Media Diary Entry - Tool vs. Media
My submersion into the Multimedia Graduate Program has me thinking about the difference between a tool and media. I’m writing on this blog, which is a form of media, but it is also a tool that allows me to express my thoughts to the world, regardless of whether the world cares or not.
A good place to start would be to define these terms, tool and media.
Tool (a few definitions from Answers.com):
- A device, such as a saw, used to perform or facilitate manual or mechanical work
- Something regarded as necessary to the carrying out of one’s occupation or profession
- Something used in the performance of an operation; an instrument
Media (again from Answers.com)
- Channels of communication that serve as many diverse functions, such as offering a variety of entertainment with either mass or specialized appeal, communicating news and information, or displaying advertising messages
I think part of these questions that come up have to do with another word I’ve often found difficult to define: artist.
Regardless, media as a tool, and the tool as media can define the artist’s vision.
I don’t really know what any of this means. I just know that when I’m in front of a computer, I don’t think of myself as an artist. I think of myself as someone using media.
When I work with paper, ink, charcoal, clay, or other traditional artist’s tools, then I feel that I am an artist.
What is the difference and why is there a difference?
