Last week we looked at Sol LeWitt’s “Doing Wall Drawings” in our seminar class. It reminded me of the discussion on modularity in Helen’s book Participate: Designing with User-Generated Content. Modularity, very simply, is a design concept in which pieces are pulled apart and put back together, often involving repetition. Users may be involved in this process and bring their own individuality to each piece. My favorite example of this has always been Aaron Koblin’s and Chris Milk’s “The Wilderness Downtown” (thewildernessdowntown.com). Mostly because its so emotional. Another example, which I’m scared to even admit I know, is Diplo and Skrillex’s music video for “Where Are Ü Now” feat. Justin Bieber. Honestly, its just a rip off of Koblin’s “The Johnny Cash Project“.
In terms of these grand art projects, that involve users in very intimate ways, what is the effect? What does it do for the artists, the participants, and the viewer? What does their experience look and feel like? Can we relate this to open source code maybe?
Just because (I am so, so sorry):
Jump to 1:09 for the good stuff.