Courtney Dodd is an artistic nomad meandering between graphic design, glassblowing, photography, and sculpture. She has a BFA from Missouri State University and an MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University and a vintage shop called MODERNfiction. Courtney is currently the artist-in-residence at Oregon College of Art & Craft.
There is a slight vibration in my pocket and I'm trained to reach down, unlock the screen, and check the most recent update on my phone. Cell phones were a late arrival in my life. When most people were searching the web on their tiny rectangles, I was wishing for an alarm on mine. But time moves fast when faced with technology and I am hooked. It is more than an accessory; it is business and pleasure all wrapped into a convenient monthly payment.
The product of products, I am accustomed to screens: TVs, cameras, phones, GPS units, and computers. It's when I print an image, when I see something hung up on a wall or in a magazine, that I remember technology's edge; the back lit luminosity. Like moths, we gravitate to the light, the screen. As a culture, we are leaning away from the tactile, the real.
The exchange for the glowing light of ones and zeros and instant gratification has been made for the tactility of an object and the patience to cultivate suspense. Fast moving creatures, we sometimes forget to slow our pace. I am as guilty as my neighbor, but I wish for a slower tempo in life. Not just in a nostalgic sense of perfection, but for a time when we were actually connected, more present in each moment. I desire this in my everyday life and also for artwork.
There is a misconception that someone should walk into a gallery and "get it," to completely understand the artist's concept within seconds. There is no time to let the viewer marinate with the work. But it is in the mystery that we start to communicate, the work to us and back again like the washing of the ocean on the beach. There are no wrong answers, nor accurate translations. The piece exists most purely in the eyes of the viewer.
The art world is also moving to replace photography with video. New media is in and photo is out. Although entertained, I question this decision to substitute one media for another. I fully believe in the beauty of books over their reproduction in theaters. Our imaginations fill in between the lines of text and in our minds we see a concoction of the writer's words and our own assumptions. This is what I believe artwork should do, mix both sets of intentions in the viewer's eyes. But this takes time and patience.
Binary code has encircled us to the extent that we are losing our observational and communication skills. And although we are more connected than ever, I wonder about the strength of these ties. The virtual world lives up to its name; it is virtually real, but not enough. And here is where the physical wins for now, that tactile obsession we once all shared.
I am not against technology, nor video. There is plenty of space for all mediums. I don't want to give up photography to the trends of today, just as I don't wish to exchange the virtual world for the physical. The virtual has its purpose, its strengths. But moderation has never been so desperately needed than now. We are a tactile nation whether we have forgotten or not. We need physical objects made by hands and machines; we need the time and space to engage with these objects and to be immersed in the waves of mystery.
Awesome.
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