Slideshow.com allows users to post their slide presentations on their platform, freeing them for all the world to see. The stand-out beneficial aspect of a site like this is that the goal of the democratization of knowledge and information is well served in the using of it.
Here is the stated raison d'etre of Slideshow.com:
"Slideshow.com is a safe secure online platform where Members can share and publish PowerPoint Presentations and Photo Galleries. Members can create a community where they can invite friends, family and colleagues to view and comment on their Presentations and Galleries. It's a perfect way to learn from others or just share your ideas."
The site is quite easy to use, no technical wizards needs (we still love you guys, though!).
I love the idea that an artist could potentially have a global gallery show via Slideshow.com. Artist, musician, front man for art-rock group, The Talking Heads, David Byrne, is famously producing PowerPoint art. He spoke of his process in a piece in Wired Magazine back in '03:
"Having never used the program before, I found it limiting, inflexible, and biased, like most software. On top of that, PowerPoint makes hilariously bad-looking visuals. But that's a small price to pay for ease and utility. We live in a world where convenience beats quality every time. It was, for my purposes, perfect.
"I began to see PowerPoint as a metaprogram, one that organizes and presents stuff created in other applications. Initially, I made presentations about presentations; they were almost completely without content. The content, I learned, was in the medium itself. I discovered that I could attach my photographs, short videos, scanned images, and music. What's more, the application can be made to run by itself -no one even needs to be at the podium. How fantastic!
"Although I began by making fun of the medium, I soon realized I could actually create things that were beautiful. I could bend the program to my own whim and use it as an artistic agent. The pieces became like short films: Some were sweet, some were scary, and some were mysterioso. I discovered that even without text, I could make works that were "about" something, something beyond themselves, and that they could even have emotional resonance. What had I stumbled upon? Surely some techie or computer artist was already using this dumb program as an artistic medium. I couldn't really have this territory all to myself -or could I?"
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