1936 – Walter Benjamin publishes the widely discussed essay, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.”
1940-45 - Vannevar Bush – Primary organizer of the Manhattan Project. Created groundbreaking analog computing projects at MIT. 1940 got grand by Franklin Roosevelt for funding and research between military, industry and academic “iron triangle” which led to new media. 1945 wrote As We May Think. Doug Engelbart – Inspired by Bush’s “As We May Think”, he invented the mouse, word pressor, and the hyperlink.
1950 – Alan Turing worked to decrypt encoded language. He wrote an essay, Computing Machinery and Intelligence, which discusses the many aspects of artificial intelligence.
1952 – “Grace Murray Hopper programmed the first compiler, computer languages began to take shape.”
1954 – Norbert Wiener began working toward cybernetics, which is “the science of communications and automatic control systems in both machines and living things.” (Apple Dictionary). Wrote the essay Men, Machines, and the World About.
1957 – Allan Kaprow established a new trend in performing arts where the audience became more and more involved with the performance, these were called “happenings”.
1959 – Brion Gysin was an artist who made popular the “cut-up” technique, where he would cut newspapers into sections and rearrange the text.
1960 – J.C.R. Licklider was an American computer scientist famous for his publication of “Man-Computer Symbiosis”. This article describes the need for the symbiosis of computers and man-power.
1962 – Doug Engelbart invented the computer mouse.
1963 – Ivan E. Sutherland – Sketchpad was created, which is a three dimensional communication program.
1966 – E.A.T. (Experiments in Art and Technology) was founded by Billy Kluver, Robert Rauschenberg, Robert Whitman, and Fred Waldhauer.. Which led to the development of the relationship between artist and engineer.
1967 – Negroponte founded the Architecture Machine Group at MIT.
1968 – “The mother of all demos” Douglas Engelbart and others demonstrated the research behind ARC (Augmentation Research Center) about interactive computing. This led to an explosion of interest in the field.
1974 – Augusto Boal writes “Theater of the Oppressed”, which brought about ideas of interactive theater, further blurring the line between audience and actors.
1975 – Nicholas Negroponte publishes “Soft Architecture Machines”; an article that depicts the importance of humans being empowered by computers, allowing for creative experimentation.
1976 – Joseph Weizenbaum writes “Computer Power and Human Reason”; which brings up concerns about the effects human relations have with the advance of computer interaction.
1977 - Burroughs and Gysin publish “The Third Mind,” a collection of cut-up writings and essays.
1977 – Myron Kreuger publishes “Responsive Environments”. He is the godfather of virtual reality, and interactive computer spaces.
1977 – Alan Kay and Adele Goldberg publish “Personal Dynamic Media”. They developed the ideas that led to the development of the laptop and desktop computer.
1978 – Joseph Weizenbaum publishes “Computer Power and Human Reason”. He wrote one of the most famous chatterbox in the history of computing, and then perceived the dangers of some of the uses that can come from it. He then demanded that scientists and technologists take responsibility for what they develop.
1979 – The first interactive video art installation, “Lorna”, is created by Lynn Hershman.
1980 – “A Thousand Plateaus” is written by Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari.
1982 – “Literary Machines: proposal for a Universal Electronic Publishing System and Archive” is published. Written by Ted H. Nelson, it explains Xanadu.
1983 – “Direct Manipulation: A Step Beyond Programming Languages” is written by Ben Shneiderman. He tries to bring about the idea of communicating based on a visual language, rather than a literary language.
1984 – Sherry Turkle publishes “Video Games and Computer Holding Power”. This article explores the psychology behind video games.
1985 – The definition of a cyborg is explored in Donna Haraway’s article, “A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century”
1985 – Open source software, the idea that the programming is open to the public, is discussed in “The GNU Manifesto”, written by Richard Stallman. He coins the term “copyleft”.
1986 – “Mythinformation” by Langdon Winner articulates how computers can be used for positive social change.
1987 – Lucy A. Suchman criticizes AI research in “Plans and Situated Actions”. She presents two unsolved problems: the self-explanatory tool, and giving the computer a purpose.
1988 – Bill Nichols publishes “The Work of Culture in the Age of Cybernetic Systems”. This essay updates Benjamin’s essay on mechanical reproduction, and addresses contemporary forms of reproduction.
1988 – Ivan Sutherland won the Turing Award for his invention of the Sketchpad
1990 to 1992 – the “golden age” of hypertext fiction.
1991 - Pelle Ehn and Morten Kyng published “Cardboard Computers: Mocking-it-up or Hands-on the Future” on the human use of comuters. Their focus is on human-relations, and has had a strong effect on the “usability” of computers.
1991 - Chip Morningstar and F. Randall Farmer created one of the first interactive virtual environment called “Habitat”.
1991 - Bolter points out the importance of understanding typography and how computers relate to the movement of writing in his essay “Seeing and Writing”.
1991 – “You Say You Want a Revolution? Hypertext and the Laws of Media” by Stuart Moulthrop is a very in depth discussion on the hypertext, and brings up many interesting observations on the internet
1992 – Robert Coover tries to create a new form of fiction. His essay “The End of Books” describes hypertext fiction, and declares that it will end books as we know them.
1993 – Scott McCloud writes the comic book version of Aristotle’s Poetics. He describes the laws and dynamics of how comics work.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Museum of Moving Images
I really enjoyed the Museum of Moving Images. I loved seeing all the old cameras, and it makes me realize how grateful I am for the new technology. Those people who made films on those machines must have been truly dedicated. I also really liked how interactive the museum is. I could have spent a long time there. It was fun seeing the old video games, like the original Pong, as well as the new Dance Dance Revolution (which I learned I am not very good at). I think it was a great museum for the end of the year, it was a lot of fun, and a nice little bit of relaxation during the finals time.
New Media Reader 649 - 735
Cardboard Computers: Mocking-It-Up or Hands-On the Future
Pelle Ehn and Morten Kyng published this essay on the human use of comuters. They noticed that the programming language has become more complicated, so the ideal that Alan Kay and Adele Goldeberg stated has not been achieved. Ehn and Kyng have noticed a trend that is heading in the opposite direction; one where programming is more company driven, than for individual users. They created “Utopia”; a project that takes the approach of working with users to design new media tools. This seems like an obvious step, but their focus is on human-relations, and has had a strong effect on the “usability” of computers.
The Lessons of Lucasfilm’s Habitat
Chip Morningstar and F. Randall Farmer created one of the first interactive virtual environment called “Habitat”. This program first showed us the experience of the simulated world, and taught us many lessons in online interaction. This essay hits on two important approaches to new media, and that is the computer-mediated communications, and virtual environments. These guys helped create the online gaming world, which is something I grew up a part of. I still love getting into the cyber world and shooting at each other. This essay shows us the origin of all that.
Seeing and Writing
Bolter points out the importance of understanding typography and how computers relate to the movement of writing. He explores the concept of how new media influences our concepts of reading and writing. He observes that while electronic spreadsheets are native to the computer, the program itself relates to structures that are evident in paper accounting practices. This is very true. I am using this program in a view that allows me to see the edges of the paper, so I know where I’m writing on the page. Bolter states that it is important to study the history of typography, and to adjoining better-understood territory and new media.
You Say You Want a Revolution? Hypertext and the Laws of Media
Moulthrop uses McLuhan’s plan for a four-part media interrogation, he subjects the idea of a hypertext to scrutiny. He points out that the hypertext does not replace the book- it’s more like a replacement for TV, stating that middle-school and high-schoolers are spending the time on the computer rather than on the TV. The four questions from McLuhan that he poses in this essay are: What does hypertext enhance or intensify? What does hypertext displace or render obsolete? What does hypertext retrieve that was previously obsolete? And what does hypertext become when taken to its limit? This essay is a very in depth discussion on the hypertext, and brings up many interesting observations on the internet we have today.
The End of Books
Robert Coover explores the idea that the hypertext will destroy the book. He actually has taught classes in writing in the form of a hypertext. This is a very interesting idea, and I don’t think I’ve ever read, or would want to read, a story in this form. His classes only lasted for two years, from 1990 to 1992, and he declared that the “golden-age” of hypertext fiction is over, and perhaps there will be an enjoyable silver age. I think that new forms of literary media will appear, but I have yet to see anything that rivals the book publications. Maybe there just hasn’t been enough money put into pursuing new literary styles, but I hope it doesn’t end books altogether, I rather like the old fashioned hard-cover novel.
Time Frames
Scott McCloud has written the blueprint for all of comic writing, which is why he is proclaimed the “Aristotle” of comics. He describes the underlying structures and techniques that make comics work. His explanation is complete, and comprehensible. What I like best about this essay is that it is written in comic form. He not only describes how the different techniques work, but he shows directly in the essay how they work. This work shows that this form of media does indeed have conventional rules and methods. I really enjoyed reading this essay. It really taught me a lot about what I look at as I read a comic, and how time relates to comics.
Pelle Ehn and Morten Kyng published this essay on the human use of comuters. They noticed that the programming language has become more complicated, so the ideal that Alan Kay and Adele Goldeberg stated has not been achieved. Ehn and Kyng have noticed a trend that is heading in the opposite direction; one where programming is more company driven, than for individual users. They created “Utopia”; a project that takes the approach of working with users to design new media tools. This seems like an obvious step, but their focus is on human-relations, and has had a strong effect on the “usability” of computers.
The Lessons of Lucasfilm’s Habitat
Chip Morningstar and F. Randall Farmer created one of the first interactive virtual environment called “Habitat”. This program first showed us the experience of the simulated world, and taught us many lessons in online interaction. This essay hits on two important approaches to new media, and that is the computer-mediated communications, and virtual environments. These guys helped create the online gaming world, which is something I grew up a part of. I still love getting into the cyber world and shooting at each other. This essay shows us the origin of all that.
Seeing and Writing
Bolter points out the importance of understanding typography and how computers relate to the movement of writing. He explores the concept of how new media influences our concepts of reading and writing. He observes that while electronic spreadsheets are native to the computer, the program itself relates to structures that are evident in paper accounting practices. This is very true. I am using this program in a view that allows me to see the edges of the paper, so I know where I’m writing on the page. Bolter states that it is important to study the history of typography, and to adjoining better-understood territory and new media.
You Say You Want a Revolution? Hypertext and the Laws of Media
Moulthrop uses McLuhan’s plan for a four-part media interrogation, he subjects the idea of a hypertext to scrutiny. He points out that the hypertext does not replace the book- it’s more like a replacement for TV, stating that middle-school and high-schoolers are spending the time on the computer rather than on the TV. The four questions from McLuhan that he poses in this essay are: What does hypertext enhance or intensify? What does hypertext displace or render obsolete? What does hypertext retrieve that was previously obsolete? And what does hypertext become when taken to its limit? This essay is a very in depth discussion on the hypertext, and brings up many interesting observations on the internet we have today.
The End of Books
Robert Coover explores the idea that the hypertext will destroy the book. He actually has taught classes in writing in the form of a hypertext. This is a very interesting idea, and I don’t think I’ve ever read, or would want to read, a story in this form. His classes only lasted for two years, from 1990 to 1992, and he declared that the “golden-age” of hypertext fiction is over, and perhaps there will be an enjoyable silver age. I think that new forms of literary media will appear, but I have yet to see anything that rivals the book publications. Maybe there just hasn’t been enough money put into pursuing new literary styles, but I hope it doesn’t end books altogether, I rather like the old fashioned hard-cover novel.
Time Frames
Scott McCloud has written the blueprint for all of comic writing, which is why he is proclaimed the “Aristotle” of comics. He describes the underlying structures and techniques that make comics work. His explanation is complete, and comprehensible. What I like best about this essay is that it is written in comic form. He not only describes how the different techniques work, but he shows directly in the essay how they work. This work shows that this form of media does indeed have conventional rules and methods. I really enjoyed reading this essay. It really taught me a lot about what I look at as I read a comic, and how time relates to comics.
LibraryThing
LibraryThing is a great resource to be aware of. It’s always hard for me to find good books to read, and this is a great website that will refer you to books you might like based on your list. This is great because I basically only read books that have been recommended to me, and this will help me find new books to read. This will also be a good source for when I’m figuring out which books to use in my rationale.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
New Media Reader 585 - 647
Mythinformation
Winner’s essay, “Mythinformation”, seeks to articulate how computers can be used for positive social change. He takes the rhetoric of the computer language, and addresses what the social goals of the revolution will be. He addresses the idea that new technology and new ways of getting information does not necessarily create a more democratic society. It does have the potential to be democratic, but it must be worked towards, and does not come automatically.
From Plans and Situated Actions
Lucy Suchman wrote the essay in “Plans and Situated Actions” to make a critique on the practice within artificial intelligence. She presents a different concept on how people seek to accomplish goals. She points out that AI research is fundamentally misguided. She says that the basic principle that the research cannot be based on logical manipulations like the human brain would function, and that AI would never be able to address rapidly changing situations like on a battlefield. She presents two unsolved problems, which are the self-explanatory tool, and giving the computer a purpose.
Siren Shapes: Exploratory and Constructive Hypertexts
Michael Joyce makes a distinction between two types of hypertext environments; exploratory and constructive. Constructive hypertexts are flexible representation of thoughts, stories, arguments, and everything else for which we use media. Exploratory hypertexts are former constructive hypertexts that are not being used by original author of the work. With these two forms she argues that they hold promise for transforming education than simple electric reading with links. There have been a few programs on the Web that have used this type of hypertexts, but there are lots of legal issues that surround it. She says the web is barely-exploratory, and that it has a much bigger potential.
