just because he is an expert aware of changes in sense perception.
Two years ago one could
merely download images from a few archive sites. Today one can download
motion video, hold a video-conference, sample sound and music archives,
interact in conferences and talk shows,
and navigate hypertext documents spread over thousands of sites all over
the world. Admittedly, these capabilities are far from ubiquitous and some
are still experimental, but the applications are multiplying at a dizzying
rate.
But, what is this power of Multimedia ?
What we are getting is not the demise of art, but a transformation of the
function of art. Art today is a new kind of instrument,
an instrument for modifying consciousness and organizing new modes of sensibility.
Artists have had to become self-conscious aestheticians: continually challenging
their means, their materials and methods...from industrial technology, from
commercial
processes and imagery, from purely private and subjective fantasies and
dreams.
excerpted from Understanding Media
MARSHALL McLUHAN