Eye of the Beholder (a post to pass the time)

I didn't make a post yesterday as I'm running into compatibility issues with old drives. While I still have newer stuff that I could post, I'm kind of intent on getting some really old work online that I never posted anywhere before. Remember firewire?

… Actually, I already have the adapters, but the bigger problem is the power supplies. If you've been making media art for almost 30 years, then you probably have several bins of tangled obsolete cords, power adapters, hard drives, etc. I thought I had matched the right power supply with a drive yesterday and I started smelling smoke! Thankfully it didn't completely burn the thing out. I found the right cord, and the drive came online, but it wasn't the one I was looking for. So I guess I'm taking a little time to organize and duplicate my media storage. In the meantime, here is a little video object that I made back in 2009.

Whenever I see one of these old karaoke players at a thrift store, I sometimes buy them, but always want to buy them. When you eject the DVD, this one really looks like it's sticking. Its tongue out at you. I've seen a lot of video artists over the years compare the video monitor to the eye of a cyclops. Something that's watching you back while you watch it. I've never seen anyone besides myself compare a video monitor to a beholder beast, but I'm pretty sure someone else must have done it. When I was a kid, the only really tangible way that the TV could watch you was probably through Nielsen ratings, but today, every view is counted and every comment recorded. Even your vocal conversations with your family members about what you watch is often recorded. While we don't lead the bleak existence of a character from 1984, The video screen that you watch and that watches you is 100% real now.

Thanks for watching.