Technology + Creativity + Musings + Art

One of the things that hindered people from being creative in the past is that fact that the things they created were static. For example, when I was in college, making changes to a 15-page document often meant re-typing a large number of pages. Before the advent of photography, oil painting wasn't completely static, you could make minor changes, but major revisions were a lot of work. Computer technology has changed all that.
Writing is no longer a chore for me. The computer helps me with spelling, grammar, and allows me to make revisions at the drop of a hat. The main limitation to writing now is having something meaningful to say, and saying it in a clear, concise way. The limitations are all MINE, the technology is out there to make it happen almost effortlessly.
A strange thing has happened in photography, too. Originally, before the advent of Impressionism, painting was largely an exercise in representing "reality" faithfully. Then, along came photography, rendering the representational aspect of painting second-rate. That's one of the reasons painting started to change to be what photography couldn't be: A personal expression that only referred to "reality". More importantly, it could expressed the vision of the Artist. And of course, with abstract expressionism, the references to reality cease to exist, and color, form, design, and feeling become the remaining features.
A strange change has occurred in photography: Now photographers who aren't satisfied with a particular photo can change them quickly and effortlessly into art similar to painting or drawing. We can try another variation easily and quickly, and another, while keeping the original photo intact.
Finally, communication has gone to another level: Imagine if you (and thousands of others) could have posted comments to Mark Twain about his work. Today, that's possible: If you add a comment to this post, you do one of the following:

• enhance the quality and meaningfulness of the entry
• give me suggestions to improve upon my writing or my ideas
• challenge me to think in ways I had overlooked, and finally
• say something inane or useless or vulgar (in which case I will delete your entry).

I can always come back and revise, rethink, and improve this entry, like ALL my entries. This allows me to put something out there that may not be good enough now, but can be aged like a fine wine, improving flavor and bouquet.

If you would like to see sample of changing photos to art-like representations, just click on the "flickr photo sharing" link under my mugshot. Then find the "COMPUTER WALLPAPER" folder to view a slideshow.