The Work of Culture in the Age of Cybernetic Systems
Bill Nichols writes an update to Walter Benjamin’s essay “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.” He discusses the shift from a fetishization of the object to the fetishization of the process of interaction, of simulation. He relates simulation to video games and genetic engineering. I think it’s important to write this update to Benjamin’s essay, there have been dramatic shifts in art and mechanical reproduction, and he definitely never addresses simulation in that essay.
The Fantasy Beyond Control
Lynn Hershman’s “Lorna” is considered to be the first interactive video art installation. It allowed the viewer to make selections of the space Lorna was in. She spurred many new forms of interactive video art, with Hershman and Griffith, and the recent work of Chris Hales.
Winner’s essay, “Mythinformation”, seeks to articulate how computers can be used for positive social change. He takes the rhetoric of the computer language, and addresses what the social goals of the revolution will be. He addresses the idea that new technology and new ways of getting information does not necessarily create a more democratic society. It does have the potential to be democratic, but it must be worked towards, and does not come automatically.
From Plans and Situated Actions
Lucy Suchman wrote the essay in “Plans and Situated Actions” to make a critique on the practice within artificial intelligence. She presents a different concept on how people seek to accomplish goals. She points out that AI research is fundamentally misguided. She says that the basic principle that the research cannot be based on logical manipulations like the human brain would function, and that AI would never be able to address rapidly changing situations like on a battlefield. She presents two unsolved problems, which are the self-explanatory tool, and giving the computer a purpose.
Siren Shapes: Exploratory and Constructive Hypertexts
Michael Joyce makes a distinction between two types of hypertext environments; exploratory and constructive. Constructive hypertexts are flexible representation of thoughts, stories, arguments, and everything else for which we use media. Exploratory hypertexts are former constructive hypertexts that are not being used by original author of the work. With these two forms she argues that they hold promise for transforming education than simple electric reading with links. There have been a few programs on the Web that have used this type of hypertexts, but there are lots of legal issues that surround it. She says the web is barely-exploratory, and that it has a much bigger potential.
The Work of Culture in the Age of Cybernetic Systems
Bill Nichols writes an update to Walter Benjamin’s essay “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.” He discusses the shift from a fetishization of the object to the fetishization of the process of interaction, of simulation. He relates simulation to video games and genetic engineering. I think it’s important to write this update to Benjamin’s essay, there have been dramatic shifts in art and mechanical reproduction, and he definitely never addresses simulation in that essay.
The Fantasy Beyond Control
Lynn Hershman’s “Lorna” is considered to be the first interactive video art installation. It allowed the viewer to make selections of the space Lorna was in. She spurred many new forms of interactive video art, with Hershman and Griffith, and the recent work of Chris Hales.
Comic Web Sites
This Modern World:
I really enjoyed the few cartoons I read. They are very insightful, they make great observations on the republican/ democratic controversies.
Leisure Town:
This one didn’t do much for me. I didn’t really understand it’s purpose, and though it’s different in style, the photo comics was a distraction and uninteresting for the most part.
Yimagination:
This site looks very interesting, I like how it is trying to incorporate the viewer into the creation of a story. The c-ware section can allow you to create your own comic strip. I think it’s something to keep an eye on to see if it’s successful or not.
The Comics Journal:
A great resource for comic artists, with interviews and a forum for new comics to be posted.
Modern Tales:
This is a great site that is well organized, and you have access to about a hundred different comic strips. I had no idea there were so many comic strips out there.
Penny Arcade:
This strip is pretty good. I read a couple and I like the references to Facebook.
The Web Comic List:
This site is really good for getting up to date comics, and keeping track of when a new comic is out.
Top Web Comics:
This is the best site I’ve seen so far for aquiring online web comics. They have categories to search by, and then they are ranked, so the bad ones are filtered out. I was surprised they did not have a category for political comics, maybe there aren’t that many out there?
I really enjoyed the few cartoons I read. They are very insightful, they make great observations on the republican/ democratic controversies.
Leisure Town:
This one didn’t do much for me. I didn’t really understand it’s purpose, and though it’s different in style, the photo comics was a distraction and uninteresting for the most part.
Yimagination:
This site looks very interesting, I like how it is trying to incorporate the viewer into the creation of a story. The c-ware section can allow you to create your own comic strip. I think it’s something to keep an eye on to see if it’s successful or not.
The Comics Journal:
A great resource for comic artists, with interviews and a forum for new comics to be posted.
Modern Tales:
This is a great site that is well organized, and you have access to about a hundred different comic strips. I had no idea there were so many comic strips out there.
Penny Arcade:
This strip is pretty good. I read a couple and I like the references to Facebook.
The Web Comic List:
This site is really good for getting up to date comics, and keeping track of when a new comic is out.
Top Web Comics:
This is the best site I’ve seen so far for aquiring online web comics. They have categories to search by, and then they are ranked, so the bad ones are filtered out. I was surprised they did not have a category for political comics, maybe there aren’t that many out there?
Comic Documentary
The documentary on comics was very interesting. I didn’t realize that world out there existed. I had no idea what kind of culture surrounded the comics, or how they developed. I thought the intro was great, with the animations that drew up the name each person in the documentary, followed with the very comical oil spill at the end. I thought the superhero war propaganda was very interesting. I also didn’t realize that comics went through so much censorship. It was great how Mad Magazine was able to circumvent those censorships. I like how Robert Crumb had absolutely no inhibition in proclaiming his addiction to LSD and how he relied on it for his inspiration with his cat series. This didn’t surprise me as much as another scene in the movie with the girls wearing practically nothing playing pool behind a comic artist being interviewed. This is a side of the comic world I did not expect. I didn’t realize how much of a ladies man you can become by drawing comics.
I liked how the film turned the interviews into their own comic strip, by freeze framing them and placing them side by side. I thought it was a good documentary about comics, but I really wanted to see Bill Watterson, he is one of the most successful comic artists, and I own all his Calvin and Hobbes books.
I liked how the film turned the interviews into their own comic strip, by freeze framing them and placing them side by side. I thought it was a good documentary about comics, but I really wanted to see Bill Watterson, he is one of the most successful comic artists, and I own all his Calvin and Hobbes books.
Friday, November 16, 2007
515-584
A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century
Donna Haraway’s essay discusses the relationship of cyborgs and feminism in relation to mythological goddesses. She sees the goddesses as an image founded by a matriarchal utopia, whereas the cyborg is relative only to the present. She analyses the history of the cyborg through many veins, including science fiction. Her essay has been very influential in relation to science and technology; it offers a model for cultural and political engagement.
The GNU Manifesto
Richard Stallman was unhappy with the shift from free software to closed programs. He was a member at MIT, and saw the shift from free software to proprietary software. He then decided to develop software that would be free to all users. He would make programs that allowed people to manipulate or alter the programs to their choosing. The main issue is the value of intellectual property. He comes up with the term “copyleft”, which means that a programmer would copyright a program, but then add distribution terms which allows everyone to modify it. I really like his idea, and I think his philosophy would really open up the computer world, allowing ideas to build on each other, and for people to augment ideas. I think the programs would be a lot more powerful, and a lot more customized to our individual purposes.
Using Computers: A Direction for Design
Winograd and Flores wrote this article in regards to artificial intelligence. They essentially tell us that computers will never be able to attain human-like intelligence. They say that the “essence of intelligence is to act appropriately when there is no simple pre-definition of the problem.” They think that the artificial research should not be abandoned, only that they should focus on designing tools. They are more focused on the ontological perspective of communication technology.
Two Selections by Brenda Laurel: The Six Elements and the Causal Relations Among Them, Star Raiders: Dramatic Interaction in a Small World.
Brenda Laurel writes a unique essay on how computer work in relation to Aristotle’s Poetics. She approaches computers from a humanistic perspective, using models that have been used on other forms of art. She says computer art can only happen if it is taken away from technologists, and put in the hands of humanists. She applies the elements of drama as explained by Aristotle to computers. I think this is a really interesting approach to computer art, and I like how she explains that in order for computer art, or drama to occur, it needs to be developed by people who understand human interactions, not scientists or programmers.
Towards a New Classification of Tele-Information Services
Bordewijk and Kaam consider the social role of various digital media, and not on a sensory level like McLuhan describes. He classifies the various applications on the internet as either being conversational or for consultation. I’m really unclear as to what he’s actually saying in this essay. The intro points out the social roles that technology creates, and he sees that eventually computer communication will integrate into almost every aspect of human interaction. He seems to just put out a way that describes how we communicate.
Donna Haraway’s essay discusses the relationship of cyborgs and feminism in relation to mythological goddesses. She sees the goddesses as an image founded by a matriarchal utopia, whereas the cyborg is relative only to the present. She analyses the history of the cyborg through many veins, including science fiction. Her essay has been very influential in relation to science and technology; it offers a model for cultural and political engagement.
The GNU Manifesto
Richard Stallman was unhappy with the shift from free software to closed programs. He was a member at MIT, and saw the shift from free software to proprietary software. He then decided to develop software that would be free to all users. He would make programs that allowed people to manipulate or alter the programs to their choosing. The main issue is the value of intellectual property. He comes up with the term “copyleft”, which means that a programmer would copyright a program, but then add distribution terms which allows everyone to modify it. I really like his idea, and I think his philosophy would really open up the computer world, allowing ideas to build on each other, and for people to augment ideas. I think the programs would be a lot more powerful, and a lot more customized to our individual purposes.
Using Computers: A Direction for Design
Winograd and Flores wrote this article in regards to artificial intelligence. They essentially tell us that computers will never be able to attain human-like intelligence. They say that the “essence of intelligence is to act appropriately when there is no simple pre-definition of the problem.” They think that the artificial research should not be abandoned, only that they should focus on designing tools. They are more focused on the ontological perspective of communication technology.
Two Selections by Brenda Laurel: The Six Elements and the Causal Relations Among Them, Star Raiders: Dramatic Interaction in a Small World.
Brenda Laurel writes a unique essay on how computer work in relation to Aristotle’s Poetics. She approaches computers from a humanistic perspective, using models that have been used on other forms of art. She says computer art can only happen if it is taken away from technologists, and put in the hands of humanists. She applies the elements of drama as explained by Aristotle to computers. I think this is a really interesting approach to computer art, and I like how she explains that in order for computer art, or drama to occur, it needs to be developed by people who understand human interactions, not scientists or programmers.
Towards a New Classification of Tele-Information Services
Bordewijk and Kaam consider the social role of various digital media, and not on a sensory level like McLuhan describes. He classifies the various applications on the internet as either being conversational or for consultation. I’m really unclear as to what he’s actually saying in this essay. The intro points out the social roles that technology creates, and he sees that eventually computer communication will integrate into almost every aspect of human interaction. He seems to just put out a way that describes how we communicate.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
New Media Reader 443 - 514
From Literary Machines: Proposal for a Universal Electronic Publishing System and Archive
Ted H. Nelson proposes an idea for a hypermedia network called Xanadu. It is a network where anyone can produce their own documents and connect them with other public documents. What it sounds like he’s proposing is exactly like Wikipedia; a place where versions of documents can be changed by anyone as long as it’s public. There will be a version tracker so anyone will be able to see what it was before it was changed. This design is intended to work with any imaginable form of media. I think Nelson was a great visionary in that he was able to foresee all these problems with fragmented information on the Internet and also a way to propose a solution.
Will There Be Condominiums in Data Space?
Bill Viola is the first video artist to create “70 millimeter” video art; which means he was able to transcend the cheap aspects of video production. In this essay he writes about the poetic nature of video art. It was much easier to understand this article after seeing the documentary on him. I really like his introduction paragraph about memory, and how it’s a filter. Then goes on to say, “Life without editing, it seems, is just not that interesting”. This is to say, that as we go through our continuous existence, our memory is constantly editing our perception, but if we were to simply video tape our existence it would be incredibly boring.
The Endless Chain
Ben Bagdikian’s “The Endless Chain”, articulates the relationship of the dominance of new media over old media; video games are now bigger than movies, the web is reducing the amount of books sold, etc. Bagdikian notices a relationship between old and new media, and through press accounts he sees that old and new media systems seem to be integrating into a single system. He says that new media is no longer a marginal phenomenon, but I think he’s just looking at the emergence of certain new media becoming mainstream. I think there will always be new media in the margin, and only a few will actually become mainstream. He also discusses the influence that major media broadcasters have, and how they dominate the media industries.
Direct Manipulation: A Step Beyond Programming Languages
Shneiderman proposes a new type of communication, one that is not based on words, but a visual language. His justification is that words are just representations of things, so why not be able to carry around a new way to visually represent ideas. He describes a direct manipulation system that doesn’t rely on a programming language, but relates the computer to an ordinary action. The benefits of this is with the interface design; Photoshop being a good example of direct manipulation. I’m not quite sure I understand the importance of this article. He seems to simply be making a statement about good user interfaces, as opposed to the ones that don’t work.
Video Games and Computer Holding Power
Turkle, in her article, approaches computing and video games from a psychoanalytical standpoint. She noticed the major force video games had on our culture, and analyzed how the computer enables us to enact personae that are different from non-computing situations. Instead of the common conception that video games are a bad influence, her research discovered that they allowed people to take on different roles that are important to them psychologically. Computers influence the way we interact with the world and ourselves. I really like reading about this analysis, it gives video games more justification, and gives good insight into the psychoanalysis of it.
