{"id":59,"date":"2017-10-14T22:23:59","date_gmt":"2017-10-15T02:23:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/f18-engl117-01\/?p=59"},"modified":"2017-10-14T22:36:36","modified_gmt":"2017-10-15T02:36:36","slug":"guy-talks-minecraft-on-youtube-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/f18-engl117-01\/uncategorized\/guy-talks-minecraft-on-youtube-art\/","title":{"rendered":"Guy Talks Minecraft on YouTube: Art?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Ethoslab<\/em>\u2014a YouTube channel based upon the motto \u201cMinecraft done technical\u201d\u2014demonstrates that we might <em>not<\/em> be doomed to eternal consumption of worthless drivel. Etho, as he goes, a mysterious, deep-voiced Canadian, takes viewers through a deliberate, yet purposeless investigation of the possibilities of the blocky world of Minecraft. One of his defining characteristics comes from a unique tendency to not shy away, as most others do, from Redstone, a metonymy for a set of materials in Minecraft that can complexly coalesce, like a circuit board, to form a variety of functions from calculating square roots to moving blocks. Etho\u2019s calm and inquisitive style jarringly contrasts that of other Minecraft YouTubers, like the child-oriented <em>StampyLongHead<\/em> or the rowdy, raucous <em>TheSyndicateProject<\/em>, providing subtle brilliance in a sea of loud vacuity. Some might argue that his uniqueness is superficial, that his work, published by means of a multinational corporation and based upon a hugely monetized game, lacks meaning, echoing the thoughtless style of all gaming videos. But, having spent thousands of hours watching people play video games, I\u2019m going to show you that his channel is <em>special<\/em>, and even more so because of its position at the center of virtual mass production.<\/p>\n<p>YouTube provides a vehicle for content creators to reach a large audience of viewers while generating revenue through ads. The ultimate goal, therefore, is to generate the greatest number of clicks, rather than create the best content. To do so, YouTubers may embellish their videos with ridiculous titles and thumbnails. Take, for example, <em>MomoFifaHD<\/em>, whose second-most watched video is, \u201c191 RATED IMPOSSIBLE FUT DRAFT GONE SEXUAL !! FUT DRAFT CHALLENGE,\u201d with two females lustily kissing as the thumbnail. To paraphrase one astute commenter, not a single thing suggested in the title comes to fruition in the video. Everyone knows that clickbait of this nature is nothing new, but the brazen money-grabbing of this particular channel might flabbergast even internet veterans because <em>MomoFifaHD<\/em> has created an online shop for virtual currency in Fifa, and he sings about it at the beginning of <em>every<\/em> video to make sure you know. Basically, after watching an ad, the viewer is treated to another ad preceding badly-made clickbait.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">The offending video<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"191 RATED IMPOSSIBLE FUT DRAFT GONE SEXUAL !! FUT DRAFT CHALLENGE\" width=\"604\" height=\"340\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/A6GY3uVbNQ0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>I bring this example up, not to suggest that all other YouTubers possess such blatant avarice, but to juxtapose the beauty of <em>Ethoslab<\/em>. When you go to his channel, <em>every<\/em> video is classified according to a series, with a well-thought-out title. To give you an idea of what that entails, here\u2019s a title from one of my favorite videos: \u201cMinecraft &#8211; Project Ozone 2 #47: Automate Inosculate.\u201d Lo and behold, in the video, automations are fitted tightly together (\u201cinosculate\u201d means fit tightly together). Now, you might say that many YouTubers can make specific and clever titles, so how is this guy different? Rather than distinguishing him entirely, this tendency illuminates his <em>sui generis<\/em> orientation towards what some call <em>purposiveness with no purpose<\/em><a href=\"#_ftn1\" name=\"_ftnref1\">[1]<\/a> (Adorno and Horkheimer, 127).