AAD 250: Art and Human Values, Fall 2013, Scott Huette

The underlying thesis in this weeks reading “Computer Graphics: Effects of Origins”, by Beverly Jones, is that “new forms of art and technology are frequently cast in the mode of old farms.” (pg.1).  This means that the look and form of new art and technology that is released can be related back to its origins. One of the historical examples that Jones gives to support her thesis is about the ancient Egyptians architecture. She states, “The stone columns of ancient Egyptian architecture were based on earlier bound papyrus columns.” (pg.1).  This can also be said to be true about stone columns in today’s architecture. The columns in the front of the white house that are also quite popular other places resemble the columns that the ancient Roman’s built. Another example that supports this thesis that can be related to today’s technology is the evolution of the watch. When watches were first created their purpose was not to be aesthetically pleasing. Instead their purpose was to functional and to tell you only time. Now there is a huge variety of watches, with styles all over the spectrum. There are still watches that are made to look like the classic simple watches, however we now have watches to please any functional lifestyle. If you’re a business men you can get a nice Rolex, if your tech savvy there is the new Samsung touch watch, or if you are more of a fan of the athletic look you can get the Nike watches. All of these style of watches look different because they are created to be aesthetically pleasing to the group of people they are trying to target. And as styles and trends change within our society so does the watch. However, all of these different styles can be traced back to the original watch in terms of having one screen/glass window that tells time and a cuff that goes around your wrist. To give you a visual depiction of the evolution of the watches I posted a video below.

Samsung Watch Commercial:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2AjPfHTIS4