Ted H. Nelson proposes an idea for a hypermedia network called Xanadu. It is a network where anyone can produce their own documents and connect them with other public documents. What it sounds like he’s proposing is exactly like Wikipedia; a place where versions of documents can be changed by anyone as long as it’s public. There will be a version tracker so anyone will be able to see what it was before it was changed. This design is intended to work with any imaginable form of media. I think Nelson was a great visionary in that he was able to foresee all these problems with fragmented information on the Internet and also a way to propose a solution.
Will There Be Condominiums in Data Space?
Bill Viola is the first video artist to create “70 millimeter” video art; which means he was able to transcend the cheap aspects of video production. In this essay he writes about the poetic nature of video art. It was much easier to understand this article after seeing the documentary on him. I really like his introduction paragraph about memory, and how it’s a filter. Then goes on to say, “Life without editing, it seems, is just not that interesting”. This is to say, that as we go through our continuous existence, our memory is constantly editing our perception, but if we were to simply video tape our existence it would be incredibly boring.
The Endless Chain
Ben Bagdikian’s “The Endless Chain”, articulates the relationship of the dominance of new media over old media; video games are now bigger than movies, the web is reducing the amount of books sold, etc. Bagdikian notices a relationship between old and new media, and through press accounts he sees that old and new media systems seem to be integrating into a single system. He says that new media is no longer a marginal phenomenon, but I think he’s just looking at the emergence of certain new media becoming mainstream. I think there will always be new media in the margin, and only a few will actually become mainstream. He also discusses the influence that major media broadcasters have, and how they dominate the media industries.
Direct Manipulation: A Step Beyond Programming Languages
Shneiderman proposes a new type of communication, one that is not based on words, but a visual language. His justification is that words are just representations of things, so why not be able to carry around a new way to visually represent ideas. He describes a direct manipulation system that doesn’t rely on a programming language, but relates the computer to an ordinary action. The benefits of this is with the interface design; Photoshop being a good example of direct manipulation. I’m not quite sure I understand the importance of this article. He seems to simply be making a statement about good user interfaces, as opposed to the ones that don’t work.
Video Games and Computer Holding Power
Turkle, in her article, approaches computing and video games from a psychoanalytical standpoint. She noticed the major force video games had on our culture, and analyzed how the computer enables us to enact personae that are different from non-computing situations. Instead of the common conception that video games are a bad influence, her research discovered that they allowed people to take on different roles that are important to them psychologically. Computers influence the way we interact with the world and ourselves. I really like reading about this analysis, it gives video games more justification, and gives good insight into the psychoanalysis of it.
Proposal for a Universal Electronic Publishing System and Archive
Ted H. Nelson proposes an idea for a hypermedia network called Xanadu. It is a network where anyone can produce their own documents and connect them with other public documents. What it sounds like he’s proposing is exactly like Wikipedia; a place where versions of documents can be changed by anyone as long as it’s public. There will be a version tracker so anyone will be able to see what it was before it was changed. This design is intended to work with any imaginable form of media. I think Nelson was a great visionary in that he was able to foresee all these problems with fragmented information on the Internet and also a way to propose a solution.
Moliere's Misanthrope
Recently I went to go see a play that heavily incorporated new media. It was a version of Moliere’s “Misanthrope” at the New York Theatre Workshop. The stage was very modern, only consisting of a low, wide grey table, and a low grey bench. The stage itself was gray, with black, one way windows surrounding the sides. On the back wall there were three flat screens positioned vertically next to each other. What was interesting about the play is that there was a live feed of the performance on these screens. It added a new dimension to their performance. And sometimes they would play video clips of the characters that were in contrast to the performance, and one time they showed a second-life character. There were times when the stage would be empty, and the actors would be acting backstage in the dressing room. The play then broke the wall of the cage surrounding them, and ventured into the audience, then even into the street where a cameraman followed them.
I thought it was really interesting how this play reinvented this classic script. The use of the cameras and flat screens did not feel forced. I think that Marshall McLuhan would have appreciated it because it involved so many different mediums, which to him would have given a strong message. I appreciated how it created new layers to a theater production. I will admit that I have not been to many successful theater shows recently, but this one helped me appreciate them again.
I thought it was really interesting how this play reinvented this classic script. The use of the cameras and flat screens did not feel forced. I think that Marshall McLuhan would have appreciated it because it involved so many different mediums, which to him would have given a strong message. I appreciated how it created new layers to a theater production. I will admit that I have not been to many successful theater shows recently, but this one helped me appreciate them again.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
TIMELINE
1940-45 - Vannevar Bush – Primary organizer of the Manhattan Project. Created groundbreaking analog computing projects at MIT. 1940 got grand by Franklin Roosevelt for funding and research between military, industry and academic “iron triangle” which led to new media. 1945 wrote As We May Think.
Doug Engelbart – Inspired by Bush’s “As We May Think”, he invented the mouse, word pressor, and the hyperlink.
1950 – Alan Turing worked to decrypt encoded language. He wrote an essay, Computing Machinery and Intelligence, which discusses the many aspects of artificial intelligence.
1952 – “Grace Murray Hopper programmed the first compiler, computer languages began to take shape.”
1954 – Norbert Wiener began working toward cybernetics, which is “the science of communications and automatic control systems in both machines and living things.” (Apple Dictionary). Wrote the essay Men, Machines, and the World About.
1957 – Allan Kaprow established a new trend in performing arts where the audience became more and more involved with the performance, these were called “happenings”.
1959 – Brion Gysin was an artist who made popular the “cut-up” technique, where he would cut newspapers into sections and rearrange the text.
1960 – J.C.R. Licklider was an American computer scientist famous for his publication of “Man-Computer Symbiosis”. This article describes the need for the symbiosis of computers and man-power.
1962 – Doug Engelbart invented the computer mouse.
1963 – Ivan E. Sutherland – Sketchpad was created, which is a three dimensional communication program.
1966 – E.A.T. (Experiments in Art and Technology) was founded. Which led to the development of the relationship between artist and engineer.
1967 – Negroponte founded the Architecture Machine Group at MIT.
1968 – “The mother of all demos” Douglas Engelbart and others demonstrated the research behind ARC (Augmentation Research Center) about interactive computing. This led to an explosion of interest in the field.
1974 – Augusto Boal writes “Theater of the Oppressed”, which brought about ideas of interactive theater, further blurring the line between audience and actors.
1975 – Nicholas Negroponte publishes “Soft Architecture Machines”; an article that depicts the importance of humans being empowered by computers, allowing for creative experimentation.
1976 – Joseph Weizenbaum writes “Computer Power and Human Reason”; which brings up concerns about the effects human relations have with the advance of computer interaction.
1977 - Burroughs and Gysin publish “The Third Mind,” a collection of cut-up writings and essays.
1977 – Myron Kreuger publishes “Responsive Environments”. He is the godfather of virtual reality, and interactive computer spaces.
1977 – Alan Kay and Adele Goldberg publish “Personal Dynamic Media”. They developed the ideas that led to the development of the laptop and desktop computer.
1988 – Ivan Sutherland won the Turing Award for his invention of the Sketchpad”
Doug Engelbart – Inspired by Bush’s “As We May Think”, he invented the mouse, word pressor, and the hyperlink.
1950 – Alan Turing worked to decrypt encoded language. He wrote an essay, Computing Machinery and Intelligence, which discusses the many aspects of artificial intelligence.
1952 – “Grace Murray Hopper programmed the first compiler, computer languages began to take shape.”
1954 – Norbert Wiener began working toward cybernetics, which is “the science of communications and automatic control systems in both machines and living things.” (Apple Dictionary). Wrote the essay Men, Machines, and the World About.
1957 – Allan Kaprow established a new trend in performing arts where the audience became more and more involved with the performance, these were called “happenings”.
1959 – Brion Gysin was an artist who made popular the “cut-up” technique, where he would cut newspapers into sections and rearrange the text.
1960 – J.C.R. Licklider was an American computer scientist famous for his publication of “Man-Computer Symbiosis”. This article describes the need for the symbiosis of computers and man-power.
1962 – Doug Engelbart invented the computer mouse.
1963 – Ivan E. Sutherland – Sketchpad was created, which is a three dimensional communication program.
1966 – E.A.T. (Experiments in Art and Technology) was founded. Which led to the development of the relationship between artist and engineer.
1967 – Negroponte founded the Architecture Machine Group at MIT.
1968 – “The mother of all demos” Douglas Engelbart and others demonstrated the research behind ARC (Augmentation Research Center) about interactive computing. This led to an explosion of interest in the field.
1974 – Augusto Boal writes “Theater of the Oppressed”, which brought about ideas of interactive theater, further blurring the line between audience and actors.
1975 – Nicholas Negroponte publishes “Soft Architecture Machines”; an article that depicts the importance of humans being empowered by computers, allowing for creative experimentation.
1976 – Joseph Weizenbaum writes “Computer Power and Human Reason”; which brings up concerns about the effects human relations have with the advance of computer interaction.
1977 - Burroughs and Gysin publish “The Third Mind,” a collection of cut-up writings and essays.
1977 – Myron Kreuger publishes “Responsive Environments”. He is the godfather of virtual reality, and interactive computer spaces.
1977 – Alan Kay and Adele Goldberg publish “Personal Dynamic Media”. They developed the ideas that led to the development of the laptop and desktop computer.
1988 – Ivan Sutherland won the Turing Award for his invention of the Sketchpad”
New Media Reader 339-439
Theatre of the Oppressed
Augusto Boal created interactive performances that confront problems of the ordinary people. These performances led to the Brazilian government killed his colleagues, tortured him and told him to get out of the country. His work involves techniques for therapeutic purposes. He later returned to Brazil after it was safe for him, and became a politician. His methods of interactive theater are still used around the world, blurring the line of actor/audience.
Soft Architecture Machines
Negroponte brought about the idea that the user be empowered by computers, rather than complying with machine experts. The ‘soft architecture’ he talks about is the concept of network or software systems as spatial. He founded the Architecture Machine Group at MIT in 1967. He began to manage data spatially, rather than in the form of numeric or textual lists. He argues that the computer should not be used only as an expert with special knowledge, but as a tool for individual experimentation that would lead to new ideas.
Computer Power and Human Reason: From Judgment to Calculation
Joseph Weizenbaum wrote one of the most famous chatterbox in the history of computing, and then perceived the dangers of some of the uses that can come from it. He then demanded that scientists and technologists take responsibility for what they develop. One of the concerns was that machines would take over jobs as well as emotional functions. He is worried that people will not be able to differentiate the difference between a computer program and real human interactions. He brings up good ideas, but they are fairly outdated by now. I think that we have been able to distinguish that computer therapeutic programs are not a substitute for the real, human therapy.
Responsive Environments
Myron W. Krueger is often referred to as the father of virtual reality. His essay begins with observing that man-machine interaction is limited to poking at a machine with his fingers”. His essay goes from this initial observation to his development of VIDEOPLACE. This program provides a tool for devising interactions. I wonder what he thinks about the development of Secondlife, where the interactions and environment have been developed to such a degree that there is an entire world that people can live in.
Personal Dynamic Media
Alan Kay and Adele Goldberg published this article in 1977, which introduced the idea of a notebook computer. They developed the idea while working at Xerox PARC. They worked to develop the “Dynabook”. They believed that people other than businessmen should use the computer, and that it could be used creatively. With their vision, Xerox PARC developed the notebook as well as the personal desktop computer. Along with the vision of being able to carry a computer with them, they stated the importance of wireless communication, which didn’t come about until a few decades later. They led the way to the development of the computer I enjoy every day that I am able to take with me and use for many purposes.
A Thousand Plateaus
Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari used creative writing styles to illustrate ideas. For example they used “rhizomatic” writing to describe hypertext. They introduce a new way of thinking about writing, and this form of rhizomatic writing changes our perception and challenges our Western thought.
Mindstorms: Children, Computers, and Powerful Ideas
The 1980s brought about the home computer era, with it the idea of using computers as a learning device for children to use. Computers were not wide spread at the time the essay was written. Seymour Papert develops an idea of “constructionist education” which is an education system designed to look closely at the idea of mental construction. He designed a program, LOGO, which allows children to take control of the computer and learn mathematics.
“Put-That-There”: Voice and Gesture at the Graphics Interface
Richard A. Bolt’s essay brought about multimodal interfaces, which is a combination of speech and gesture input. They allow a person to communicate with a computer using speech and gestures. This can be arranged by setting up a three-dimensional space with screens and speakers. He created the program Put-That-There that includes this type of multimodal communication. This is in contrast to the notion at the time that the computer revolutionized textual purposes.
Augusto Boal created interactive performances that confront problems of the ordinary people. These performances led to the Brazilian government killed his colleagues, tortured him and told him to get out of the country. His work involves techniques for therapeutic purposes. He later returned to Brazil after it was safe for him, and became a politician. His methods of interactive theater are still used around the world, blurring the line of actor/audience.
Soft Architecture Machines
Negroponte brought about the idea that the user be empowered by computers, rather than complying with machine experts. The ‘soft architecture’ he talks about is the concept of network or software systems as spatial. He founded the Architecture Machine Group at MIT in 1967. He began to manage data spatially, rather than in the form of numeric or textual lists. He argues that the computer should not be used only as an expert with special knowledge, but as a tool for individual experimentation that would lead to new ideas.
Computer Power and Human Reason: From Judgment to Calculation
Joseph Weizenbaum wrote one of the most famous chatterbox in the history of computing, and then perceived the dangers of some of the uses that can come from it. He then demanded that scientists and technologists take responsibility for what they develop. One of the concerns was that machines would take over jobs as well as emotional functions. He is worried that people will not be able to differentiate the difference between a computer program and real human interactions. He brings up good ideas, but they are fairly outdated by now. I think that we have been able to distinguish that computer therapeutic programs are not a substitute for the real, human therapy.
