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.