Contemporary art is a break from traditional art forms just as the radio (and later the Internet) was a break from traditional print media. It represents change, freedom, more choices. Art actually is media so the two processes are actually part of one big continuum. Old forms die and new forms take their place. Artists (or radio listeners) long for more: more sights, more sounds, more experiences, more diversity of choices. I think Americans associated the radio with increased freedom. They now had more choices and could experience things (ideas, events) that were not previously accessible to them. Americans see the mass media as part of the ideology of freedom: more choices, more information, more music, more news, more money – these are all associated with more freedom. I remember my father telling me that when he was young, they used to drive around in their cars with the radio blasting The Beatles or The Doors or The Who or Neil Young. They associated the radio with freedom. They felt that there was a kind of rebelliousness to it, and that they were young, rebellious and free. The radio and their music belonged to them, not to their parent’s generation. It was the way young people accessed their music, just as the Internet is today. They could throw their head back and jam to the music and feel free, just as people my age do now. Through modern mass media like the radio, television and the Internet, you can access all kinds of content. Contemporary art is also characterized by a diversity of content where form isn’t as rigid or as important as it was in classic painting or sculpture. Leaving old forms behind is an expression of freedom. The freedom to listen to or access whatever content you want is similar to the freedom to experience or create whatever art you want. The radio and later television and the Internet brought more content (news, entertainment, sports, etc.) to more people and contemporary art has brought artistic expression to more and more people. The radio seems to be viewed as just a tangible object/device that projects sound for entertainment, however, after researching I have concluded that the radio is much more than that. The radio brings back memories and reminds us of how much technology has changed. The radio is very much like contemporary art. It is always changing, in terms of news a music. My goal was to research different forms of art that are associated with the radio. I found that the radio represents good times and just being free. Some of the sources I found expressed the radio as a positive means in terms of self expression and being able to throw your head back and jam to the music on the radio. I found that having a device that was able to provide music or entertainment helped people to find something they liked to listen to and not have to worry about who else was listening to it. Technology plays a big part with the radio. Talking to my father made me realize how much things have changed over the last 40 or so years. Technology has gotten to a point where its revolutionary and plays a huge impact on everyones lives. The radio used to be a simple and house warming device that was just nice and comforting. Now, with the help of technology, it has become something more. There are so many stations now that are focused on different genres of music and it’s easy for individuals to just go to a specific station and listen to music they love. I hope to teach my classmates that the radio, even though its a single device that only does ‘one’ thing, that it also holds many memories about the past. The radio, to every individual means something different, much like a work of art. Each person can associate the radio with being a device to listen to music, but they all perceive it in a new and different way. The memories that