3- Antonio L. : Handwritten Cards

 A Pen & Its Ink 

When it comes to discussing handwritten cards and its value on the internet, we have to find something from the internet to compare it to. I'll be using digitally made business cards as one example. The two are very similar, however, one is made from a machine, easily modifiable, made with little to no errors, and can be easily replicated. This is a description of the digitally made card as people sacrifice doing the work themselves for having more options being displayed for them, and making big changes with the click of a mouse. 

    The handwritten card is nothing or sometimes similar to the digitally made card (depending on the skill of the person making them). It takes thought, error, and no initial ideas coming from a computer or device giving options to use. All of it's less than better upon description, but it has one very important feature, uniqueness. No one can replicate one another as everyone has their own ways and styles. 

    Another way to look at this is with art. Digital art takes the same amount of dedication to make as does standard art. The problem is the mindset of people on the internet, and wanting to take credit for things they want to have the ability to do. For example, one person can post a really good digital drawing on the internet, but someone who likes it may copy that exact drawing and take credit for it, without actually doing any of the work the original artist did, and sometimes they remove proof showing the original creator. And instead of apologizing for taking credit, the thief will begin shaming them for "copying" them. This builds a problem with credibility. 

    This problem isn't present in handwritten art, one example of this is the Mona Lisa. People can replicate it and say that "they own it", but Da Vinci's style was unique, and it's hard to copy others. Plus not many people can actually replicate the Mona Lisa, and when people use a picture of the Mona Lisa, they don't say that they made it, because that would be forgery.

    Laws make sure people don't get away with copying historical art and documents, but for all art, signatures are used to credit the original user, as signatures themselves are also very unique for every person. 

    In short, handwritten cards represent a refusal to our ongoing change in the modern day of digital work. This refusal to change allows these cards to possess more value than the copy-paste digital work seen on the internet (I'm looking at you NFTs). Handwritten means that it has to be made by YOUR hands, and even if it's very similar to another person's work, it's still unique exclusively to you. People can say they own digital artwork, but if you ask them to bring up a video or proof of them making the art, there'll be silence. If you show a handwritten card, it gains value as it's not something you can screenshot, nor claim as your own, but it's something made with your own pen and its ink.

 

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