David Byrne and PowerPoint Art
From David Byrne’s article in Wired 11.09, “Learning to Love PowerPoint” (thanks for reminding me, Matt):
Having never used the program before, I found it limiting, inflexible, and biased, like most software. […] I began to see PowerPoint as a metaprogram, one that organizes and presents stuff created in other applications. Initially, I made presentations about presentations; they were almost completely without content. The content, I learned, was in the medium itself. […]
Although I began by making fun of the medium, I soon realized I could actually create things that were beautiful. I could bend the program to my own whim and use it as an artistic agent. The pieces became like short films: Some were sweet, some were scary, and some were mysterioso. I discovered that even without text, I could make works that were “about” something, something beyond themselves, and that they could even have emotional resonance.
He ends by asking if there are other PowerPoint artists. I too would like to know. Some related reading/viewing:
- Greg Allen, “David Byrne’s PowerPoint Art [and another NYT article]“
- NPR, “David Byrne’s PowerPoint Art“
- Greg Allen, “Overview: Powerpoint as Creative Medium“
- Xeni Jardin, “Turning Heads With PowerPoint“
- USA Today, “David Byrne makes PowerPoint art“