If you’re reading this, you’re probably a curator. You search specific keywords on Google and evaluate results to target exactly what you’re looking for. You follow and trust a host of sources for particular veins of information and expertise. While I admit that the subject matter of Curation Nation, namely content aggregation and curation, overtly sparks a conversation most inviting to data experts, I believe that the sooner you accept that you, too, are a curator, the better.
The comprehensiveness of Frank Rose’s The Art of Immersion is a testament to its own assertions and concerns. In its 333 pages, the book managed to convince me of its philosophical backdrop: knowledge may be anywhere, in anyone, at any time. The assertions, psychological and cultural allusions, and anecdotes form a huge—but somehow cohesive—network of meaning (kudos, Rose). At the center of Rose’s focus on the changing landscape of advertising and television are two things: storytelling and narrative, and Rose keeps the text interesting and diverse by invoking psychologists, classic writers, and even fictional avatars. He jumps right into the thick of it in his Prologue, discussing the human necessity of storytelling for two reasons: first, for its inherent reliance on a symbiotic human relationship between teller and hearer, creator and viewer; second, as we’ll learn later in the book, because humans crave meaning. In part because my Masters thesis deals with this very issue, I couldn’t help but unite the two reasons and wonder where, how, and by whom is meaning created?
By now, many have probably seen Cartier’s stunning new film, hailed for its obviously obscene budget, impressive cinematography, and cutting-edge visual effects. I first saw the three and a half minute piece as a preview in the movie theatre. Perhaps the theatre is the perfect place to achieve the epic impression Cartier was trying to make on its viewers. With an alleged budget of four million euros, the film translates Cartier’s history into an epic tale, making it memorable and altogether untraditional. But the film also airs as a commercial on television; so what exactly does the spot function as?
For Harry Potter fans around the world, July 15th is the ultimate bittersweet day. As the release date of the much-anticipated final movie, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2,” stirs up excitement from a loyal viewership but also anxiety and uncertainty: is this the end of an era?
