Peripheral Post #2 - Ursula

 I just wanted to add two additional thoughts after class today. In Anna McCarthy's article, she talks about the closed-circuit televisual display by the gift shop as a way of situating the viewer within the screen and enforcing behavioral expectations for those waiting in line through the reminder of constant surveillance. Her description of the display reminded me of some of Nam June Paik's video art. His art frequently used televisions, closed-circuit cameras, and various video installations. I think that his approach to art and the integration of electronics is a really beautiful addition to not only some of the images referenced in McCarthy's article, but also to the brief discussion on Eames and their museum installations. This is also an interesting opportunity to look at how Paik's work closely connects to the debates happening in academia about television, space, and culture. If you have not heard of him, I recommend a quick google search; he's pretty cool.

The second thought I had connects to the discussion about our perceived choice when it comes to digital labor and capital structures and the focus on individuality reminds me of Mark Andrejevic's article "The kinder, gentler gaze of Big Brother: Reality TV in the era of digital capitalism." (Which is especially fitting because we are reading a different article by him for next week). In the Big Brother article, Andrejevic makes some interesting claims about labor, choice, compensation and customization and how they appear in reality television and early 21st century digital space.