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.
Friday, September 28, 2007
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.
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