Whitestone Project Analysis

Whitestone Project

Roey Tsemah

Analysis by Hayley Barile

Watch the video below before reading for a better understanding of the project:

• https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/whitestonemusic/this-is-what-music-will-look-like-in-the-future?ref=nav_search

Visit this website to explore and interact with the project:

• http://whitestone.io

Introduction

I chose the Whitestone project by Roey Tsemah to analyze for this assignment. Tsemah creates a whole new realm of art and music, combining the two for a totally new experience. Music is such a very important part of peoples culture and this project puts the power and ownership rightfully back into the hands of the artist. It directly connects the listener and the artist making a more personal connection to both the music and album artwork and adding meaning to the experience. As humans we attach meaning to everything and this is how we interact, remember and learn.

Context, Artistic, Participatory, Transformative

Contextually, Tsemah stresses the problem of large corporations dominating the market and the growing number of people settling for mass produced mainstream music. This is followed by the loss of the artist themselves along with their album art and the experience of music itself. Using a digital platform worked greatly to his benefit being so widely used today and very relevant to his target audience. Tsemah is personally affected by this issue being both an artist and a musician and therefore had a personal connection to this project. He collaborated with other artists and designers to create this social platform and the art that goes with it. These elements support a very strong artistic quality in the project and the beautifully designed interactive website, social platform and album artworks create a memorable and meaningful experience. The participatory and transformative qualities work hand in hand and are the most evident out of the features in this project. Interactivity is crucial to its theme and is the main focus of this project, this interactivity invites people to connect and make a change in the music industry and this creates action and breeds new perspectives.

Good/Bad Qualities

This is a good social design project because it accurately fits into the growing digital age. It also makes music listening a more meaningful, entertaining experience and promotes a fair marketplace of art. This project is engaging and transformative on so many levels. Despite its qualities that resemble gamification, some of these interactive artworks push for other methods of social change in fields like cultural diversity. With music being such a universal language that can so easily connect us, this social platform has great potential.

The Whitestone project has many different positive aspects as discussed throughout this article, in addition to that I find there is a deeper positive benefit. In this day and age with the rise of large monopolies in every aspect of our life controlling all of our decisions. The food we eat, the music we listen to, the shows we watch etc. this all effects how we think and see the world. In a world where everything is turning digital, some feel more disconnected than ever. When a product is monopolized, we lose touch with where it came from. A lot of talent and creative power is lost to these masses because it becomes cheaper for people to buy generic products than to buy from the artist. This project sought to reconnect the artist and the listener and created a community where the artist could be supported and could grow. Not only does this platform create and experience, but it brings the listeners attention to the present moment. The listener is really pushed to focus on the music and the art alone (instead of listening to music in the background where it loses most of its meaning). Art and music is a very important part in culture and it should get the attention and support it deserves. This is why I think the Whitestone project has the potential to have such a positive effect.

However, like any project there can always be improvements and there are things that may not work well. With this being such an intimate experience with music and visual, the viewer will often lost in the experience just like a viewer in a movie. This could become negative if the music and visuals were manipulative and biased (much like most of the media is today). This platform is a good idea only if its content stays fair and out of the hands of monopolies and manipulative groups. However, Tsemah prided himself on an fair and clean platform for his project so this event seems unlikely.

Classification

With a further analysis of this project I would classify it as a fairly subversive and highly allo-relational project. It is subversive in the nature of going against the large corporations as discussed above and with its motivation to create change, become aware and take back the power of the current music market. This project is also very allo-relational in the way that it relies on the music community for support and interaction. Without the community support, this project would not have succeeded. Both the designs of the album covers and the interaction of the music marketplace require a team and a community and in this way the project becomes highly allo-relaitonal. Having qualities of an allo-relational and subversive nature, this project demands change and wants it on a large scale by getting people involved.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Whitestone project has many benefits and addresses the contexts of the marketplace well. It brings change by inviting the public to take an active part in music publishing and promotes fair art. Improvements that could be made to this project could be an even further development in the graphics of the artwork as the digital industry grows. In addition to the sharing and support of artists, the hosting of events with these artists and fans could be arranged to even further the effect and community support of the project. These events could feature these album artworks on the big screen of the stage and create a really powerful atmosphere for change and experience. A mobile app could also be created so people can interact with it from anywhere. Overall, this project was very interesting and pushed the boundaries of a music app, standing out from the rest.