February 7, 2012
Once expertise is gained in any arena,
it becomes impossible not to be upset
by shortcomings in that field. And the
more specific your area of interest, the
more upsetting these blunders become.
If you’re a fan of a particular sort of
motorcycle, for example, and you see
one glide by with a
horrifically ugly fairing,
it’s hard not to flinch.
Whether your
appreciation is aesthetic,
technical, or both, it can
be quite distracting. This
is the affliction of one of
my favorite characters in contemporary
fiction, Cayce Pollard in William
Gibson’s Pattern Recognition. Cayce
is sickened at the sight of bad design.
Her understanding of style is so finely
tuned that she cannot help but analyze
her surroundings through a scrutinizing
lens. She reels at ugly company logos,
and unnecessary flourishes offend her
minimalist leanings. But when she finds
something beautiful, she is mesmerized.
Ultimately, we all like to see something
done exactly right. It produces a
particular kind of happiness. Cayce may
be a bit of an extreme example, but every
person reading this column has seen the
world through her eyes. If you grew up at
FOH , you’re obsessed with the live mix at
shows. If you’re a pixel head, the warped
abuse of aspect ratios sends you over the
edge. These tendencies should definitely
be cultivated, as they can be quite useful
at work. Cayce demonstrates this with
her astronomical design consultant fees
and status as the ultimate “coolhunter”.
If you have an ear for PA disasters or an
eye for display mishaps, flaunt it.
During the NFL playoffs shortly
before press time, a new hashtag
appeared in the Twitterverse. It
was #AVFail, which is fairly selfexplanatory.
The commentary in this
instance was on the
use of AV equipment
as a prop in television
commercials. I confess
the subsequent
discussion (and
denigration of the
horrible CGI robot that
appears after commercial breaks)
entertained me more than the game,
and not just because I was glad I’m not
the only one who squints to see brand
names of equipment in TV shows,
movies, and any public venue. It’s just
that expertise makes everything more
interesting.
We’ll have to see if #AVFail takes off,
but based on the number of conversations
I have where incidents of unappealing AV
are recalled or pointed out, I expect it may
rapidly proliferate into a compendium of
observations on AV in the field, just like
“PA of the Day” on Facebook.
Remember though, it’s not just
about snark, it’s about expertise.
Anyone can tear something down, but
it takes real knowledge to recognize a
true accomplishment.
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