I’m from an era where the parents taught us to be modest: What you do is only good enough when others notice and compliment you and of course tell others about it.

Then you could conclude that expressing yourself on the internet is something for younger people or not done?

I doubt that! It’s more or less, are you comfortable to scream: Look at me!

Or is the case that I wait for the comment of the professional who has a valuable critic about my work. If you are singer per example, and there are a lot of them, there is no guarantee that you will be heard on the internet. In fact I think the chance is diminishing. How do you want to be discovered then? Because of your looks?

We learned from Andrew Keen that a phenomenon like Alfred Hitchcock was ‘one of a kind’, those talents are rare. Isn’t it right that talents like that come out in the open whether they want or not? So is it luck? Is it the environment where you grow up or education? Is it support or chances and taking opportunities to become successful?

Because when you express yourself on the internet there is no reason that, if you have lots of followers, you can trust them for an independent evaluation.

“Don’t trust anyone” is what Conrad Boehmer’s opinion is. “Be confident with yourself because you cannot rely upon all kinds of organizations or opinions anymore”.

If you are that confident with yourself, do you allow then any other authority but yours? Is this what we want? I doubt, that we become very happy in this lonely kingdom, when you are the only inhabitant. “When we want to experience colour, freedom, excitement and power, do we find this in the digital world?” is what Andrew Keen asked us.

We like to experience this with each other, humans are part of a herd and most of them are perfectly happy to find confirmation. And those four elements are also becoming true within the group, because that’s what we do by finding other people by the internet.

Judgment was always involved when a work of art was performed and that will always be the case. How polite and honest is that judgment, does it depend on money, as James Kirkby is suspicious about? The faster the possibilities the lesser the compassion with other feelings? So sms and twitter gives the unpolished and thoughtless messages of reflex?

If there is a growing problem with authority, thus overcharged democracy, then a big danger of internet is the rudeness of manors. Everything for yourself and giving your blunt message to everyone. “The cult of the amateur” according to Andrew Keen in his article in De Groene Amsterdammer.

Does it make us happy, do we share lives and passion? Is there still talent or is talent vanished in the crowd? If we make internet “slow” to avoid shallow community thinking, we can have a useful medium to meet people! Not to advertise hypes or vibes, just care and valuable opinions.

Being aware of evolving arts is a matter of time, slow time. We listen better and hear more and I still want that copy to keep and still that book to read over and over.

I almost understand James Kirkby when he doesn’t care about money, but I am convinced that he has a mission. In fact, releasing work on the internet is not expressing your mission, unless you make that the most important goal. Redefining authority toward compassion, and not yourself as center of the world, makes our world intense and valuable with or without the digital world, together with other people.

Ali Hendriksen
student Master of Music Programming Artez

You can watch video’s of the Incubate Innovation lecture (including Andrew Keen’s keynote) here.