Hello There!
I am breaking the entire Artist vs Techie chronicles into multiple posts so it is easier to read and I can dive deeper into the discussion. This series of posts aim to cover some topics about art and tech objectively and the general conception about the two I have noticed around me.
In this post, I aim to talk about general perceptions about Art and Tech in society.
The Average 10’S Indian Kid
Let me paint you a picture. It is the fifth grade, and you just finished your bowl of chocos with a side of milkybar and head to school.
After the daily morning assembly, you head to class and sit down like it’s any other day, just waiting to go home and catch the latest episode of Beyblade or Barbie and see if they finally resolved Team Rockets Nefarious plans of stealing the moon and will the protagonist banish them to the shadow realm for once and for all. Spoiler Alert, no they still needed to sell merchandise. Or perhaps you just tuned out and imagined the fan falling down and you parkour and save every single person in the class like Naruto from the TV show Naruto and stole Sasuke’s Heart in the process.
Just at that very moment you hear someone say “OHHH MAAHH GAWDDD, Farhanitrate learnt 3D Rigging and animation in Blender, he is so smart!”
“Did you hear Prerajulisation finished a course on python and edited a video for the president of the USA? Is he Single?”
You too think to yourself, “Man those are some amazing accomplishments, wish I could be doing that. I ain’t really a hacker tech guy tho. I don’t even own a nice hoodie with memes on it.” then you go home and enjoy a nice episode Ben Ten throwing a roundhouse straight in Ra.One’s jaw.
I have just given the most accurate scientific representation of the average 2010s Indian kid and I challenge anyone to say otherwise.
Anyway, this isn’t about the absolute Chad’s Farhanitrate and Prerajulisation are for proactively learning cool new stuff, but rather the misconception people have that a lot of these skills are hard to learn and for the technologically gifted.
The Misconception
The misconception here is mainly that anything related to technology is extremely difficult to learn and do.
Whether it is something as simple as adding anchor tags to a word document or even running a simple for loop in python, it is perceived as something truly extraordinary. If you knew anything about using Photoshop as a 13-year-old in India, you were revered as a god in your friend’s eyes. They saw you and thought you are the second coming of Doraemon with all the gadgets in your pockets.
When in reality, it is far from it. Kids all around the world as young as 10 that have access to any modern device with an internet connection have been able to learn and create a lot of amazing things ranging from animations, comics, art, music and even code. However, we have held technology in such high esteem that we believe that we can never comprehend it.
A lot of the main drivers that give rise to the misconception that these are the arcane arts of the ancient ones stems from the belief that they require a lot of knowledge about computers and the blazing edge tech, or at least when I was a kid, it’s what I believed. These fields generally have cool buzz words such as lip sync, CGI, green screen, loops, recursions etc. As an Indian kid, if you were to hear one of these words, you would think it is something out of a random word generator.
Some part of this can be attributed to the fact that a lot of the advancements brought to modern technology has been done by the western world, so the developers ended up using terms that were prevalent in their own circles. Some of these may sound straight forward to most of the English-speaking world, but not in India.
In India, some kids of even the most prestigious English medium schools are unable to string together sentences in English. Their ability to intuitively understand a lot of the information out there on common subjects is severely tarnished.
The other part I would likely attribute this to is we find it difficult to step out of are comfort zones to learn something new. Afterall, reaching home after finishing a long day of honest work it is hard to mentally convince yourself to sit and learn something you have never even heard about.
Is Art Supposed to be Technical?
This is the other misconception that really bugs me. People consider art and tech to be extremely different domains where I think opposite. While art does not have to be technical, technological improvements and technical understanding have always been an enabler.
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The recent advancements in technology has allowed even the smallest budget studios to create CGI and entire movies as long as they were willing to get proficient in some softwares such as Unreal Engine and Blender. Knowing one of these softwares can help nullify any set related expenses by having a virtual set and a green screen. If you still want to shoot normally, you can speed up everything you do on day of shooting by visualizing it and iterating through the possibilities on any 3D software. They can even render dense realistic crowds and cities in real-time.
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Digital Audio Workstations have allowed anyone to create studio quality music without needing an entire ensemble of musicians. Once you learn music theory and are able to compose well, you won’t be facing any limitations such as needing to buy more instruments or hiring musicians to bring your imagination to life.
The entire soundtrack for Undertale was done alone by Toby Fox on FL Studio. Something that may not have been possible traditionally without needing to hire a large team and the best studio equipment.
Even looking at the older times, each new iteration in a tool was done by technological advancements. Going from simple finger-painting and rocks, to making sophisticated brushes and instruments. The creation of cameras and film was an unprecedented technological marvel that has given rise to many new industries and careers.
However, a lot of the purists and artists I have met have shied away from learning and using technology in their own projects.
I find this to be extremely sad, especially given that how huge the art and film industry is and how it is booming with people who want to make it on the big one way or the other. Becoming more technologically proficient will enable you to make better content and with significantly less costs. Therefore, even allowing you to take more risks and create all sorts of new stories, music and art to the world while worrying less about making it commercially successful.
While the traditional ways have a charm of their own and I would never take that away from anyone, I believe that we should use every trick in the book to make sure I can get the best possible results despite the constraints. Even if I have to pull up my socks and do it myself.
Putting My Money Where My Mouth Is
While these have been big words, I only say them because I have been on both sides of the line.
I have struggled and flailed around like a Magikarp out of water for days but it has been worth it to see results of me being a one-man army over shadowing an entire team. More on this story in the next part of Blurred Lines: Artist or Techie as I talk about my origin story.