New uses for new media

March 4, 2011 1:20 AM

Okay, so I'm slow with the internet meme things, but only a few weeks ago did I come across the Piano Improv Guy from Chat Roulette. Despite my inability to play piano or sing or rock the hoodie, my immediate thought was, "Wow, I wish I thought of that!" What other clever, creative ways of exploiting various media (that it probably wasn't intended for) provoked the same reaction for you?

Another example that comes to mind is the choose-your-own-adventure-type stuff on Youtube. Maybe the the group of guys that perform instrumental apps on a train. Stuff on Twitter or Flickr perhaps? This might be too general, so I'll try to fine-tune what I'm looking for in particular as suggestions come in.

posted by TheSecretDecoderRing to media & arts (6 answers total)

Almost everything Ze Frank does provokes this reaction in me. Earth sandwich for example.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 5:36 AM on March 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

The documentary Catfish does this powerfully (to the whole damn Internet) but you should watch it without spoilers.

There's also a series of split-screen Youtube videos where two friends produce music covers using ridiculous "instruments", including cell phones, crockenspiel, zither, and gameboy, in inventive ways. The idea of depicting the production of every layer of sound may not be new to Youtube, but it has made it much more popular. Pomplamoose does this too and makes legitimately good music.

There's also the Arcade Fire interactive video which is an intriguing use of Google Streetview.
posted by acidic at 7:03 AM on March 4, 2011

Improv Everywhere
posted by cmchap at 12:01 PM on March 4, 2011

This comic does this in a cute way. Follow the link in the post beneath. Great question, by the way!
posted by Isingthebodyelectric at 1:40 PM on March 4, 2011

Kutiman - Thru You - music made out of bits of youtube videos of other people playing instruments
posted by Tom-B at 5:26 PM on March 4, 2011

I liked the "Stop Following Me" in particular... it's hard to top something that implements every major social media site.

And the Kutiman stuff was great (the link was off, but I did see a few of them, "Master of All Funk Chords" being my favorite).

I like the idea of improv Everywhere, but it seems a little too prank-show-y to me.


Great question, by the way!

Yeah, I thought it was too...
posted by TheSecretDecoderRing at 6:08 PM on March 6, 2011