<\/p>\n<p>Before I dive into the content of Etho\u2019s videos, I would like to briefly return to greed in the world of YouTube. Some might argue that in such a highly-controlled medium, in which it\u2019s obvious that everyone tries to make as much money as possible, a \u201cdifferent\u201d YouTuber is simply impossible. To an extent, even in <em>Ethoslab<\/em>, the power of capitalism is evident; Etho does release unedited, half-assed videos with friends, videos no different from the rest of the bland Minecraft landscape. I would like to say that I propound <em>Ethoslab<\/em> as an escape from the mass production of shitty YouTube videos, not on the basis of those half-assed videos, but on the basis of what I will call his main series. These main series, full of passion, can take weeks, even years to create; to support them, he does release lower-quality content, but this should not devalue his <em>magnum opus<\/em>. His conformation is simply a struggle against the culture of YouTube, a struggle which makes his <em>purposiveness with no purpose<\/em> even more magnificent. Perhaps a cynical person might say that this is a tragedy in itself, but I would say the opposite. What detractors of modern culture seem to have gotten wrong is that even in the belly of the beast, original work is possible, and <em>that<\/em> makes such work even more impressive.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">A half-assed video from <em>Ethoslab<\/em><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Minecraft - HermitQuest Season 2 #7\" width=\"604\" height=\"340\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/QyZduhT0xQw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>So, you might be wondering, what do I mean by <em>purposiveness with no purpose<\/em>? As we have already discussed, there are those YouTubers that are motivated entirely by profit. Then, there are those that focus on creating the best content <em>for <\/em>their viewers. All YouTubers fall somewhere on this spectrum from total profit-maximization to altruistic content creation\u2014except Etho. <em>Ethoslab<\/em> reintroduces &#8220;l&#8217;art pour l&#8217;art&#8221; (\u201cart for art\u2019s sake\u201d), the intentional creation of content for the sake of the content itself, something his environment notably allows for. Look at the medium in which Etho publishes. On YouTube, he can upload any video without subjection to censorship (at least of videos of this type). Moreover, in Minecraft, after one covers the basic needs of the player\u2014food, light sources, materials for crafting, etc.\u2014the player can have \u201cvirtual leisure\u201d in a world where literally everything can be modified. Basically, the player has the freedom to pursue any idea. So, when Etho uploads, he can do so without censorship and on his own virtual time: the perfect setting for creativity in this technological era.<\/p>\n<p>We must now take note of the astounding amount of work that goes into each video in his main series. Etho attends to everything. Watch an episode of his longest-running project, \u201cEtho Plays Minecraft,\u201d and you\u2019ll see that even the transitions are made deliberately. Off-camera, Ethos does a ridiculous amount of simply unnecessary work because he refuses to utilize \u201ccreative mode,\u201d in which the player becomes a sort of Minecraft god\u2014having the ability to break any block, create an infinite amount of any material, and even fly. There is no rationale for not using creative at times. In one project, to create a massive storage apparatus called the \u201cNexus,\u201d Etho needed hundreds of thousands of Redstone and iron materials, which would take hundreds of hours to procure through simply playing the game. Instead of getting them through \u201ccreative mode,\u201d he spent months getting the materials off-camera, making the viewers wait, and slowly making progress.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">An episode on the huge &#8220;Nexus&#8221; project<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Etho Plays Minecraft - Episode 369: Nexus Storage Setup\" width=\"604\" height=\"340\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/nh9SqPytVCs?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Etho doesn\u2019t create content <em>for <\/em>his viewers. He doesn\u2019t show his face (which people incessantly demand) or talk about his life, outside of trivialities, because the focus is clear: content. Take for example, an episode of one great <em>Ethoslab<\/em> series, \u201cFeed the Beast 2.\u201d Etho has a choice: create a railway to transport materials, or use a virtual teleporter. The former being difficult and time-consuming and the latter being effortless and efficient, Etho decides to make the train track. Note that Minecrafters like to have the greatest efficiency when building anything, so Etho\u2019s decision made me,\u00a0as a viewer, uncomfortable and slightly annoyed. If entertainment or utility were either of the benchmarks for video quality, this decision would hinder both. Yet, in hindsight, I consider the decision to be a beautiful one, in its humanity, which highlights Etho\u2019s <em>purposiveness with no purpose.<\/em> Though, perhaps that example could be construed as trivial or random.