Greenpage Comment of the Week

Vote for comment of the week. Here are this week's contenders:

Student #1: has left a new comment on your post "Haptography: A digital future with feeling":

I love that technology has advanced so much that someone can sit at home and feel something that isn't there, but the concept frightens me. Does that mean that, instead of going to a museum and seeing art, they should just go home and look at a screen? Or should someone never go out and buy their clothing, just sit on their computer and designed based on uploaded texture? It bothers me that we are coming so close to never having to step outside and experience the real world. Sure, this could be incredibly handy. Using this to teach training dentists and doctors what to look for is quite efficient and I imagine it to be effective. And if this was available in a museum, it would be a great addition to an exhibit. But this should still not be confused with the actual sensory that is feeling. You are not feeling something directly, you are feeling what a stylus has felt for you. That is a bit disturbing. This is a great technological advancement, but it worries me that people will view it as a stand-in for their own judgement. 

Student #2: has left a new comment on your post "Coding as Graduation Requirement: One School is Ma...":

Honestly, I think this is crap. I think that college (most anyway) already has a numerous amount of diverse requirements that provide us with a well rounded education, and schlepping on another BS requirement will just be another class the university is forcing students to take. I want you to take a step back and remember GE's (General Requirements). What are they? Pretty much sample courses. Sure if you spend enough time on a subject you'll retain something, but taking one class on computer coding wont help you become experts on coding, let alone knowledgable. And before you can take a class on coding, students should be required to learn about computers generally before you force them to learn an entirely new language in a very limited amount of time. Can you imagine someone who hardly knows how to operate excel, learn to code? I think that learning to code could be useful (to some people). But the undertaking of actually preparing people to take such courses and then actually retain and make use of this education is just unrealistic. 

Student #3: has left a new comment on your post "What Makes an Artist a Professional for Tax Purpos...":

I don't understand how the IRS can say de Mars is not a professional artist when art is all she does for a living. If she's willing to make $20,000 a year on her art and not work a day job, it seems that it should be her choice to claim art as a profession and live on the little money she makes from it. How does the IRS expect her to get all of this money that she now suddenly owes them? It's unfortunate that the accountant she has been going to wasn't more educated on tax laws regarding artists. It seems like it might be worth it for artists to go to accountants who have specialized knowledge in the tax laws that apply to them. While I do feel for de Mars, I think that her story serves as a great example of the reality of why artists need day jobs. As great as it may be for an artist to do nothing but their art, it's just not realistic in today's society. What if deMars were to have a medical emergency? How would she support herself? The burden of her medical debt would fall to others. Others should not have to provide for her because she chose the life of a starving artist. There are logical points to be made on both sides of the argument here, and I'm not sure exactly where I stand, but I do know that I will certainly be looking into tax laws more before I graduate! 

Student #4: has left a new comment on your post "Are Arts Leaders “Cultural” Leaders?":  

I definitely agree -- the arts has a huge role in politics, if it's not always gaining the headline. There are lots of examples we tend to forget about -- like Bread and Puppet -- who I think are an amazing example of successful political art. I was a part of an exhibition in Japan called "On the Planet." It was in conjunction with the world's convention on biodiversity and it was an attempt to say that artists can have a say about biodiversity and the state of the planet's environment, not just scientists and politicians, and It was very successful, if small. It was a great moment for me, at least, to really think about that link -- that art is just another medium, like science, like literature, to get ideas out. I think that in general, people get scared to make a statement. If you stay in the middle and remain neutral, it's safer in relating to audiences and gaining general support. It's the role of everyone to make known their thoughts and it's our job as artists to use our field to make known our beliefs and ideas and help with understanding. I think it can and should be done, but it takes a lot of bravery to do it and in a world where you never know where your next funds are coming from, it's hard to commit to something and risk loosing that. Alas! 

Student #5: has left a new comment on your post "(Re)Search: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Lov...":

I understand the positives of Facebook for situations like this dramaturgy research. It's an easy way to poll a large amount of people at once. However, the section of people that you are polling is very limited, and are all probably pretty similar since it would be all the people you are friends with on Facebook. The biggest problem I have with Facebook is that no matter how you spin it or how you try to look at it, it's still a social networking site. It's unprofessional. Having your cast look up your dramaturgical research on a social site, at least to me, appears sloppy, and unprofessional, as if you couldn't be bothered enough to think of a better and more appropriate way to present your information. On the flip side of that, if the concept of the show is to get involved in that kind of social media, then it could turn out to be an interesting use of the site. Of course, in that case, the use of Facebook or other social sites is really a commentary on the social networking site itself, which is another dimension to consider. Ultimately, if the concept of the show is to use social networking sites such as Facebook and Tumblr, then make sure that what you are doing with the sites present the commentary that you are actually looking to showcase to your audience. If the concept of your show has nothing to do with that type of social world and internet communication, then avoiding the sites as a source of presentation is going to make your work look more polished and more professional.