Breaking the frame: cultural motivation in the production of an online artwork - the case of BoyBlack.
This article explores the agency of independent cultural producers in new media spaces, though a specific case study: BoyBlack.co.za, an artwork created by two young South Africans in 2003. This site is self-described by its creators as a work of 'freestyle pixel art' that allows each viewer to crea...
| Publicado en: | Critical Arts: A South-North Journal of Cultural & Media Studies Vol. 25; no. 2; pp. 207 - 227 |
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| Formato: | Artículo |
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Taylor & Francis Ltd
2011
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=62596703&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 62596703 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 02560046 CTA jtl: Critical Arts: A South-North Journal of Cultural & Media Studies issn: 02560046 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: 2011 vid: 25 iid: 2 pid: 377 pub: Taylor & Francis Ltd artinfo: ui: 62596703 10.1080/02560046.2011.569062 ppf: 207 ppct: 20 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 226KB tig: atl: Breaking the frame: cultural motivation in the production of an online artwork - the case of BoyBlack. aug: au: Iqani, Mehita affil: University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg su: Cultural industries Cultural fusion & the arts Hegemony Cultural production South Africa sug: subj: South Africa Cultural industries Cultural fusion & the arts Hegemony Cultural production keyword: aesthetics creative expression culture industry online art ab: This article explores the agency of independent cultural producers in new media spaces, though a specific case study: BoyBlack.co.za, an artwork created by two young South Africans in 2003. This site is self-described by its creators as a work of 'freestyle pixel art' that allows each viewer to create a 'pseudo-unique experience' through its various interactive elements. Based on interviews with the artists in 2007 and 2009, the article argues that artworks such as BoyBlack.co.za enact a form of resistance to an aesthetic and cultural hegemony - that of the global creative industries. The article is theoretically framed by sketching out the characteristics of both industrial and expressive cultural products. The former have been conceptualised largely in pessimistic terms as limiting agency and manipulating creative expression, while the latter offer the possibility for individual creative empowerment. It is argued that the artwork is an example of expressive cultural production and that it resists industrial cultural production through four strategies of 'breaking the frame'. The first is the framework of the standardised web browser, which is challenged through the scale-free space of the artwork. The second is the metaphor of the mainframe and the mainframe itself, which are challenged through subject matter that explores human-computer interaction as well as one element of the artwork that has the potential to slow down a hard drive. The third is the frame of correct coding, which is resisted through an ethic of leaving coding mistakes in and considering them equally valid elements of the artwork. The fourth is the design framework of aliasing, which is undermined through a celebration of the materiality and aesthetic of the pixel. The article concludes by asserting the potential of expressive cultural products like BoyBlack.co.za to forge alternatives to the dominant consumerist aesthetic. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Copyright of Critical Arts: A South-North Journal of Cultural & Media Studies is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. item: Critical Arts: A South-North Journal of Cultural & Media Studies holder: Taylor & Francis Ltd dt: @attributes: year: 2011 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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