David Byrne Subverts PowerPoint 150
NoData writes "The AP is reporting that David Byrne, visionary musician and frontman for 80s New Wave art band 'Talking Heads,' has turned Powerpoint into a visual art medium in a (satiric) DVD/Book combo. Says Byrne in the article: 'The genius of it is that it was designed for any idiot to use.'" Shades of Edward Tufte ("PowerPoint Makes You Dumb"), as the article points out. The book is published by high-end German publisher Steidl.
Is it surprising... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Wired Reported Why Power Point Sucks! (Score:1, Insightful)
So. I'm sorry, but isn't a DVD that requires PowerPoint just like one big ad for powerpoint? David Byrne (and by proxy, the Talking Heads) are now on my do-not-play list.
All You Young Guys Don't Get It (Score:5, Insightful)
20-somethings don't make decisions regarding what presentation software is loaded across an enterprise; we 40-somethings have that dubious honor. And all we hear these days is how Powerpoint is, well, so 1996, and un-cool. Who better to convince us otherwise? The lead singer from ColdPlay (am I spelling that correctly?)? No, young man,it's the guy in the big white suit who defined counterculture 'art' way back when the current generation of marketing "grown-ups" were actually artistic.
Funny thing is, I kinda remember how, back in the early '90s, marketing campaigns similarly co-copted Andy Warhol imagery to "artistically connect with" a previous generation who now found themselves in Brooks Brothers suits. I thought that was bogus then, but I think using Byrne is clever. Thanks, Slashdot, for pointing out how I've become what I once loathed.
All of which brings the lyrics to a Byrne song crashing home to me here on a Sunday morning as the children quietly watch a Strawberry Shortcake video in the next room:
" And you may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile
And you may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife
And you may ask yourself-Well...How did I get here?...
"And you may ask yourself
What is that beautiful house?
And you may ask yourself
Where does that highway go?
And you may ask yourself
Am I right?...Am I wrong?
And you may tell yourself
MY GOD!...WHAT HAVE I DONE?"
Tufte is for Masses Byrne for Classes (Score:3, Insightful)
Tufte is for the Masses, and Brnes for a thin Slice of the Masses (the Classes) -
Byrne does does talk about the limitations of Powerpoint
But Byrne is an 'artist" and has been able to "overcome the limitations" in his own whimsical way. Most of what he does would not work in 99 % of the typical presentations.
Again, from the article ... and while reading it just imagine how many people could do then and then "sell" the shit ...
So, what I am trying to say is that Powerpoint has many many (some Terrible) limitations. Byrne has learnt to overcome some of them in a whimsical and creative way. His "artistic" talent is not present in most of the people making presentations. (I did write earlier on /. about Art and Overcoming limitations here [slashdot.org])
So, most of the people should not follow his example or philosophy. And, to draw general conclusions from one odd data point (outlier) about the nature of data is pretty naive. On the Bell curve, he would be on one end of a tail ....
What Tufte is saying holds for the masses. What Byrne represents is for a thin slice (the classes) and the masses should not read too much into it.
We geezers are pathetic (Score:1, Insightful)
It was a delusion that our generation was any different or less pimpable the generations that came before. Despite that, we still have quite a long way to fall to replicate the crass commercialism of the baby-boomer's stars. I'm sure we will catch up.
I don't think you get it. (Score:4, Insightful)