Paper vs Glass:The Power Struggle of Analog and Digital

This topic was one that bothered me since the day I started architecture school, it was one that I personally struggled with and argued about many times with people that are far more experienced than myself. Now I do not believe age and experience is everything when it comes to topics such as this one, I believe that I am in a unique spot with my contemporaries as we were basically born into a digital world and so I feel adequate enough to talk and argue about this subject.

The power struggle of analog vs digital is one that we see in all branches of life it is in the way we shop, in the way we communicate, in the way we work . With the technological boom that happened ın the last century, the world has changed forever. As AI and automation become more advanced, many people expect to be out of work in 5 to 10 years and this topic becomes more and more prevalent.

Design or Photography for that matter are not really branches that expect job shortages due to their creative and abstract nature. However, technology has affected all creative fields in a tremendous way. The fact that I can with a camera and a computer shoot edit and publish my own movie or the fact that one guy on his own can produce a song that sells millions on his laptop has changed the game, we could almost say it levelled the playing field. The rise of social media only perpetuated this revolution, creating a platform for people to publish their work and build an audience, something that was basically impossible to achieve on your own before the rise of technology. Yet for some people this is the downfall of their respective field, they feel that somehow it tainted the process of creation.

I am biased; I'm biased in that I, like my contemporaries, grew up with technology; so it would be fair to say that I am not one of those people that believe in the harmful effects of technology. With that being said I am not 100 percent on one side or the other. I myself constantly go back and forth in my design process between analog and digital. Technology is merely a tool in my toolset and so is analog.

I believe that tools are the single most important invention in the history of mankind. I now that is one bold claim but listen up. The biggest difference between a human and an animal might be intelligence but the way we channel that intelligence is the tools we create. The fact that we understand the concept of leverage helps us in creating an axe, it allows us to survive. The fact that we understand aerodynamics provides us with an ability reserved to birds. The fact that we understand the relationship between protons and electrons enables me to share this very text all across the World. In short, it is the tools that we create that set us apart and we never do stop creating them.

I give this very simple example when I argue with people on this topic: The ruler is a technological device, just not one that is recently invented. It allows us to draw straight lines but we don't go around drawing straight lines everywhere. It is a tool that we chose to use or not to use. I think we should think of the digital medium in this fashion. The computer doesn't do the work for you it is only an extension of your creativity it is only a weapon in your arsenal. The big fear around tech is that it will dull down our creativity or our abilities because it is easier, I feel that this is merely a concern for people who choose to use it in that fashion. We must use technology to boost our creativity and our work output, not the other way around.

It would be fair to say both mediums have their silver linings and their downfalls. Analog is great at expressing emotion as it is a one to one experience that can't hide behind any walls ö it is revealing by nature. It exhibits a great deal of proficiency and body of work, however, that body of work is the greatest downfall of the analog medium. With its unforgiving nature and a great deal of time required to achieve an optimal result analog medium is limiting at best. Limits, however, are what you make of them, they induce a great deal of creativity and lead into the greatest creations one can imagine. Digital in contrast to Analog is very forgiving and provides the artist with a great set of tools. To understand the power of technology, I believe you must first experience the creative process that is a vision to reality in a matter of hours. Imagination is a very powerful tool but only as powerful as its creation. What big companies used to do now can be achieved by a single person. Imagination became one of the most powerful tools with this technology as anyone with sufficient knowledge is able to realize their vision. I can envision a design draw it up, model it, see it in 3D, then print it and have it in my hands in a day. The ability of the individual to create is one that has never been as prominent as today and it is changing the World as we know it , everyone is making something, anything and posting it online and building a community around it. This ability, however, is one that could be abused, one that could be used to cut corners and to fool.

When I first started looking into digital art I saw this interesting and controversial article. The writer talked about how she loved drawing and bought a digital tablet to get into digital art but after a while she found herself becoming more of a painter rather than a drawing artist. At the time this sounded dumb to me as the decision was hers to make to draw or to paint. After I got my own tablet I caught myself doing the same thing, I felt like I was cutting corners that I was cheating. I wasn't. There is no right or wrong way to create it is the beauty of creation. By its nature it is very frail, it is intangible, it comes and goes and you must pursue it in any way you can, you must catch lightning in a bottle or else it is gone.

In conclusion, I would say that it is not the tools that define us, it is the act of creation itself. We must pursue creativity in any way we can whether it's writing a symphony that's herd by millions of people or taking pictures on your phone. I don't want to sound corny but go out there and make something doesn't matter if its ugly or not as good as you want, it is the mere act of creation that sets us apart, that lets us tell our own stories it is the courage to create that makes us human.

Thanks for reading.

Be sure to check out my other post here.

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The Lost Architect

Ata Yuksel