Responsive Environments
Myron W. Krueger is often referred to as the father of virtual reality. His essay begins with observing that man-machine interaction is limited to poking at a machine with his fingers”. His essay goes from this initial observation to his development of VIDEOPLACE. This program provides a tool for devising interactions. I wonder what he thinks about the development of Secondlife, where the interactions and environment have been developed to such a degree that there is an entire world that people can live in.
Personal Dynamic Media
Alan Kay and Adele Goldberg published this article in 1977, which introduced the idea of a notebook computer. They developed the idea while working at Xerox PARC. They worked to develop the “Dynabook”. They believed that people other than businessmen should use the computer, and that it could be used creatively. With their vision, Xerox PARC developed the notebook as well as the personal desktop computer. Along with the vision of being able to carry a computer with them, they stated the importance of wireless communication, which didn’t come about until a few decades later. They led the way to the development of the computer I enjoy every day that I am able to take with me and use for many purposes.
A Thousand Plateaus
Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari used creative writing styles to illustrate ideas. For example they used “rhizomatic” writing to describe hypertext. They introduce a new way of thinking about writing, and this form of rhizomatic writing changes our perception and challenges our Western thought.
Mindstorms: Children, Computers, and Powerful Ideas
The 1980s brought about the home computer era, with it the idea of using computers as a learning device for children to use. Computers were not wide spread at the time the essay was written. Seymour Papert develops an idea of “constructionist education” which is an education system designed to look closely at the idea of mental construction. He designed a program, LOGO, which allows children to take control of the computer and learn mathematics.
“Put-That-There”: Voice and Gesture at the Graphics Interface
Richard A. Bolt’s essay brought about multimodal interfaces, which is a combination of speech and gesture input. They allow a person to communicate with a computer using speech and gestures. This can be arranged by setting up a three-dimensional space with screens and speakers. He created the program Put-That-There that includes this type of multimodal communication. This is in contrast to the notion at the time that the computer revolutionized textual purposes.
Eric Rosenthal's Lecture
I really enjoyed Eric Rosenthal’s lecture. He seems like he’s going to be one of those people we have been reading about in the New Media Reader, and one day there will be a Wikipedia site for him and his accomplishments. He’s one of those professors that blow you away with their intellect and research. I really admire how he’s pursuing his research and making actual innovations in the digital world.
He was a very good speaker, and even though he was very smart, he knew how to convey his information in a rational way that we could understand. I always heard that the camera sees differently than us, and we have to take that into consideration when taking photos, but I never knew why that happened. I didn’t realize that our eyes had a 1:1,000,000 contrast ratio, and cameras only have a 1:1,000.
The main problem with contemporary digital photography is that it is based on a very outdated theory that we see with red green and blue rods and cones. His research indicates that that is not true, and his new cameras are being produced that are based on an entirely different theory, one that is a more accurate representation of how we see things.
Another problem is that JPEG and MPEG files are based on a compression algorithm based on mathematics, which takes out lots of information and creates artifacts into the image. I’m very intrigued about the layered compression he was talking about. I wonder where it is in its stage, and if it will ever go commercial. One of the main problems is the amount of space large photos take up, the new compression formula would negate that problem.
I am very interested to see where his research goes, and if it will ever become commercial (I’d want to pick up some of that stock as soon as I can). It sounds like it would completely revolutionize the photographic community; in research, fashion, and overall documentation.
He was a very good speaker, and even though he was very smart, he knew how to convey his information in a rational way that we could understand. I always heard that the camera sees differently than us, and we have to take that into consideration when taking photos, but I never knew why that happened. I didn’t realize that our eyes had a 1:1,000,000 contrast ratio, and cameras only have a 1:1,000.
The main problem with contemporary digital photography is that it is based on a very outdated theory that we see with red green and blue rods and cones. His research indicates that that is not true, and his new cameras are being produced that are based on an entirely different theory, one that is a more accurate representation of how we see things.
Another problem is that JPEG and MPEG files are based on a compression algorithm based on mathematics, which takes out lots of information and creates artifacts into the image. I’m very intrigued about the layered compression he was talking about. I wonder where it is in its stage, and if it will ever go commercial. One of the main problems is the amount of space large photos take up, the new compression formula would negate that problem.
I am very interested to see where his research goes, and if it will ever become commercial (I’d want to pick up some of that stock as soon as I can). It sounds like it would completely revolutionize the photographic community; in research, fashion, and overall documentation.
Scratch
The documentary, Scratch, was very entertaining, with lots of quick cuts and editing techniques. These effects served to reflect the nature of the music it was telling about, often quickly cutting back a few frames and replaying them over again like a DJ would do with a record. What I think is interesting is how it is a precursor to the new DJ technology with DJs scratching live music videos.
I really enjoyed watching this documentary because it helped me understand the world of hip-hop a little better, like the one guy distinguishing the difference between hip-hop and rap. I didn’t understand how all the sub-cultures worked with each other, like the relationships between the DJ and the MC, and break-dancing. I liked seeing how some of the DJs emerged, playing in their garages and kitchens at first. I’m not sure who the guy was, but there was some studio recording guy who was talking about outer space and alien music, it was all a bit of a stretch I think, but entertaining nonetheless.
I really enjoyed watching this documentary because it helped me understand the world of hip-hop a little better, like the one guy distinguishing the difference between hip-hop and rap. I didn’t understand how all the sub-cultures worked with each other, like the relationships between the DJ and the MC, and break-dancing. I liked seeing how some of the DJs emerged, playing in their garages and kitchens at first. I’m not sure who the guy was, but there was some studio recording guy who was talking about outer space and alien music, it was all a bit of a stretch I think, but entertaining nonetheless.
Bill Viola
I really enjoyed the work of Bill Viola. I liked how he used a variety of equipment to suit the specific needs for a project. The piece that involved jump cuts in a desert and then someone walks and throws a puddle into a pond was really interesting. I like how it played with ideas of time, space, and movement.
I thought his slow motion greeting was great. I like how he got the inspiration from a painting and turned it into a video installation. Before I stated that I was not a fan of video art, but this piece really intrigued me. This is completely opposite from Nam Jun Paik. The fluid, 100 frames per second, captured every moment, and made you contemplate each movement and touch. I actually thought that the piece may have been stronger without the sound, or at least it was completely different. The first time I saw it without the sound I felt something completely different than when he put the creepy noises and slow talking in.
I thought his slow motion greeting was great. I like how he got the inspiration from a painting and turned it into a video installation. Before I stated that I was not a fan of video art, but this piece really intrigued me. This is completely opposite from Nam Jun Paik. The fluid, 100 frames per second, captured every moment, and made you contemplate each movement and touch. I actually thought that the piece may have been stronger without the sound, or at least it was completely different. The first time I saw it without the sound I felt something completely different than when he put the creepy noises and slow talking in.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
New Media Reader 247-338
The 1970 Software exhibition was on the whole, a big failure, but it did have an influence on artists, technologists, theorists, and the public. They tried to have an exhibit where people used the computers, but they crashed, and gerbils attacked each other. Ted Nelson created a new media installation that created ‘gerbil art’ where they would push blocks around, then a machine would arrange them into a grid-like pattern. Another instillation new media art was turning a glass window into a speaker playing poetry.
Burnham stated that, “the goal of Software is to focus our sensibilities on the fastest growing area in this culture: information processing systems and their devices.”
Constituents of a Theory of the Media
Media is a big business, and it hopes to make lots of money. Enzensberger states that in order to effect change, we must not turn away from media, but instead work at the media to where unjust culture is vulnerable. He proposes a new organization of media should take place, where tools of media are not only open to those who can afford it, but to everyone, so that they may be wherever there is social conflict. He wants a ‘mass newspaper’ where it is written and distributed by its readers (Wikipedia, Blogs). Although he doesn’t just want open forums for media distribution, he would rather instead of Rodney King being discussed on the web, that there was a massive rally of video tapes and a built network for a social movement opposed to police violence.
Enzensberger relates Benjamin to his necessity for a structure of society that is free from “the forces which destroy culture”, which is made closer by the mechanical reproduction of art, where there is no historical labor or shroud of aura surrounding a piece of art. He also addresses McLuhan because of his importance in stating and articulating the quote “the medium is the message”. This is important to Enzenberger’s statement becaue he declares that “the burgeoisie does indeed have all possible means at its disposal to communicate something to us, but that it has nothing more to say.
Requiem for the Media
Jean Baudrillard argues against Enzensberger and McLuhan, stating that media serves a social function. He also states that (just like Enzensberger) simply making everyone a producer will not will not improve the situation, but that unlike Enzensberger, the effect of making media reversible does not make it reciprocal. Instead he proposes that the problem lies within the very underlying model of communication. What we have now is the ‘simulation’ model of communication. His solution lies within joint production and genuine interaction.
The Technology and the Society
Raymond Williams introduces the concept of ‘flow’ with regards to television. Flow is characterized as the primary organizing principle of television. It is the combination of programs, commercials, and other material that makes up our experience of watching television. He states that new media is not created out of ‘thin air’, but that it is an ongoing process, and that the internet did not spring from J.C.R. Licklider’s head. It was created by ongoing social processes interacting with technical processes.
Computer Lib / Dream Machines
This is the most important book in new media history, according to NWF. This book Computer Lib predicted the oncoming of the personal computer. It also challenged the idea what the computer will be used for. The Dream Machines side of the book perhaps has even greater significance for new medias development. The message of this book is about media and design. The fundamental essence and importance of computers lies in its ability to enable new generations of media.
He proposed that coputer experiences should be designed for creative purposes and with the user in mind. He also proposes that new designed media should be placed in open publishing networks.
Burnham stated that, “the goal of Software is to focus our sensibilities on the fastest growing area in this culture: information processing systems and their devices.”
Constituents of a Theory of the Media
Media is a big business, and it hopes to make lots of money. Enzensberger states that in order to effect change, we must not turn away from media, but instead work at the media to where unjust culture is vulnerable. He proposes a new organization of media should take place, where tools of media are not only open to those who can afford it, but to everyone, so that they may be wherever there is social conflict. He wants a ‘mass newspaper’ where it is written and distributed by its readers (Wikipedia, Blogs). Although he doesn’t just want open forums for media distribution, he would rather instead of Rodney King being discussed on the web, that there was a massive rally of video tapes and a built network for a social movement opposed to police violence.
Enzensberger relates Benjamin to his necessity for a structure of society that is free from “the forces which destroy culture”, which is made closer by the mechanical reproduction of art, where there is no historical labor or shroud of aura surrounding a piece of art. He also addresses McLuhan because of his importance in stating and articulating the quote “the medium is the message”. This is important to Enzenberger’s statement becaue he declares that “the burgeoisie does indeed have all possible means at its disposal to communicate something to us, but that it has nothing more to say.
Requiem for the Media
Jean Baudrillard argues against Enzensberger and McLuhan, stating that media serves a social function. He also states that (just like Enzensberger) simply making everyone a producer will not will not improve the situation, but that unlike Enzensberger, the effect of making media reversible does not make it reciprocal. Instead he proposes that the problem lies within the very underlying model of communication. What we have now is the ‘simulation’ model of communication. His solution lies within joint production and genuine interaction.
The Technology and the Society
Raymond Williams introduces the concept of ‘flow’ with regards to television. Flow is characterized as the primary organizing principle of television. It is the combination of programs, commercials, and other material that makes up our experience of watching television. He states that new media is not created out of ‘thin air’, but that it is an ongoing process, and that the internet did not spring from J.C.R. Licklider’s head. It was created by ongoing social processes interacting with technical processes.
Computer Lib / Dream Machines
This is the most important book in new media history, according to NWF. This book Computer Lib predicted the oncoming of the personal computer. It also challenged the idea what the computer will be used for. The Dream Machines side of the book perhaps has even greater significance for new medias development. The message of this book is about media and design. The fundamental essence and importance of computers lies in its ability to enable new generations of media.
He proposed that coputer experiences should be designed for creative purposes and with the user in mind. He also proposes that new designed media should be placed in open publishing networks.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Ingo Mauer Exhibit
I really enjoyed Ingo Mauer’s work. I appreciated how light-hearted and fun he is, I feel like there’s a lot of work that tries to be too serious. This is also a particularly good trait to have when making experimental light features. The intrinsic nature of light makes places more comfortable and welcoming, and his work certainly does that. His humor and wit can be seen immediately with the talking portraits of Carnegie and the woman. I can tell that he likes to make fun and take things out of context.
Going back to the intrinsic nature of light, he helps to create a welcoming, ‘light’ (as opposed to heavy) atmosphere by making a giant ‘flying’ ribbon as the lamp. I also liked his use of gold in his work. I am usually not a fan of gold, it feels tacky to me, but he used it in a tasteful way. I understand how he used it to emit a certain type of light into a room, a very warm, comfortable light. For this reason, I really liked his gold meditation room. I think it would have been amazing to be able to sit in it for a while and be absorbed by the light. I wonder how it would feel after long periods of time.
The beeswax table was interesting to me because unlike basically everything else he created, it had very little functionality, but I like the idea of creating a surface that reflected a certain light.
Another thing I liked about his art was how simple some of it was. Like the half-heart mirror, when a light shone on it, it created two hearts, one light and one dark. It is just very simple and very elegant. His other simple work that I really enjoyed was his light bulbs with wings. He literally made a cute little representation of light out of an ordinary light bulb. Before this exhibit, I never would have thought to look at a light bulb as something other than what it is. But he transformed the mechanical image of it into something cute and fun.
