Scratch Video a mutant hybrid of scratch DJ music and guerrilla TV

scratchvideo/theory/add_tv

Scratch video is entertainment for people socialized by information, in a changing mental environment where an entirely new set of skills are necessary to survive. It isn't just a stupid catch phrase: we live in an information society.

We have created technology that in turn is changing how we think. Computer memory means human beings do not need to remember as much information, just the tag of where to find it. Working with several windows open on a screen or playing intense video games does not require attention, but instead the ability to think about and shift between a few different things at once. It's a skill called multi-tasking, and it signals a new way of organizing our thoughts. In the information society, trying to pay attention to everything would only slow you down. Do we need a new definition of attention? Dr. Gabor Mate writes in Scattered Minds: A New Look at the Origins and Healing of Attention Deficit Disorder that no one is born with "attention":

"Like language or locomotion, being attentive is a skill we acquire. As with other skills, the conditions necessary for the development of attention have to be present. It is not an isolated attribute of the child's but the product of a relationship between the child and her environment." (Mate 121)

Kids are developing skills through the process of socialization to deal with the information explosion and a traditional notion of "attention" may not be one of them. They are diagnosed with having Attention Deficit Disorder, as if there is a calculated total amount of "attention" necessary. Celia Pearce proposes rethinking ADD:

"What if ADD isn't a disorder at all, but an evolutionary adaptation to the culture? What if the ability to deal with high levels of stimulation and fast-paced, nonlinear content is actually providing these children with a way to cope with the next level of information explosion?" (Pearce 19)

Children are regularly dealing with 'high levels of stimulation and fast-paced non-linear content', which could also be a description of scratch video. The loops and layers inherent to the aesthetic of scratch video create dense hyper-kinetic visual information, fascinating to an audience caught in the epicenter of the information explosion.

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Copyright 2000© Hart Snider