Ryder Ripps: Internet Therapy
In Internet Therapy, Dump.fm creator Ryder Ripps surreptitiously records a session with his 68-year-old therapist. The ensuing discussion touches on Ripps’ anxieties over living life online and creating intangible products for a limited virtual audience. The therapist awkwardly tries to turn the problem over in his mind, but in the end a wide gulf between his terrestrial world and Ripps’ deeply entrenched cyber existence proves insurmountable.
This piece, presented on the always-awesome DIS Magazine, really strikes a chord with me. I’ve often thought to seek guidance for the uncharted territory of living with the Internet, but to whom should I address these questions? Maybe a peer to peer support group of internet addicts is the answer! Who’s with me? Anyone?
It’s interesting to find that digital artists have anxiety about intangibility. I find myself anxious about my inadequate digital skills, as if the art world is leaving me behind. However, there seems to be a balance. I find myself really inspired by digital design and fine art. I carry that inspiration with me when producing hand-rendered tangible art. The two are infinitely interacting.