In the Middle Ages, due to high illiteracy rates, paintings often served as the main medium of communication. Today, media communicates through monitor screens and their pixels. Pixels are rectangular dots created by hardware that combine to form text or images. Currently, the pixel is the smallest unit of media communication. Cryptopunks, NFTs created by Canadian software developers Matt Hall and John Watkinson in 2017, are images composed of rough-resolution pixels. Although their value has increased due to their historical significance, ‘Cryptopunk #7523’ from the series was sold for $11,754,000 at Sotheby’s auction on June 10, 2021, because it conveyed rarity and history through its rough pixelation. This NFT, which utilizes square pixels as a tool, conveys a similar concept to Lego blocks, which are meant to be constructed with blocks. In media, messages are created, distributed, and valued based on the nature of the expression tool. The tool is the message. - Joseph’s “just my th...
Doing nothing is also media content. The media showed others something with the obsession that something had to be done. The Norwegian national broadcasting company, NRK, showcased only the scenery of the railroad between Bergen and Oslo for 7 hours and 20 minutes in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the railway’s opening. In 2011, they aired 134 hours of ferry service along the fjord coast. Railroad broadcast ratings were 15% (four times the usual), and ferry broadcasts were watched by 64% of all Norwegians. If you know that humans are not the main characters in our lives, you are guaranteed more fun. Proof of existence and achievement is not everything in our lives. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”