| Hyakugojyuuichi |
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| 1. Neil Cicierega has done a good job. He is the 15yr. old responsible for Hyakugojyuuichi. Hyakugojyuuici and other animutations have the signature of a teenage male. The syntax and humor, like flashing word such as of "POOP", or drawing green snot, seems to be exactly what a younger sibling would find funny. I did laugh at times though, and the additions of Homer Simpson, and "graffiti-ed" members of NSYC were a nice touch. He obviously has a decent amount of free time on his hands to play around with computers. The web gives him and other teenagers an outlet to be creative and productive at the same time. But this is definitely the work of a teenager and not a middle aged trial lawyer. As you get older, you would probably never do something like. Older people value their leisure time more, because they are working so often. Most adults wouldn't invest that much time and work to create, "epics of mindless entertainment". You become more responsible with age, and it changes what you want out of your work and out of your leisure. The web is both work and leisure so it is affected by this mature change in attitudes. |
| 2. Hyakugojyuuichi, as a creative piece of art or whatever one wants to call it, is just pure mindless entertainment. Some might even say that it goes beyond entertainment, to the categories of distraction or of a waste of time. These animations aren't bad, in fact they are well done and creative. However, they do not seem to have any deeper meaning other than to poke fun at different icons and songs from American and Japanese culture. It is the 21st century's equivalent to doodling during class, only high tech. Neil Cicierega displays a decent sense of popular culture, including Batman symbols, Mario, and "the ? Mark guy from TV". A lot of his images in these animations repeat, such as numerous pictures of Pee Wee Herman and Bill Gates. He also displays a sense of world issues. Sometimes he eludes to humorous political statements, such as solving California's energy crisis using the hot air of politicians to turn windmills. However, I don't believe that these are actual metaforms. These productions of his are a filter sifting through popular culture. But he doesn't use this filter, for any purpose or end, except for the occasional jab at politicians and businessmen. His animutations seem more like quasi-metaforms, since there is rarely meaning or purpose to his works. Its hard to argue that a 3rd period doodle is worthy of framing or the title of metaform. |
| 3. It is surprising to see that there are so many copycats out there working on similar productions of animutations. Even though I may criticize his works for lack of meaning, there are those that obviously love it. Neil Cicierega seems to have created a fad or a new style of movie short. If imitation is the highest form of flattery, then his work is definitely loved. The animutation imitators seem to like his juxtaposition of special arrangements, altered pop images, and cheesy Japanese music. Neil's creative outlet has stemmed duplicators, willing to donate their time so that they can add something to the virtual world. Something about the web, with its open nature, and the outlandishness of the animutations, has drawn competitors and copycats alike to try their hand at "creativity". Neil is no longer the sole producer of this kind of entertainment. McLuhan shared a view of the Automation age, as one in which people are "on" all the time. Work and art are coming together, much the same way a musician must view his craft. With the web, we are always "on" in the sense that we are always listening and looking at what is out there in the virtual world. The web connects people so that they are "listening into each other" in terms of old ideas and new thoughts. Despite computers, people are still basically human. Bold ideas and new things are contagious. |