I didn’t care much for his LED work. It seemed very dated and tacky, like it was from the 80’s. I like the idea of shifting wallpaper, but the presentation didn’t do much for me. I could picture that in a tacky Asian restaurant. His benches with the LED’s floating in the glass did impress me however. It felt very post-modern and space-age, but it was again, very elegant and well executed.
Going back to the intrinsic nature of light, he helps to create a welcoming, ‘light’ (as opposed to heavy) atmosphere by making a giant ‘flying’ ribbon as the lamp. I also liked his use of gold in his work. I am usually not a fan of gold, it feels tacky to me, but he used it in a tasteful way. I understand how he used it to emit a certain type of light into a room, a very warm, comfortable light. For this reason, I really liked his gold meditation room. I think it would have been amazing to be able to sit in it for a while and be absorbed by the light. I wonder how it would feel after long periods of time.
The beeswax table was interesting to me because unlike basically everything else he created, it had very little functionality, but I like the idea of creating a surface that reflected a certain light.
Another thing I liked about his art was how simple some of it was. Like the half-heart mirror, when a light shone on it, it created two hearts, one light and one dark. It is just very simple and very elegant. His other simple work that I really enjoyed was his light bulbs with wings. He literally made a cute little representation of light out of an ordinary light bulb. Before this exhibit, I never would have thought to look at a light bulb as something other than what it is. But he transformed the mechanical image of it into something cute and fun.
I didn’t care much for his LED work. It seemed very dated and tacky, like it was from the 80’s. I like the idea of shifting wallpaper, but the presentation didn’t do much for me. I could picture that in a tacky Asian restaurant. His benches with the LED’s floating in the glass did impress me however. It felt very post-modern and space-age, but it was again, very elegant and well executed.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Nam June Paik
This documentary was about the man who first made the scene of video art. He had a few revolutionary exhibitions that featured a neon map of the US with TV’s playing content relevant to that area of the country. I feel like that exhibition is not particularly profound, but I’m sure at the time it was new and therefore profound (the medium is the message).
Paik discredited his ability as a musician, but I like that he incorporated music into his work with the cellist who would play with the TVs. It was a great melding of the mediums. On the whole, I tend to dislike video art. Nothing has ever struck home with me, and I fail to understand its meanings.
The majority of Paik’s work consisted of intensely flashing lights that attacked you. It was very hard to watch any of it for too long. I had to look away from the screen when they held a close-up of one of his TV’s. Apparently they were supposed to access your brain for a split second and then move on. How can I understand something that is in constant change? Am I supposed to feel something? Did he place sub-conscious messages into me? I don’t know, but it gave me a headache.
I suppose that his work does represent his time though, the psychedelic nature of the work was prevalent then. I did like one of his works, and that was the piece where there was a frame of a head with a hat, and in the hat were 3 TVs, and then one where the mouth is. This represented a message that we can relate to, it symbolized how we think, and what comes out of our mouths.
Even though I am studying TV, I have always had a hard time with Video Art. I think it has to do with the relation of the Hot/Cold media that McLuhan talks about. TV shows are very hot, with lots of information, and Paik’s video art is cold because it tells you lots of nothing and I don’t know how to understand that, and I can’t contemplate on it like you can a painting or photograph.
Paik discredited his ability as a musician, but I like that he incorporated music into his work with the cellist who would play with the TVs. It was a great melding of the mediums. On the whole, I tend to dislike video art. Nothing has ever struck home with me, and I fail to understand its meanings.
The majority of Paik’s work consisted of intensely flashing lights that attacked you. It was very hard to watch any of it for too long. I had to look away from the screen when they held a close-up of one of his TV’s. Apparently they were supposed to access your brain for a split second and then move on. How can I understand something that is in constant change? Am I supposed to feel something? Did he place sub-conscious messages into me? I don’t know, but it gave me a headache.
I suppose that his work does represent his time though, the psychedelic nature of the work was prevalent then. I did like one of his works, and that was the piece where there was a frame of a head with a hat, and in the hat were 3 TVs, and then one where the mouth is. This represented a message that we can relate to, it symbolized how we think, and what comes out of our mouths.
Even though I am studying TV, I have always had a hard time with Video Art. I think it has to do with the relation of the Hot/Cold media that McLuhan talks about. TV shows are very hot, with lots of information, and Paik’s video art is cold because it tells you lots of nothing and I don’t know how to understand that, and I can’t contemplate on it like you can a painting or photograph.
William Burroughs
I really enjoyed the William Burroughs Documentary. It was great to see who the man was, and to hear him speak. He is clearly a very smart man, which gives more credibility to his famous cut-up method. Before, I kind of looked at the cut-up method as an experiment, something that an artist stumbled across, but now I see that it is very intentional and profound. It’s hard not to respect him as an artist and a thinker because he is a very thoughtful and articulate speaker. I really liked his quote saying that “art makes people aware of what they know and don’t know.”
McLuhan's Wake
This documentary was about as inaccessible as understanding his philosophy. I am actually in the process of studying The Medium is the Message for another Gallatin class. The documentary we watched in class was a bit hard to understand or follow, but McLuhan apparently wouldn’t care what the message was, because his whole theory is that the medium (the documentary) was the message.
The content of the documentary is another topic though. I really liked all the water imagery, especially in the beginning with the quote from James Joyce. I also enjoyed the whirlpool analogy. I think I would have to see it a few more times to fully understand it, but I liked the animation and it was entertaining. There was a lot of shots of society, and without a previous understanding of McLuhan, the documentary is hard to understand. One of his major points is that the message of the medium is the change of social structure. Perhaps this is showing what the culmination of all the medium’s has created.
The content of the documentary is another topic though. I really liked all the water imagery, especially in the beginning with the quote from James Joyce. I also enjoyed the whirlpool analogy. I think I would have to see it a few more times to fully understand it, but I liked the animation and it was entertaining. There was a lot of shots of society, and without a previous understanding of McLuhan, the documentary is hard to understand. One of his major points is that the message of the medium is the change of social structure. Perhaps this is showing what the culmination of all the medium’s has created.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Timeline
TIMELINE
1940-45 - Vannevar Bush – Primary organizer of the Manhattan Project. Created groundbreaking analog computing projects at MIT. 1940 got grand by Franklin Roosevelt for funding and research between military, industry and academic “iron triangle” which led to new media. 1945 wrote As We May Think.
Doug Engelbart – Inspired by Bush’s “As We May Think”, he invented the mouse, word pressor, and the hyperlink.
1950 – Alan Turing worked to decrypt encoded language. He wrote an essay, Computing Machinery and Intelligence, which discusses the many aspects of artificial intelligence.
1952 – “Grace Murray Hopper programmed the first compiler, computer languages began to take shape.”
1954 – Norbert Wiener began working toward cybernetics, which is “the science of communications and automatic control systems in both machines and living things.” (Apple Dictionary). Wrote the essay Men, Machines, and the World About.
1957 – Allan Kaprow established a new trend in performing arts where the audience became more and more involved with the performance, these were called “happenings”.
1959 – Brion Gysin was an artist who made popular the “cut-up” technique, where he would cut newspapers into sections and rearrange the text.
1960 – J.C.R. Licklider was an American computer scientist famous for his publication of “Man-Computer Symbiosis”. This article describes the need for the symbiosis of computers and man-power.
1962 – Doug Engelbart invented the computer mouse.
1966 – E.A.T. (Experiments in Art and Technology) was founded. Which led to the development of the relationship between artist and engineer.
1968 – “The mother of all demos” Douglas Engelbart and others demonstrated the research behind ARC (Augmentation Research Center) about interactive computing. This led to an explosion of interest in the field.
1977 - Burroughs and Gysin publish “The Third Mind,” a collection of cut-up writings and essays.
1988 – Ivan Sutherland won the Turing Award for his invention of the Sketchpad”
1940-45 - Vannevar Bush – Primary organizer of the Manhattan Project. Created groundbreaking analog computing projects at MIT. 1940 got grand by Franklin Roosevelt for funding and research between military, industry and academic “iron triangle” which led to new media. 1945 wrote As We May Think.
Doug Engelbart – Inspired by Bush’s “As We May Think”, he invented the mouse, word pressor, and the hyperlink.
1950 – Alan Turing worked to decrypt encoded language. He wrote an essay, Computing Machinery and Intelligence, which discusses the many aspects of artificial intelligence.
1952 – “Grace Murray Hopper programmed the first compiler, computer languages began to take shape.”
1954 – Norbert Wiener began working toward cybernetics, which is “the science of communications and automatic control systems in both machines and living things.” (Apple Dictionary). Wrote the essay Men, Machines, and the World About.
1957 – Allan Kaprow established a new trend in performing arts where the audience became more and more involved with the performance, these were called “happenings”.
1959 – Brion Gysin was an artist who made popular the “cut-up” technique, where he would cut newspapers into sections and rearrange the text.
1960 – J.C.R. Licklider was an American computer scientist famous for his publication of “Man-Computer Symbiosis”. This article describes the need for the symbiosis of computers and man-power.
1962 – Doug Engelbart invented the computer mouse.
1966 – E.A.T. (Experiments in Art and Technology) was founded. Which led to the development of the relationship between artist and engineer.
1968 – “The mother of all demos” Douglas Engelbart and others demonstrated the research behind ARC (Augmentation Research Center) about interactive computing. This led to an explosion of interest in the field.
1977 - Burroughs and Gysin publish “The Third Mind,” a collection of cut-up writings and essays.
1988 – Ivan Sutherland won the Turing Award for his invention of the Sketchpad”
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Media Reader 193 - 246
Marshall McLuhan, The Galaxy Reconfigured, The Medium Is the Message
Brought to light the idea that the “medium is the message”, meaning that the new way of expression is more important than the content. He describes the shift from book-culture to a culture of electronic media. He also states that its best not to take the issue of new media too seriously, that it can be a fun horizon to explore with the fusion of ideas instead of separating them.
Experiments in Art and Technology
Formed in the 1966 the EAT (Experiments in Art and Technology) have been playing a pivotal role in the advance of technology and art. The organization held competitions, exhibitions, and discussions. Billy Kluver founded EAT after his first experiences with artists and engineers while working at Bell Telephone Laboratories. He then collaborated with Knut Wiggin from Sweden, the two of them created some exhibitions in New York, getting mixed reviews. The reviews mainly attacked the technological “problems”.
Kluver says that “this experiment in art never fails”, meaning that any mistake will lead to advances, or at the least an artistic voice. This type of performance engineering allows for artists to create and destroy principle’s of mechanics, and to create a performance that manipulates these principles, like Jim McGee’s tennis installation that deals with motion and light.
In Kluver’s article, “The Pavilion”, he describes his project as one that involves the visitors to make choices and have participation. He states that “one of E.A.T.’s objectives in relation to the Pavilion was to demonstrate physically the variety and multiplicity of experiences that the new technology can provide for the individual.
Video art has always meant to be interactive and to be new media. John Cage stated, “the cathode ray tube will replace the canvas.”
In 1968 the ARC (Augmentation Research Center) demonstrated all of their work to a live audience. It was risky, lots could go wrong, but it was a success and led to the expansion of the research. This demonstration introduced the mouse and the precursor to the internet.
Brought to light the idea that the “medium is the message”, meaning that the new way of expression is more important than the content. He describes the shift from book-culture to a culture of electronic media. He also states that its best not to take the issue of new media too seriously, that it can be a fun horizon to explore with the fusion of ideas instead of separating them.
Experiments in Art and Technology
Formed in the 1966 the EAT (Experiments in Art and Technology) have been playing a pivotal role in the advance of technology and art. The organization held competitions, exhibitions, and discussions. Billy Kluver founded EAT after his first experiences with artists and engineers while working at Bell Telephone Laboratories. He then collaborated with Knut Wiggin from Sweden, the two of them created some exhibitions in New York, getting mixed reviews. The reviews mainly attacked the technological “problems”.
Kluver says that “this experiment in art never fails”, meaning that any mistake will lead to advances, or at the least an artistic voice. This type of performance engineering allows for artists to create and destroy principle’s of mechanics, and to create a performance that manipulates these principles, like Jim McGee’s tennis installation that deals with motion and light.
In Kluver’s article, “The Pavilion”, he describes his project as one that involves the visitors to make choices and have participation. He states that “one of E.A.T.’s objectives in relation to the Pavilion was to demonstrate physically the variety and multiplicity of experiences that the new technology can provide for the individual.
Video art has always meant to be interactive and to be new media. John Cage stated, “the cathode ray tube will replace the canvas.”
In 1968 the ARC (Augmentation Research Center) demonstrated all of their work to a live audience. It was risky, lots could go wrong, but it was a success and led to the expansion of the research. This demonstration introduced the mouse and the precursor to the internet.
Dan Blank's "Shadowplay"
Dan Blank’s “Shadowplay” is a very touching, thought provoking short film about the nuclear explosion in Hiroshima. It was a way of showing the tragedy that occurred after the explosion, and showed us all of the life that was destroyed through the shadows imprinted on the walls. The boy that we followed through all the shadows told us about what every one of them was doing at the time of the explosion. As the boy went around to everybody, trying to find answers, we were sent into flashbacks that showed us what was happening before the explosion. Blank does a very good job of making us feel connected to the characters, and to feel saddened by their untimely deaths.
This work is another great example of a fusion of medias. The claymation with the digitally rendered shadow animation worked very well. The use of clay was a great choice for this project, because it has a rough, unfinished look to it. And this works very well when creating a scene of destruction.