<\/p>\n<p>To give a better sense of what Etho does so brilliantly, I\u2019d like to bring up the \u201cDance of the Rolls\u201d from the 1925 Charlie Chaplin movie,<em> The Gold Rush<\/em>. During one of the gags, as Chaplin sits down to eat (and charm a pretty woman), he picks up two bread rolls, puts a fork in both, and makes them look like a ballerina\u2019s feet. It\u2019s a surprising moment, when the viewer can simply appreciate the art of film, human and complete in itself, and Etho manages to create such moments with surprising regularity. Causing heated arguments in the comments, my favorite example of this becomes a staple of <em>Ethoslab<\/em>: Etho makes a point of destroying what he calls \u201cblue, shiny rocks\u201d\u2014diamonds, the most valuable resource in the game\u2014in favor of Redstone and iron, which have practical functions<strong>. <\/strong>In fact, he places diamond ore around his main base, making sure to let the viewer see, but never actually explaining the presence. In doing so, he creates a mystical allure that completely surprises the viewer, causing an appreciation for something done deliberately with no purpose.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">Clip of the &#8220;Dance of the Rolls&#8221; from\u00a0<em>The Gold Rush<\/em><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Charlie Chaplin - The Gold Rush - Roll Dance\" width=\"604\" height=\"453\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4DLdMa98JdM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">A compilation of Etho&#8217;s treatment of diamonds<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Etho and the Diamonds: A Compilation\" width=\"604\" height=\"453\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2O6QLhOueAA?start=24&#038;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><em>Ethoslab<\/em> is universally loved by its entire fan base, and in fact, I believe that the channel has the most appreciative viewers of any channel on YouTube. Seriously, go to any of Etho\u2019s videos and look at the adoring praise heaped upon him. To quote viewer <em>Seth Lol<\/em> in response to Etho, \u201cThank you for giving me hope in humanity\u201d (Seth Lol, 2015). Still, Etho\u2019s channel (which has 1.9 million subscribers) has been stagnating of late. The infrequent uploads have decreased the number of committed viewers, pointing to a flaw in the mass production of YouTube videos: the necessity to produce <em>all the time<\/em>, which hampers the ability of individuals to create beautiful, purposeless art. Yet, <em>Ethoslab<\/em> resists and persists. Art survives.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">Works Cited<\/p>\n<p>Adorno, Theodor, and Max Horkheimer. \u201cThe Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception.\u201d Dialectic of Enlightenment, Stanford University Press, 2007, pp. 94\u2013136.<\/p>\n<p>Seth Lol. \u201cRe: Etho Plays Minecraft &#8211; Episode 403: Castle Gate.\u201d 16 Apr. 2015. Comment on video.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref1\" name=\"_ftn1\">[1]<\/a> This concept seems to be rooted in Kant, but that is outside the scope of this paper.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ethoslab\u2014a YouTube channel based upon the motto \u201cMinecraft done technical\u201d\u2014demonstrates that we might not be doomed to eternal consumption of worthless drivel. Etho, as he goes, a mysterious, deep-voiced Canadian, takes viewers through a deliberate, yet purposeless investigation of the possibilities of the blocky world of Minecraft. One of his defining characteristics comes from a &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/f18-engl117-01\/uncategorized\/guy-talks-minecraft-on-youtube-art\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Guy Talks Minecraft on YouTube: Art?<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1683,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/f18-engl117-01\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/f18-engl117-01\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/f18-engl117-01\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/f18-engl117-01\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1683"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/f18-engl117-01\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/f18-engl117-01\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":115,"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/f18-engl117-01\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59\/revisions\/115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/f18-engl117-01\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/f18-engl117-01\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/f18-engl117-01\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}