Hw 13 - Feed B

I just finished feed and I can’t believe how horrible it makes me feel. I’m frustrated with the whole society; they just seem so ignorant and just plain out retarded. The whole society was filled with self absorbed consumers; it makes me sad to think that people actually view my generation as being so horrible. In the end I ended up hating everyone all together but realized it was suppose to be an allegory for me and my friends. I’m not sure why but I view the book as a personal insult to me. I think Titus is so ignorant! But truthfully I would just be calling myself ignorant as well. It’s killing me to admit this but if I look at the general picture I might actually relate more to Titus and his friends than Violet and her father.

At the beginning of the unit I never viewed any of my technology use as being something bad. I still don’t in a way, now I just blame myself. I wish I could be more like Violets dad and use the “feed” to benefit myself in some way other than to always just be entertained. This might sound stupid but I have the sudden urge to be educated in some way, I don’t know what about but I rather just cover up this guilty feeling the book left me with. I’m sure it will go away and I will be back to my old ways in no time but that’s because it’s what I’m use to, reading this book has made me realize how much I’m in the dark about the world around me.

Bert Brecht said that, "Art is not a Mirror with which to reflect the World. It is a Hammer with which to shape it." I think the mirror is the hammer, by reflecting the world so that people can gain a better understanding of something is just the start. By taking what you have learned and making it into a hammer for yourself is what feed represents. True that Anderson did not give a solution to fix the mess my generation has created but is work being the mirror just allows others to then turn it into hammers for themselves if they want to. I now view feed as artwork because he made me gain new insight into something that was just in my face the whole time, it’s up to me if I change the world or not. I think in any situation art can be either a mirror or hammer, most artist create art to be hammers but can be viewed as a mirror if not viewed in the right light.