COMMUNICATION BREAKDOWN

Just been listening to Led Zeppelin whilst sipping a Laphroig. One “L” of an evening! The track “Communication Breakdown” struck me as being very relevant in todays fast world. There seems to be more ways to reach each other to say something but what we are saying seems diluted by volume of “noise”.

I get emails and have done for years. Everyone does, right? I use a computer which some would describe as a desktop. Its with this device (nice word) that I read my emails. My wife has a laptop which I use for Zoom meetings since my desktop has no camera. My wife reads her emails on her laptop and my desktop, but I can’t read my emails on her laptop. We both have mobile phones but are not set up to read emails on our phones. We use our phones to phone people, sometimes we phone each other when one of us is lost. Sometimes I get lost in technology but then no one phones me! Boo who?

Recently I was introduced to “WhatsApp” and seems I can use it a bit like emails. I can send pictures to people I want to. Provided of course they have this App on their device. I have it set up on my desktop and mobile phone but tend to use it on my desktop more than phone as the keyboard is easier to use. Last few weeks I have been using the video camera on my phone but can’t get it off my phone to do anything with. I want to send it to others which I think is a technique called “sharing”. I have found a friend to send the video to and then he posts it somewhere where it ends up on some other devices. Its just another way to communicate.

I haven’t mentioned hundreds of other ways to communicate. I suppose writing a blog is one method to get the words out there, but I am not writing, I am typing. Is there a difference? If we all know what we are talking about then that’s fine. But do we talk anymore? We chat but not face to face. Ahhh, we think we do but if there is a screen in front of us and we can’t smell the person we are chatting to how can it be called face to face.

I don’t know what the easiest way to communicate is. Talking between two real people where each can reach out to touch surely must be the best. Difficult to hug through a text! There are of course little symbols that means hugs etc… which are used within texts and other electronic ways to reach out to people. I love flesh on flesh which I have yet to find a communication style that gives me this buzz other then being in the same company as other people.

There is social media where people message others which at first, I misread and though people massage each other which actually would be more fun than boring messaging. If it’s true, that every picture tells a story then there is one hell of a lot of stories out there. Words is at the heart of all communication and even sign language has an important part to play. My Beaver Scouts worked on a communication badge recently which involved them spelling the word Beaver out in sign language. No need for batteries here!

As artists then we are taught to let our art do the explaining. If that’s true, why do so many artists spend hours explaining their work. If it’s good, then let the art speak for itself. I love talking about my work but its more focused on how I have made the work rather than what it means. Trues great art should explain itself unless the audience has been dumbed down by using too much electronic information being transferred to and from other likeminded robots!