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| Image 1: The Sin (Stuck, 1893) |
Art theft online is a ramped problem that affects the online
community as a whole. The power the internet provides to the masses has opened
up a new way to accumulate power. Anyone can do anything when authority is
misused and seduction is succumbed to.
Devianart is the online social network I have chosen to analyse
from week 3 to week 6. I’ve have known about devianart for a few years now and it’s
never been appealing place to publish artwork or anything creative online in
this artist community. Rightfully so, the prospect of having artwork stolen
from me has always been a haunting sensation and the scandal of devianart allegedly
selling a user’s artwork to a third-party did taint any further thoughts.
Devianart over the years has amassed a huge following over the
years because of ease of use and advantage it provides. There are a number of
unknown unique artists that inhabit the website that are at a disadvantage, as
they are distant from the community. “[P]ower is inherently spatial and,
conversely, spatiality is imbued with power” (Allen 2003, p.3). There was
distance in power with Devianart, this disconnect I observed felt disempowering.
There is a sense that even though devianart has authority they do not wield it
and users experience this.
“The elite are the few who have power; the masses are the many who
do not.” (Dr Kuttainen, 2017). The
first Modality of power to be discussed is Authority, which is based on
recognition. Devianart has the power of Authority to control and enable a place
of security for user’s but barely even does that (Tuan 1977, pg.3).
Another power in this space is seduction, which is enacted upon by
those who plagiarise other people’s artwork on this website or even outside of
it. The authority of Devianart is more
distributed on its own website enabling artwork to be flagged and taken down on
it. Though it is to be noted however that their authority doesn’t extent much to
other websites where people have posted stolen content. Many times victims may
not ever know if their work has been stolen considering it is common to change
it in some way. So searching for stolen copies on an image search is impractical
if they have changed the colours for example.
The seduction of fame and fortune causes many strive for it in life.
Many dream of becoming a famous artist however getting noticed as an
outstanding artist is a difficult task. Even Kevin Alloca stated in a TEDYouth event, even the
possibly of Tastemakers bringing it to be a part of our culture is a small
percent. The temptation of power that is available on the website is the seduction of
plagiarism to amount popularity. People give in to
temptation and wielding the power the internet provides them they can easily
surmount to popularity without the merit of honest and hard work.
Artwork that is stolen from those on Devianart accumulate power
through the resources they are provided with. It is clear that people without
power are restrained by those who wield it.
References
Allen, J. (2003) Lost
Geographies of Power. Malden, MA: Blackwell
Alloca, K. (2012,
Feb 27). Why videos go viral | Kevin
Allocca [Audio File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpxVIwCbBK0
Dr Kuttainen,
Victoria. (2017). BA1002: Our space: Networks,
Narratives, and the Making of Place, lecture 2: Power [PowerPoint slides] Retrieved
from http://www.learnjcu.edu.au
Stuck, F.
(1893). The Sin [Image]. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sin_(painting)
Tuan, Y.
(1977). Space and Place: The perspective
of Experience. England: Edward Arnold
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