I Have Become Comfortably Numb.
It has been a while since I saw a video on the internet that really caught my attention. I think I am so engulfed in the internet at times, I have become somewhat numb to things. There is so much on the internet, and so much repeated content on the internet that I think I’ve built up an immunity of sorts to help me filter. This could be good, or it could be bad.
I started thinking about this yesterday when I saw the 13th Witness x John Mayer Tour video. These are two artists I respect tremendously, yet when I saw the video I was definitely left wanting more, and not in the way I typically want more from these to creative minds. Usually I find myself digging through 13th Witness photographs, and listening to John Mayer Tracks for hours after visiting either of their many homes on the internet. It’s not that there wasn’t some incredibly impressive moments in this video, and after watching it a couple more times I most definitely enjoy it. However, the fact that it didn’t grab me and raise adrenaline levels the way these two artists have in the past makes me wonder if I am missing other creative masterpieces due to this new-found filter of mine.
Today I came across the Nike Music Shoe video, and of course being that sneaker culture is what puts food on my table, it grabbed my attention. The crazy thing about this one is that when comparing it to the 13th Witness John Mayer video, it seems lacking in quality. The creativity is definitely there, and in fact the sneaker box speaker setup is likely to become the new craze with overly excited sneaker enthusiasts. The video is slightly off at times, and that in itself should turn me away from this video. I am typically a perfectionist when viewing these types of things. Why? I don’t really know, because I really have no justification to be, but I am.
So with two completely different styled videos, both designed to be passed around the internet, and both with plenty of star power behind them. One that should be instantly on my favorites list (Edge of Desire is my favorite track on the Battle Studies album), and one that seems like it has been done before by another sneaker company (the Reebok Pump returned to a viral video). Ironically I am more impressed with the one that I’ve (sort of) already seen.
Maybe today my filter isn’t working well, or maybe it’s not working at all? Either way I am passing along these videos in the exact nature that they were created for, and I really don’t feel either is ground breaking or game changing. Maybe my comfortably numb is not a filter of what I consume, but rather of what I share. Maybe.
