Banksy Performance Art

Youtube Video of Banksy's Performance Art Piece 

(Courtesy: Tonno Che Rotola)

The performance piece in which Banksy modifies and recreates Paris Hilton's new CD is amazing. I was unaware he even did this, despite knowing about his work for years now. I must applaud Banksy as I share a strong dislike for Paris Hilton along with the rest of the world for having little to no talent. I enjoyed the idea and concept behind this event, however, the quality could have been better. I believe the way in which the CD's were switched out could have been easier. Assuming that this video was taken years ago, I will not critique this video as harshly as I would a modern day reproduction. This was most certainly shot during the age where hard copy disks were as heavily guarded and monitored than jewelry. Nowadays CD's have been rendered obsolete with the popularity of streaming and now store owners would be lucky if thieves stole their hardcopy disks just to free up the space they are taking up. Overall, I enjoyed the performance and hope to see Banksy recreate this old video with a newer more relevant artist.

Pop Art

Example of Pop Art (Courtesy: widewalls.ch)

About.com Article: Pop art

The link above directs to About.com where readers can learn more about the history of pop art.

Pop art, is the appreciation towards popular culture expressed in a youthful visual language. It is characterized by large text, bright colors, and recognizable imagery. The example shown above falls under this description as well as Andy Warhol's Campbell Soup art piece. In today's society, both examples are well recognized and identifiable with pop art. Comic's have been standardized with such forms of art. The images and colors instantly draw the attention of its viewers. Nowadays many artists switch between both hand drawn pop art and graphic representations. Personally, I consider this one of the better ways of catching an audiences attention, many graffiti artists have applied this technique to their work with outstanding results. In my opinion, not enough artists use this technique especially in marketing. It would be nice to see a modern cartoon use the pop art style as it was once used at the height of its popularity. I am such a fan in fact that I would display works of pop art in my home depending on the quality and its personal appeal. 

Battery

Various Battery Types (Courtesy: durham.ca)

About.com Article: History Of The Battery 

The link above directs you to About.com where readers can learn about the history of the battery

By reading this article, it becomes clear that the battery was far from a modern day invention. In fact its concept dates back to the 18th century, when Benjamin Franklin coined the term battery. According to the article, he described it as "an array of charged glass plates" . The concept of containing electricity in a confined space for future use may seem like a mediocre explanation of an electrical cell, however, at the birth of this concept was a groundbreaking technology. By the mid 19th century improvements had been made and further revolutionized in 1859 when Gaston Plante, a French inventor made the first rechargeable battery. It was only in 1901 when Alkaline batteries were invented and 1954 when solar cells reached the market. All of which are taken for granted now that almost every small appliance or device requires some form of battery.

With a majority of the world carrying around their own personal rechargeable battery cell in their pockets on the daily basis, it is difficult to forget about its humble beginning. Yet somehow society still manages to overlook this detail integrated into their cell-phone(s). Perhaps it is all the distractions and applications that can be installed on today's smartphones. Consideration towards the battery only occurs when the owner has expended their battery life low enough to where they receive notification. It is during this event that the owner experiences a sense of panic and then urgency to recharge the cell takes precedence in order to remain connected to the digital world. The point of all this being that despite being disposable as well as negligible in many modern day instances, the battery has had a long journey since its introduction to the world, one that if suddenly nonexistent would change the lives of many.