This is also what I really like about short projects. You are able to create a scene that is very powerful, but that might not work for a feature. It was great to watch the shadows dance around the walls, but this could never carry an entire feature. I really like how shorts allow room for great experimentation and unorthodox artistic choices.
This work is another great example of a fusion of medias. The claymation with the digitally rendered shadow animation worked very well. The use of clay was a great choice for this project, because it has a rough, unfinished look to it. And this works very well when creating a scene of destruction.
This is also what I really like about short projects. You are able to create a scene that is very powerful, but that might not work for a feature. It was great to watch the shadows dance around the walls, but this could never carry an entire feature. I really like how shorts allow room for great experimentation and unorthodox artistic choices.
Dan Kanemoto's "Whale Song"
Dan Kanemoto’s Whale Song, was a fun short cartoon (at least I think that’s what we’ll call it). I’m really glad he continued to use the similar style of stop motion animation with drawings as a medium. It’s very refreshing to watch good material in a new way. I thought the writing was very good. It was short, brief, and minimalist, almost dummied down so much that it made it funny. Which is a reflection of the overall idea that the best way to take care of a beached whale is to blow it up. I think that this topic would not have been as entertaining had it been done in any other format. If the same story was shot with real actors, the humor wouldn’t have been there, and you couldn’t have done the explosion in any comical way. And if it was done with a smooth motion cartoon, some of the punch lines wouldn’t have worked.
I’m glad that MTV picked up the short to air on TV. For some reason I feel like I’ve seen it before, but it could just be a strange sense of déjà vu. I really enjoyed it, and I would like to see more programming of that material, it opens our minds to new possibilities of creativity, and keeps advancing new media in art forms.
I’m glad that MTV picked up the short to air on TV. For some reason I feel like I’ve seen it before, but it could just be a strange sense of déjà vu. I really enjoyed it, and I would like to see more programming of that material, it opens our minds to new possibilities of creativity, and keeps advancing new media in art forms.
Ken Perlin Lecture
Ken Perlin is a great speaker, he is charismatic and engages us frequently to keep our attention. His work is very fascinating, I really like how everything he does works towards one goal. Which is to make an array of characters that can play out scenes on their own, based on emotional keywords. This could lead to an entirely new form of entertainment, and also for the world or pitching ideas, and experimenting with scripts and formats for TV shows or movies.
I liked his argument that video games stimulate the mind in a positive manner, and that video games can, and are used for educational purposes. This is something that I myself have argued with growing up. My mind is incredibly stimulated during the hours in which I played games, but there was always something guilty about it in the back of my head, like it was a waste of time. I like how he described movies and novels as a passive learning, that the agency is in the story, whereas in a game the agency is within you and you are active with the characters.
His kinetic poetry program reminded me a bit of Dadaist artwork, where it was a “destruction” of the cut-and paste method of poetry, but at the same time created an entirely new idea of random poetry.
If I were into programming, I would love to be in his classes, and get to learn from what he does.
I liked his argument that video games stimulate the mind in a positive manner, and that video games can, and are used for educational purposes. This is something that I myself have argued with growing up. My mind is incredibly stimulated during the hours in which I played games, but there was always something guilty about it in the back of my head, like it was a waste of time. I like how he described movies and novels as a passive learning, that the agency is in the story, whereas in a game the agency is within you and you are active with the characters.
His kinetic poetry program reminded me a bit of Dadaist artwork, where it was a “destruction” of the cut-and paste method of poetry, but at the same time created an entirely new idea of random poetry.
If I were into programming, I would love to be in his classes, and get to learn from what he does.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Bitforms Gallery
I thought the Bitforms Gallery was great. Daniel Rozin created a gallery dedicated to making digital mirrors that reflect movement. I feel like it is a great fusion between technology and art. The message of the art, according to the postcard, is to create a theme of perception of oneself. To me, the gallery wasn’t profound in any way, it was just really cool, especially the ‘mirror’ that incorporates the use of shadow from a light source. I would really like to have that piece in my house. The idea of an interactive mirror is not a completely original idea. I remember when I was in elementary school we went to the science museum in Boston and there was a shadow volleyball game that used our silhouettes to hit a virtual volleyball back and forth.
David Fried’s exhibit with the sound propelled balls fascinated me. I had no idea such a thing could exist. It was very mesmerizing and soothing. I would love to understand more of how they work, there is no electronic device in them, and they generate movement based on sound.
The bubbles exhibit didn’t do a lot for me. The person working there tried to explain that the bubbles can reflect so much of ourselves, but that seemed like a stretch. I think the accomplishment in the gallery is the fact that he was able to find a way to create the photographs.
David Fried’s exhibit with the sound propelled balls fascinated me. I had no idea such a thing could exist. It was very mesmerizing and soothing. I would love to understand more of how they work, there is no electronic device in them, and they generate movement based on sound.
The bubbles exhibit didn’t do a lot for me. The person working there tried to explain that the bubbles can reflect so much of ourselves, but that seemed like a stretch. I think the accomplishment in the gallery is the fact that he was able to find a way to create the photographs.
Eyebeam Gallery
The Eyebeam Gallery was a huge display of various new media artwork. The tour guide was really great, he was clearly enthusiastic about the projects, but he was very difficult to understand.
What I found interesting is the idea between function and art. It didn’t appear to me that the “Safe House” was entirely a piece of art, but more of a conceptual idea that could be used in real life for a purpose. There is a transformative nature behind this artwork is the questions it raises about immigration. This form of art, where it serves to make you question the world around you is found throughout the gallery. I also had a hard time seeing the art in the exhibit that actually follows the flight patterns of government planes that either deviate from their scheduled landing, or fly to Guantanamo Bay.
I enjoyed the video gallery of the bed facing a huge projection of the New York subway. This exhibit seems to me like something that New Yorkers can relate to. It is really interesting to see the subway without the sounds involved in it, and to place the image by a bed, which is a place of rest.
The other video exhibit by Angie Eng was disappointing. It tried to be edgy by doing unconventional things on the streets of New York, but they didn’t seem to be that abnormal or “weird”. The strangers walking past the people who sat in lawn chairs didn’t even give a second glance (there are people who sit in lawn chairs on the sidewalk outside my dorm).
I may have missed the point of the big balloon, but I like the idea of an interactive projection where people can send an e-mail to an address and it gets posted in the gallery. I also thought it was interesting to have a web-site as an exhibit. I like how it exhibits programming as an art-form. The web-site projects which party people donated money to, so you can find out who your neighbors support.
What I found interesting is the idea between function and art. It didn’t appear to me that the “Safe House” was entirely a piece of art, but more of a conceptual idea that could be used in real life for a purpose. There is a transformative nature behind this artwork is the questions it raises about immigration. This form of art, where it serves to make you question the world around you is found throughout the gallery. I also had a hard time seeing the art in the exhibit that actually follows the flight patterns of government planes that either deviate from their scheduled landing, or fly to Guantanamo Bay.
I enjoyed the video gallery of the bed facing a huge projection of the New York subway. This exhibit seems to me like something that New Yorkers can relate to. It is really interesting to see the subway without the sounds involved in it, and to place the image by a bed, which is a place of rest.
The other video exhibit by Angie Eng was disappointing. It tried to be edgy by doing unconventional things on the streets of New York, but they didn’t seem to be that abnormal or “weird”. The strangers walking past the people who sat in lawn chairs didn’t even give a second glance (there are people who sit in lawn chairs on the sidewalk outside my dorm).
I may have missed the point of the big balloon, but I like the idea of an interactive projection where people can send an e-mail to an address and it gets posted in the gallery. I also thought it was interesting to have a web-site as an exhibit. I like how it exhibits programming as an art-form. The web-site projects which party people donated money to, so you can find out who your neighbors support.
Postmasters Gallery
Postmasters Gallery – This exhibit had the work of Eddo Stern. The gallery consisted of the inspiration from his online gaming experience. It depicts the relationship between online characters and the real people behind them. I was really intrigued to learn that two people who were enemies in an online game got so into it that they wanted to fight for real in the real world. The displays to depict these people were talking heads that were created from a collage of digital images that represented who they were.
Along with the talking heads rendered abstractly from images, there was a woman who was created to look realistic. It’s amazing to see how real a digital image can appear; apparently he didn’t have a model for the image, which I thought brought out his artistic talent. He was able to make her have a wide range of emotions and facial expressions, apparently she is supposed to be singing, but I couldn’t hear anything.
Though I wasn’t entirely blown away by the shadow puppets, I thought it was an interesting idea. I liked how he incorporated (comical) action figures such as Stephen Segal and Chuck Norris into the project. This added a level of familiarity and humor to see them in these forms.
Along with the talking heads rendered abstractly from images, there was a woman who was created to look realistic. It’s amazing to see how real a digital image can appear; apparently he didn’t have a model for the image, which I thought brought out his artistic talent. He was able to make her have a wide range of emotions and facial expressions, apparently she is supposed to be singing, but I couldn’t hear anything.
Though I wasn’t entirely blown away by the shadow puppets, I thought it was an interesting idea. I liked how he incorporated (comical) action figures such as Stephen Segal and Chuck Norris into the project. This added a level of familiarity and humor to see them in these forms.
Timeline
TIMELINE
1940-45 - Vannevar Bush – Primary organizer of the Manhattan Project. Created groundbreaking analog computing projects at MIT. 1940 got grand by Franklin Roosevelt for funding and research between military, industry and academic “iron triangle” which led to new media. 1945 wrote As We May Think.
Doug Engelbart – Inspired by Bush’s “As We May Think”, he invented the mouse, word pressor, and the hyperlink.
1950 – Alan Turing worked to decrypt encoded language. He wrote an essay, Computing Machinery and Intelligence, which discusses the many aspects of artificial intelligence.
1952 – “Grace Murray Hopper programmed the first compiler, computer languages began to take shape.”
1954 – Norbert Wiener began working toward cybernetics, which is “the science of communications and automatic control systems in both machines and living things.” (Apple Dictionary). Wrote the essay Men, Machines, and the World About.
1957 – Allan Kaprow established a new trend in performing arts where the audience became more and more involved with the performance, these were called “happenings”.
1959 – Brion Gysin was an artist who made popular the “cut-up” technique, where he would cut newspapers into sections and rearrange the text.
1960 – J.C.R. Licklider was an American computer scientist famous for his publication of “Man-Computer Symbiosis”. This article describes the need for the symbiosis of computers and man-power.
1962 – Doug Engelbart invented the computer mouse.
1988 – Ivan Sutherland “for his pioneering and visionary contributions to computer graphics, starting with Sketchpad…”
1997 – Douglas Engelbart – “for an inspiring vision of the future of interactive computing and the invention of key technologies to help realize this vision.”
1940-45 - Vannevar Bush – Primary organizer of the Manhattan Project. Created groundbreaking analog computing projects at MIT. 1940 got grand by Franklin Roosevelt for funding and research between military, industry and academic “iron triangle” which led to new media. 1945 wrote As We May Think.
Doug Engelbart – Inspired by Bush’s “As We May Think”, he invented the mouse, word pressor, and the hyperlink.
1950 – Alan Turing worked to decrypt encoded language. He wrote an essay, Computing Machinery and Intelligence, which discusses the many aspects of artificial intelligence.
1952 – “Grace Murray Hopper programmed the first compiler, computer languages began to take shape.”
1954 – Norbert Wiener began working toward cybernetics, which is “the science of communications and automatic control systems in both machines and living things.” (Apple Dictionary). Wrote the essay Men, Machines, and the World About.
1957 – Allan Kaprow established a new trend in performing arts where the audience became more and more involved with the performance, these were called “happenings”.
1959 – Brion Gysin was an artist who made popular the “cut-up” technique, where he would cut newspapers into sections and rearrange the text.
1960 – J.C.R. Licklider was an American computer scientist famous for his publication of “Man-Computer Symbiosis”. This article describes the need for the symbiosis of computers and man-power.
1962 – Doug Engelbart invented the computer mouse.
1988 – Ivan Sutherland “for his pioneering and visionary contributions to computer graphics, starting with Sketchpad…”
1997 – Douglas Engelbart – “for an inspiring vision of the future of interactive computing and the invention of key technologies to help realize this vision.”
Friday, October 5, 2007
New Media Reader 73-108
Man-computer symbiosis is the development between the cooperative relationship of men and electronic computers. The main goals are to 1: “let computers facilitate formulative thinking, and 2: “to enable men and computers to cooperate in making decisions and controlling complex situations without inflexible dependence on predetermined programs.” Essentially this symbiosis allows us to organize, access, and publish information in ways that allow us to develop ideas and programs that would otherwise take long periods of time. The outlook of the future for this symbiosis is to have a thought process that is vastly more powerful than the current forms.
During the 1950s and 1960s Allan Kaprow organized many performances and events that were considered “Happenings”. This term has come to be known as the touchstone for the discussion of new media as it relates to interactivity in art. The distinction between actor and spectator fades as the interactivity increases. Happenings “appear to go nowhere and do not make any particular literary point.” They have no plots or outline and they can take place anywhere, lofts, streets, basements, vacant stores, and they can never be reproduced.
William Burroughs describes the cut-up method for media of all sorts. Essentially it is a method of creativity where random words or photos are sequenced to produce a “surreal” meaning. Computers are capable of such a program, but there is a sub-conscious that humans have that computers don’t, which makes random words resonate and have deeper meaning. “Cut-ups often come through as coded messages with special meaning for the cutter.”
