Artists Statement:

Australia in 2006 is a postmodern, postcolonial, post industrial society where to a large extent consumerism, not to mention globalisation permeates our environment. Our models are now North American, specifically those of the great republic of the USA and as such may be defined as follows:
New communications media and particularly technologies of information transmission and retrieval such as the merging of televisions, telephones and computers are redefining the countenance of knowledge and entertainment ....the economic development and political deregulation of new media technologies are being framed by the liberal ideal of global community. Such an idea... seems driven more by multinational capital than by hopes for transcultural understanding. I
In other words the `new communications media', i.e. the internet, creates the expectation of a global community, but the content and control of the net is currently dominated by a desire for corporate profits rather than a desire for equity and morally acceptable practices. As Robbie Robertson, (the Australian academic, not the Canadian musician) puts it,
But globalization cannot be so easily dismissed. If universalisms based on former particularisms are to be avoided in the future, new forms of global consciousness are essential. 2
The question is how does one develop a new form of `global consciousness'? Given our reliance on technology and consumerism, which are, if nothing else, realities in both the cultural and economic sense, it seems logical to adjust our traditional Judeo-Christian mythology to the current cultural realities. This combination creates an attractive brand which allows consumers both physical and physiological satisfaction. As Wally Olins points out:
...brands represent clarity, reassurance, consistency, status, membership - everything that enables human beings to help define themselves. Brands represent identity. 3
I have attempted to do this in iPod therefore I am by combining traditional Christian, specifically Roman Catholic, iconography: Michelangelo's image of God from the Sistine Chapel ceiling fresco with the current dominant force for image and music downloads via the internet which is Steven Jobs from Apple Corporation and the iTunes download cards. The title of course is a parody of Rene Descartes' credo, `Cognito, egro sum. `(1 think therefore I am.). Thus the viewer is presented with an image of God's finger penetrating Steve's halo whilst their hands are joined on an iPod Nano. This represents an example of the concept of `intelligent design' which is particularly attractive so some Protestant sects of Christianity.
Undoubtedly there will be some who question my use of an Apple product in this new brand, however it is important to remember that in terms of popular culture, like movies, the good guys always use Macs. So Macintosh is a force for good. As the Jedi knights proclaim, `may the force be with you.'
2
If an individual has been shown the revealed truth and fails to accept it by definition he or she must be an agent of the dark side of the force like Darth Vader. The heretical belief that iPods are not a force for good has recently been enunciated by a journalist in Brisbane who says:
The iPod generation will be the death of us. Specifically it is not so much the generation or their iPods for that matter. It's the addiction one has for the other that I worry about.
However a careful reading of this article shows that the author is concerned that teenagers who listen to iPods are no longer sexually active.
...I see hordes of teenage boys silently bouncing away to whatever tune is filling their head, ignoring the hordes of teenage girls who are likewise bopping along
to their own private idaho...the lads still need to talk to the ladies in order to have sex and nobody seems to be talking anymore. s
Thus the attack on iPods and St. Steven of Apple is in fact an argument for sexual licentiousness. That sounds a bit like the Brotherhood of the Swan heresy to me. What's next, the abolition of private property? Any right thinking individual knows how to deal with heretics. Bring back the Inquisition and lets get our moral house in order.
Footnotes
I Janine Marchessault, `Learning the New Information Order', in Jody Berland and Shelly Hornstein, (eds), 2000, Capital Culture, A Reader on Modernist Legacies, McGill-Queens's University Press, Montreal & Kingston, p. 168
2 Robertson, Robbie, 2003, The Three Waves of Globalization, Fernwood Publishing, Black Point, Nova Scotia, p. 264
3 Wally Olins, 2003, On Brand, Thames and Hudson, London, p. 27
4 Rodney Chester, `Barren future ahead', in Brian Crisp, (ed), 2006, etc, the Courier Mail, Saturday October 21-22, Queensland Newspapers Pty. Ltd., p. 6
5 Ibid, p. 6

Artists Statement:
One truth - humanity.