Update 22 and Phil Fish

Hello there. The last several days have been quite an adventure. My uncle died, my son went into the hospital (he should recover just fine), and my car was totaled (by a blown head gasket). One of the best things about writing about pop-culture is that is requires a combination of seriousness and levity. Unfortunately, seriousness and levity are difficult to attain along side exhaustion and stress.

Update 20 and a Thought on News

Some Thoughts

So, I've recently begun writing for an online publication called Pixel Dynamo. What I've been writing is news, so I thought I should say a little something about "news" itself because, at least what I'm writing, is certainly a pop-cultural phenomenon.

Pop-culture and Kids: a brief reflection

My son was born on the 2nd of January. So, in honor of this momentous occasion, I have decided to write a little about what I think children and pop-culture have to do with each other. Also, as a side-effect of this momentous occasion, I have not been working on an article this past week. So, please cut me some slack if this seems a little hasty or unpolished. 

I, for one, think I have a reasonable and charming excuse; his name is Jack.

Many many things that are undeniably part of pop-culture are directed towards children. These things are also undeniably made by adults. This fact: that things made for children are made by adults, has often impressed me and made me wonder as I walk down the toy aisle at Wal-Mart of somewhere similar. 

Though it's a mixed bag, I've enjoyed me some Adventure Time.
But showing it to my young son and daughter? This suggestion gives serious
pause.

Update 13 - Modern Art and Pop-culture

Some Thoughts

Last week, I mentioned the possibility of writing an article about the Albright-Knox gallery. I'm still thinking about it. But something interesting did occur to me on the subject.

It seems to me that pop-culture, at least in visual aesthetic, is closer to an older western sensibility than modern art is.

Take these three images: a landscape painted by Albert Bierstadt in the 1800's, a painting by Jackson Pollock, and a search result for "Shadow of Mordor wallpaper" on Google.

The first two are paintings by highly regarded artists. The third depicts a character and a setting from the story-line of a video game derived from a seminal work of high fantasy - the pop-culture is several layers deep there.

And yet, which of these three is not like the others?

Something being popular doesn't necessarily mean it's good. But, something being esoteric or unpopular doesn't necessarily mean it's good either. 

Jackson Pollock's paintings hang on gallery walls, but millions and millions of people enjoy The Lord of the Rings and play video games that look like that third picture there. I mean hey, guess which one's my desktop background?

Worth pondering.

Progress Report

I've made some good progress hammering out the first section of the book using large swaths of text from my already existing articles. More to do though. I promise I'll have a sample or something for you next week, k?

© 2014 John Hiner III

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Update 6 - The Introduction

Progress Report

Hey everybody,

Below is a rough draft (meaning here "unfinished, tentative version") of the introduction to the book.

I've been reading about Art some, but decided it would be a good time to do some more serious thinking about the structure of this thing and try to get down on pixels some of the whys and wherefores of it. I feel like it's coming together some.

Update 0

[In case today's post has been obscured by today's update, here's a link.]

Hello Everybody!

So, it’s been one year since I started posting on this blog, and it’s been a blast, but now is a good time for a change. Here’s the deal:

A few things occurred to me a couple months ago.

First, there are several themes and principles that underlie my writing here which are largely assumed and have not been explored in a lot of depth in this forum.

Second, this makes sense, because it has always been my effort to stick to short, provocative pieces here (around 600 words is my goal, although I go under and over).

And, third, even at only (roughly) 600 words an article, 52 posts means a lot of words (31,200 to be exact).

With these three things in mind, I’ve decided to write a book.

The Good, The True, and the Beautiful

This post is a follow-up to Consumerism. Click here to read that article first.

A thing of beauty, teaching the truth?

So, in the last article, I outlined a philosophical underpinning of consumerism. Because the producer produces to get money, the consumers’ tastes (as indicated by coughing up the dough) are treated as practically an end in themselves. Neither the producer nor the consumer is required or expected to look behind these. This need not be a conscious position taken by people involved in pop-culture, because it is

Consumerism

Not pop-culture

What is “pop-culture”, and why should we care?

It is art, recently produced and intended to please an audience, as well as the concepts, clichés, and conversations that inform, surround, and result from it. This will be our working definition. Star Wars, Super Mario Bros., zombies, Chuck Norris, NCIS, Freddie Mercury, and the Ninja Turtles all fit into it nicely.