Douglas Engelbart invented the mouse, the window, the word processor, as well as helping develop the internet and hypertext. His inventions, however, were not used for what they were initially intended for. His goal is to augment human intellect, which means “increasing the capability of a man to approach a complex problem”.
These articles were very interesting in assessing the various aspects of new media, from the man-computer symbiosis, to the artistic side of it, to the augmentation of our capabilities and intellect.
During the 1950s and 1960s Allan Kaprow organized many performances and events that were considered “Happenings”. This term has come to be known as the touchstone for the discussion of new media as it relates to interactivity in art. The distinction between actor and spectator fades as the interactivity increases. Happenings “appear to go nowhere and do not make any particular literary point.” They have no plots or outline and they can take place anywhere, lofts, streets, basements, vacant stores, and they can never be reproduced.
William Burroughs describes the cut-up method for media of all sorts. Essentially it is a method of creativity where random words or photos are sequenced to produce a “surreal” meaning. Computers are capable of such a program, but there is a sub-conscious that humans have that computers don’t, which makes random words resonate and have deeper meaning. “Cut-ups often come through as coded messages with special meaning for the cutter.”
Douglas Engelbart invented the mouse, the window, the word processor, as well as helping develop the internet and hypertext. His inventions, however, were not used for what they were initially intended for. His goal is to augment human intellect, which means “increasing the capability of a man to approach a complex problem”.
These articles were very interesting in assessing the various aspects of new media, from the man-computer symbiosis, to the artistic side of it, to the augmentation of our capabilities and intellect.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Barack Obama
I’ve never been to a political rally before the Barack Obama speech. I have seen plenty on YouTube, but never in person. It took forever for him to finally get on the stage, even after all the warm-up acts were done (which I thought was really interesting). It was very clear that he was trying to appeal to the college student. He opened with this guy rapping about his campaign, and then also by playing a Kanye West song in between acts. He also played lots of music from different ethnicities to cover the spectrum while they waited for the park to fill in.
I felt kind of bad for him actually, he didn’t really get the crowd going. It seemed like most people (including myself) were only there because there was a big crowd and they happened to stumble onto it. I didn’t stay long because for one thing I’ve heard a rally from him before (youtube), and his politics were just really broad about change and hope. It didn’t make me want to vote for him basically, but I was glad to have seen him in person and to have been to a rally.
I felt kind of bad for him actually, he didn’t really get the crowd going. It seemed like most people (including myself) were only there because there was a big crowd and they happened to stumble onto it. I didn’t stay long because for one thing I’ve heard a rally from him before (youtube), and his politics were just really broad about change and hope. It didn’t make me want to vote for him basically, but I was glad to have seen him in person and to have been to a rally.
Chess Pieces
The documentary on Chess Pieces was a bit of a struggle, although I thought the painting itself was fantastic. I loved the fusion of art and music, I just really wanted to hear the music from the painting! They kept dancing around the music that is within the painting, but we never got to hear it. I thought it would have helped me so much to be able to fully understand the artwork.
The lady that came in to discuss the painting was very entertaining, there was a juxtaposition with the man who was very rigid and nervous to the woman who was over the top excited about the painting with the “Oh! Look, I just found his name in the music notation!” (as if it was a revolution on the spot). The filmmaking was poor, it could have used some more close-ups of the painting and the set and lighting was very bland. I am glad to have been able to be exposed to the artwork however. It was a beautiful piece and I would like to see what else he created.
The lady that came in to discuss the painting was very entertaining, there was a juxtaposition with the man who was very rigid and nervous to the woman who was over the top excited about the painting with the “Oh! Look, I just found his name in the music notation!” (as if it was a revolution on the spot). The filmmaking was poor, it could have used some more close-ups of the painting and the set and lighting was very bland. I am glad to have been able to be exposed to the artwork however. It was a beautiful piece and I would like to see what else he created.
History of the Internet
It was very necessary for me to see the documentary of the history of the internet. I knew so little about it, and it is still to me an abstract concept that I don’t understand. This was able to shed some light on the development of it, and explain a little bit how it works. I didn’t know that the government had a large part in the creation of it, and that for security reasons they created a different system of nodes so that if one was destroyed the message would be relayed through other systems.
I thought it was great that the man who created e-mail did it in his spare time. It reminded me of the creation of Napster, and the college kid who did it because he saw it as a challenge.
The documentary itself did not impress me a whole lot, it was crudely shot and the graphics were nothing special. I would have also liked to learn a bit about the development of the internet in contemporary times, what types of changes are being developed, and what is going to be the future of the internet? I am grateful to have seen the doc though, I realize how many hours I spend on it per day, and I can’t imagine life without it.
I thought it was great that the man who created e-mail did it in his spare time. It reminded me of the creation of Napster, and the college kid who did it because he saw it as a challenge.
The documentary itself did not impress me a whole lot, it was crudely shot and the graphics were nothing special. I would have also liked to learn a bit about the development of the internet in contemporary times, what types of changes are being developed, and what is going to be the future of the internet? I am grateful to have seen the doc though, I realize how many hours I spend on it per day, and I can’t imagine life without it.
Dan Kanemoto's, Letter From the Western Front
Dan Kanemoto’s, Letter From the Western Front was an amazing alternative video. I loved the creativity behind it. I’ve never seen a film created strictly from paintings. It really brought the two mediums together. The emotion and style of oil painting combined with graphic animation brought another level of emotion to the film.
I thought the narration was a bit weak however. I understand that he is an accomplished writer, but I thought his voice didn’t fit the piece. It was great writing, and it held me throughout the film, but his voice didn’t sound like he was in the middle of a war. The direction of the artwork was also very well done, and he incorporated the special effects and lighting on the paintings.
To me, it’s work like this that inspires the independent artist in me. It shows that there are alternative mediums out there that are just as powerful as the mainstream models.
I thought the narration was a bit weak however. I understand that he is an accomplished writer, but I thought his voice didn’t fit the piece. It was great writing, and it held me throughout the film, but his voice didn’t sound like he was in the middle of a war. The direction of the artwork was also very well done, and he incorporated the special effects and lighting on the paintings.
To me, it’s work like this that inspires the independent artist in me. It shows that there are alternative mediums out there that are just as powerful as the mainstream models.
Second Life
Second Life sounds like an amazing phenomena, one that was bound to happen, and that amidst its theoretical possibilities, it is bound to have its repercussions. Essentially this is the Sim’s game multiplied by infinity, with an ever-growing database with endless possibilities. Gaming to me has always been a guilty pleasure. I love them, it’s a great distraction, but it can interfere with your life negatively if you allow it to take precedence over your real life. Which is why I’m hesitant to create a character on Second Life. But I am truly intrigued by this virtual world, and I would like to do some exploring of it.
The businesses that are getting behind the virtual world are viewing it as an actual franchise, like Peugeot. How realistic are these cars? Do they break down ever? The fact that you can make money in the virtual world is very interesting to me. Essentially one can make a living inside this world, and use that to live in the real world. I’m no economist, but this seems like something that is horrible for the economy, meaning it takes people out of the work force that would in turn make everything a bit more expensive. But this would only be a problem if a significant amount of people does this.
Overall, I am not against it, in fact I am probably going to start a character next chance I get.
The businesses that are getting behind the virtual world are viewing it as an actual franchise, like Peugeot. How realistic are these cars? Do they break down ever? The fact that you can make money in the virtual world is very interesting to me. Essentially one can make a living inside this world, and use that to live in the real world. I’m no economist, but this seems like something that is horrible for the economy, meaning it takes people out of the work force that would in turn make everything a bit more expensive. But this would only be a problem if a significant amount of people does this.
Overall, I am not against it, in fact I am probably going to start a character next chance I get.
Friday, September 28, 2007
New Media Reader 35-72
Vannevar Bush’s essay, “As We May Think”, written in 1945, calls the wartime scientists and researchers to transfer their efforts to the research of making human knowledge more accessible. This essay also developed New Media in a radical way by getting large amounts of government funding from Franklin Roosevelt for the research between military, industry and academic areas, becoming known as the “iron triangle”. In his essay, he also develops a theoretical idea for hyperlinks. He creates the “memex”, which is essentially microfilm that contains libraries of information that can be electronically linked to each other. Bush was never able to see the actual creation of the World Wide Web, but his essay was key in its development.
Alan Turing in 1950 wrote an essay called “Computing Michinery, and Intelligence”, which discusses the theory of creating artificial intelligence. In this essay, he discusses the various arguments for and against the ability for a machine to independently think. He begins the essay by proposing a new question to replace the obscure question of “can machines think?” to what he calls the “imitation game”. It is a test where a person blindly asks questions to a machine and a human to determine which is a machine. If the computer can fool the interrogator, then it has intelligence.
Grace Murray Hooper in 1952 developed the first compiler. She created a computer programming language which is used to control the behavior of a computer. She is a product of Bush’s “iron triangle” as a military employee she developed computer programming that led to the development of all types of computer programs.
1954 – Norbert Wiener began working toward cybernetics, which is “the science of communications and automatic control systems in both machines and living things.” (Apple Dictionary). Wrote the essay Men, Machines, and the World About.
Ivan Sutherland in 1988 created the program Sketchpad.
Douglas Engelbart was inventor of the computer mouse, he worked on a team that developed the hypertext, and was a key contributor to the creation of ARPANET, which was the prototype for the internet.
Alan Turing in 1950 wrote an essay called “Computing Michinery, and Intelligence”, which discusses the theory of creating artificial intelligence. In this essay, he discusses the various arguments for and against the ability for a machine to independently think. He begins the essay by proposing a new question to replace the obscure question of “can machines think?” to what he calls the “imitation game”. It is a test where a person blindly asks questions to a machine and a human to determine which is a machine. If the computer can fool the interrogator, then it has intelligence.
Grace Murray Hooper in 1952 developed the first compiler. She created a computer programming language which is used to control the behavior of a computer. She is a product of Bush’s “iron triangle” as a military employee she developed computer programming that led to the development of all types of computer programs.
1954 – Norbert Wiener began working toward cybernetics, which is “the science of communications and automatic control systems in both machines and living things.” (Apple Dictionary). Wrote the essay Men, Machines, and the World About.
Ivan Sutherland in 1988 created the program Sketchpad.
Douglas Engelbart was inventor of the computer mouse, he worked on a team that developed the hypertext, and was a key contributor to the creation of ARPANET, which was the prototype for the internet.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Borges
With concerns about the documentary about Borges we saw in class last week. I know that I am not the only one in the class who was completely lost in that film. It is understood that this man was an incredible thinker, and was profoundly influential with his writings. The film, however, was a bit incomprehensible, his accent was very hard to decipher, and I don't know spanish. On the other hand, I really liked the way they structured the documentary. I thought it was a good technique to perform the stories Borges wrote through a narrative approach with actors.
Borges story, The Garden of Forking Paths, I thought was great. I don't feel like I've really gotten to understand it yet, but I have only read it twice. I remember hearing in the documentary that he liked to write so that the average reader can understand his writings, and I appreciated that. It was a story with deep meaning and thoughts that were revolutionary at the time, but he wrote it in such a way that also is very entertaining.
Borges story, The Garden of Forking Paths, I thought was great. I don't feel like I've really gotten to understand it yet, but I have only read it twice. I remember hearing in the documentary that he liked to write so that the average reader can understand his writings, and I appreciated that. It was a story with deep meaning and thoughts that were revolutionary at the time, but he wrote it in such a way that also is very entertaining.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Intro to the New Media Reader #2
This intro to The New Media Reader, by Lev Manovich, titled New Media from Borges to HTML begins by giving us a brief history of the research of new media. Essentially, worldwide research of artistic mediums using computers began in the late 1970s. By the 1990s, the internet in the United States had become an everyday commonplace, and had grown faster in the US than Europe for various reasons. Yet the US was slow to develop new media art due to low public interest. Sophisticated European art galleries led to the development of a new form of art: the interactive computer instillation. Manovich brings up the question of the need for new media research in an age where artists of all mediums use digital computers to modify their artwork. The research then simply becomes a venue for enthusiasts to experiment with the latest technologies.
Lev Manovich states that “as a result these technologies themselves have become the greatest art works of today.” Such as the web itself, and other programs such as Final Cut Pro and After Effects. This modern culture, designed for the masses by institutions is no less a work of great art than an individual creating a painting or writing a book, yet the history of art is going to favor the individual rather than the collected cultural art (digital programming). Other such artistic fields that are yet to be recognized are music videos, cinematography, set design, and industrial design.
What is New Media?
1: Cyberculture. “Cyberculture is focused on the social and on networking; new media is focused on the cultural and computing.”
2: New Media is a distribution platform. They are cultural objects such as the internet, web sites, computer games, and other such devices of transferring data.
3: Digital Data Controlled by Software. The idea that digital information can be manipulated to create multiple meanings or creations based on the program used.
4: Mix Between Existing Cultural Conventions and the Conventions of Software. Essentially the software we create is not fully utilized to its potential because of our cultural conventions.
5: The Aesthetics that Accompanies the Early Stage of Every New Modern Media and Communication Technology. Every new device that enters into our culture, such as the TV, the camera, undergoes a ‘new media’ stage. As new technology is introduced the aesthetic of the medium changes. Like with DV tapes. A filmmaker could then shoot footage for up to 120 minutes, and make new films based on this technology.
6: Faster Execution of Algorithms Previously Executed Manually or through Other Technologies. New media serves to make tasks that would normally take a manual execution a long time, into an instantaneous solution. Manipulating documents, which previously were written out by hand, is now a simple task. As well as using Photoshop to create a visual montage is now a commonplace occurance.
7: Encoding of Modernist Avant-Garde; New Media as Metamedia. Ideas that were previously avant-garde, such as an artists collage which turned into the basic feature of ‘cut and paste’, and the idea of a pull down menu emerged from the use of movable frames. The metamedia is a recognition that the culture in the 1980s was reworking already existing content, rather than inventing new ideas.
8: Parallel Articulation of Similar Ideas in Post-WWII Art and Modern Computing. There are many periods of cultural height throughout history that can be linked to new media, such as the 1920s and 1960s.
Lev Manovich states that “as a result these technologies themselves have become the greatest art works of today.” Such as the web itself, and other programs such as Final Cut Pro and After Effects. This modern culture, designed for the masses by institutions is no less a work of great art than an individual creating a painting or writing a book, yet the history of art is going to favor the individual rather than the collected cultural art (digital programming). Other such artistic fields that are yet to be recognized are music videos, cinematography, set design, and industrial design.
What is New Media?
1: Cyberculture. “Cyberculture is focused on the social and on networking; new media is focused on the cultural and computing.”
2: New Media is a distribution platform. They are cultural objects such as the internet, web sites, computer games, and other such devices of transferring data.
3: Digital Data Controlled by Software. The idea that digital information can be manipulated to create multiple meanings or creations based on the program used.
4: Mix Between Existing Cultural Conventions and the Conventions of Software. Essentially the software we create is not fully utilized to its potential because of our cultural conventions.
5: The Aesthetics that Accompanies the Early Stage of Every New Modern Media and Communication Technology. Every new device that enters into our culture, such as the TV, the camera, undergoes a ‘new media’ stage. As new technology is introduced the aesthetic of the medium changes. Like with DV tapes. A filmmaker could then shoot footage for up to 120 minutes, and make new films based on this technology.
6: Faster Execution of Algorithms Previously Executed Manually or through Other Technologies. New media serves to make tasks that would normally take a manual execution a long time, into an instantaneous solution. Manipulating documents, which previously were written out by hand, is now a simple task. As well as using Photoshop to create a visual montage is now a commonplace occurance.
7: Encoding of Modernist Avant-Garde; New Media as Metamedia. Ideas that were previously avant-garde, such as an artists collage which turned into the basic feature of ‘cut and paste’, and the idea of a pull down menu emerged from the use of movable frames. The metamedia is a recognition that the culture in the 1980s was reworking already existing content, rather than inventing new ideas.
8: Parallel Articulation of Similar Ideas in Post-WWII Art and Modern Computing. There are many periods of cultural height throughout history that can be linked to new media, such as the 1920s and 1960s.
Ken Perlin
From browsing through Ken Perlin’s website, it is clear that he is an incredibly talented computer programmer. He has many different applications you can click on that will take you to another aspect of his research. His video about characters interacting independently of human interaction signifies that some sort of self-sufficient robot could be possible in the near future. He has scratched the surface of the idea of independent thinking programs.
His development of Pad++ is also a revolutionary program. This allows us to infinitely post ideas in any direction. Unlike a post-it note, where you can only write on one surface, you can zoom in or out as much as you want to post your information. For example in pad, there could be an infinite amount of information in between the space of these words. This is the type of thinking outside the box that makes him a such great programmer.
On his website, http://mrl.nyu.edu/~perlin/, I think his most interesting programs are that of people. He is able to create natural movements through mathmatical equations, which I think is a very ambitious and great achievement.
His development of Pad++ is also a revolutionary program. This allows us to infinitely post ideas in any direction. Unlike a post-it note, where you can only write on one surface, you can zoom in or out as much as you want to post your information. For example in pad, there could be an infinite amount of information in between the space of these words. This is the type of thinking outside the box that makes him a such great programmer.
On his website, http://mrl.nyu.edu/~perlin/, I think his most interesting programs are that of people. He is able to create natural movements through mathmatical equations, which I think is a very ambitious and great achievement.
Microcosmos
Microcosmos, a film by Claude Nuridsany and Marie Pérennou, is a wonderful look into an entire world that we are unaware of, one that is filled with spectacular beauty and endless struggle. We see these insects and critters in a whole new way. We get to experience the life of an ant for instance. We have come across thousands of ants in our lifetime, but never before have we been able to witness the work they do from this perspective. This film has a wonderful gift for its audience. We become much more aware of the life that exists within the cracks of our world.
It is hard to watch this film after having very recently seen Winged Migration, where the cinematography and score was produced from the best in the business. Microcosmos leaves a bit to be desired in both of those categories. Granted, there were some spectacular shots, but on the whole the images were not as consistent as it could have been. I feel as if this film is better enjoyed in segments, I think it is fascinating, but an entire feature of just bugs and insects does not particularly intrigue me. Perhaps with a more inspired soundtrack I would be able to sit through the entire film.
It is hard to watch this film after having very recently seen Winged Migration, where the cinematography and score was produced from the best in the business. Microcosmos leaves a bit to be desired in both of those categories. Granted, there were some spectacular shots, but on the whole the images were not as consistent as it could have been. I feel as if this film is better enjoyed in segments, I think it is fascinating, but an entire feature of just bugs and insects does not particularly intrigue me. Perhaps with a more inspired soundtrack I would be able to sit through the entire film.
Borges, The Garden of Forking Paths
The short story, The Garden of Forking Paths, by Jorge Louis Borges is a fictional philosophical story used to illustrate the idea of an infinite, ever expanding labyrinth of time. The framework for this idea is based around a spy-espionage mystery where Dr. Yu Tsun, who is a German spy, needs to relay information to his commander about a British city that is hiding an arsenal. He decides that the best plan is to kill a man, Stephen Albert, who has the same name as the city, that way when the commander reads the news, he will understand the name of the town that needs to be bombed.
As his plan unfolds, he takes a train to the house where the man lives. There, upon meeting Stephen, he comes to learn that Stephen is a scholar who has been studying the life of his great grandfather, Ts’ui Pen. They begin a discourse about the theories of an endless book he wrote, which could also be considered an infinite labyrinth. They then discuss the ideas brought forth by this book, about time forking off into different histories, which can then later on meet again, or fork off into more and more paths.
At the end of the story, the detective, Richard Madden, arrives at the house. Yu Tsun shoots Stephen and is then arrested.
As his plan unfolds, he takes a train to the house where the man lives. There, upon meeting Stephen, he comes to learn that Stephen is a scholar who has been studying the life of his great grandfather, Ts’ui Pen. They begin a discourse about the theories of an endless book he wrote, which could also be considered an infinite labyrinth. They then discuss the ideas brought forth by this book, about time forking off into different histories, which can then later on meet again, or fork off into more and more paths.
At the end of the story, the detective, Richard Madden, arrives at the house. Yu Tsun shoots Stephen and is then arrested.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Bingo
Bingo is another animated short film by Chris Landreth. This short is his first film that puts him on the map as a respected (and brilliant) animator. It’s based on an improv skit he saw at a comedy club, where this large man is defiantly calling a small and inferior man, “Bingo”. Bingo is a surreal short about an insecure man who is in the middle of a circus ring and is relentlessly being called “bingo” by various fantastical characters. From clowns with growing ferocity and enlarging heads, a little girl with endless popping balloons, to a tree made of money, the man in the end submits to the fact that he is indeed, Bingo. This leads to the “stage” disappearing into a concrete room, and we realize that this was all an experiment.
Chris Landreth, Ryan
The film Ryan, by Chris Landreth, is an animated representation of an interview he had with Ryan Larkin. The story begins with Chris in the bathroom, about to meet Ryan, he gets the audience ready for the person their about to meet with a voice over about his own inner turmoil, and how that is rendered visually on his own body. So when we first meet Ryan, who is only a sliver of a face, we instantly know that we are dealing with someone who has almost entirely given up, who’s entity is slipping away from him.
The interview is about Ryan’s history as an animator, about how he began with stick figures, and then transformed the images into abstracted, morphing beings. We cut between the modern animation from Landreth to the fundamental (but genius) animation from Larkin. The interview reveals Ryan’s disgust for the people who have ripped him off, and he has lost his creative ability. His sliver of a face begins to flesh out, however, upon seeing a digitally reenacted vision of his ex-lover. This image seems to pacify his anger, and during his moment of fleeting comfort Landreth signifies this touch of humanity by fleshing out his face.
Chris goes on to talk about people in Ryan’s career, but he touches a nerve when he asks Ryan to stop drinking. Clearly this is all Ryan has to hang onto. By the end of the video we see Chris across the street, with the same sliver of a face as Ryan, who is begging for money in a very animated fashion.
The interview is about Ryan’s history as an animator, about how he began with stick figures, and then transformed the images into abstracted, morphing beings. We cut between the modern animation from Landreth to the fundamental (but genius) animation from Larkin. The interview reveals Ryan’s disgust for the people who have ripped him off, and he has lost his creative ability. His sliver of a face begins to flesh out, however, upon seeing a digitally reenacted vision of his ex-lover. This image seems to pacify his anger, and during his moment of fleeting comfort Landreth signifies this touch of humanity by fleshing out his face.
Chris goes on to talk about people in Ryan’s career, but he touches a nerve when he asks Ryan to stop drinking. Clearly this is all Ryan has to hang onto. By the end of the video we see Chris across the street, with the same sliver of a face as Ryan, who is begging for money in a very animated fashion.
Winged Migration
Winged Migration, a film by Jacques Perrin, is an incredibly beautiful and captivating documentary. The story follows the large birds of this world that travel vast distances every year to find warmer climates. They create camera techniques that have never been used before, and the amount of love, energy, and time that went into this film completely shows. Each shot is beautifully and artistically created, being able to literally fly next to these birds is a remarkable achievement. For the first time we are no longer spectators of this journey across the globe, we are part of it every step of the way. The cinematography is able to keep our attention throughout the duration of the film regardless of the fact that there is no dialog and little narration. The communication with the audience rests on the ability for the composer to create a sound landscape to fit the story of the film. Through watching the making of the music for Winged Migration, it was clear that the success of this film relies heavily on the soundtrack, and they succeeded in achieving music as beautiful and commanding as the images on the screen.
The most incredible thing about this film is the persistence and relentless nature of the filmmakers. Through plane crashes, harsh weather, rough terrain, and creative technical obstacles, they filmed through it all for over 4 years. I am actually really interested in how they budgeted this, with over 500 crewmembers, shooting on all 7 continents (multiple times). It would seem as if this would take at least a decade of solid sales to just begin to makeup for the production costs.
This is a magnificent film, and I think that everybody should get a chance to see it, especially if you have a nice big screen to watch it on.
The most incredible thing about this film is the persistence and relentless nature of the filmmakers. Through plane crashes, harsh weather, rough terrain, and creative technical obstacles, they filmed through it all for over 4 years. I am actually really interested in how they budgeted this, with over 500 crewmembers, shooting on all 7 continents (multiple times). It would seem as if this would take at least a decade of solid sales to just begin to makeup for the production costs.
This is a magnificent film, and I think that everybody should get a chance to see it, especially if you have a nice big screen to watch it on.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Intro to The New Media Reader
Janet H. Murray’s introduction to The New Media Reader, depicts two contrasting perceptions of the relationship between the human consciousness and culture to the inability of the media to capture the complex structure of our thought. Borges and Bush were philosophers from different mediums, but they both articulated the need for more complex information structures.
This dichotomy between humanists and engineers on the topic of scientific progress and the path of growing information technology will be discussed throughout The New Media Reader. The humanists see the need for increased information as only adding to the confusion of life. That it is completely absurd to even think one can understand existence. The engineers on the other hand view life as an intricate maze in which new technology allows us to navigate. They have an insatiable need to progress human thought, to “make us not just smarter, but more creative”. These two trains of thought intersect throughout the novel, where “collaborations focused on new structures of learning in which exploration of the computer is motivated by a desire to foster the exploratory processes of the mind itself.”
Murray then goes in to giving a brief history of the development of the computer. Along with the progression in technology, she discusses the theory that coincides with it. Programmers like Weizenbaum would inadvertently create programs that surpassed our ability to comprehend its abilities. There is also the discussion of whether or not this new technology is a blessing or a curse, much like the age-old discussion of whether or not Prometheus’s gift of fire blessed or cursed mankind.
As the computer progressed and moved from a strictly number crunching machine to an accessible device with programs of all sorts, the humanitarians now had word processing programs and educational programs. This is where the contrasting worlds of the humanitarians and engineers overlap.
This dichotomy between humanists and engineers on the topic of scientific progress and the path of growing information technology will be discussed throughout The New Media Reader. The humanists see the need for increased information as only adding to the confusion of life. That it is completely absurd to even think one can understand existence. The engineers on the other hand view life as an intricate maze in which new technology allows us to navigate. They have an insatiable need to progress human thought, to “make us not just smarter, but more creative”. These two trains of thought intersect throughout the novel, where “collaborations focused on new structures of learning in which exploration of the computer is motivated by a desire to foster the exploratory processes of the mind itself.”
Murray then goes in to giving a brief history of the development of the computer. Along with the progression in technology, she discusses the theory that coincides with it. Programmers like Weizenbaum would inadvertently create programs that surpassed our ability to comprehend its abilities. There is also the discussion of whether or not this new technology is a blessing or a curse, much like the age-old discussion of whether or not Prometheus’s gift of fire blessed or cursed mankind.
As the computer progressed and moved from a strictly number crunching machine to an accessible device with programs of all sorts, the humanitarians now had word processing programs and educational programs. This is where the contrasting worlds of the humanitarians and engineers overlap.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)