Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Heroes
I haven't seen the show, but I'm not quite sure how it realates to new media. The previews reminded me of "Smallville" but the wikipedia article made it sound too complicated, too many characters. The heroin-addict who sees the future when he's high sounds hilarious; in season two will we discover that his real superpower is the ability to remain conscious for more than 4 hours a day? Amazing! All the RNA symbols and all that stuff gives it a kind X-Files feel, so it could be really cool. I almost want to watch simply to see a cheerleader mangle her hand in an in-sink-erator.
The END of the Line
-1994 Philip E. Agre. American professor of information studies. Agre's 1994 essay "Surveillance and Capture" addressed directions privacy and surveillance could head in as a result of the "information age". Agre has been an advocate for internet privacy since the beginning, defending us from the far-seeing eye of the ever-looming "Big Brother."
-1994 Espen J. Aarseth (1965-present). Important figure in the field of "video game studies." His essay "Nonlinearity and Literary Theory," is about the field of literary theory and criticism in the hyper/cybertext age. He was one of the first to address nonlinear text as a new form of literature, whith its own brand of theory and criticism.
-1994 Critical Art Ensemble--organization consisting of five members with various new media expertise (video, animation, graphic and web design, etc.) whose is focus the exploration of the intersections between art, critical theory, technology, and political activism. "Nomadic Power and Cultural Resistance" discusses their theories about how the internet has made traditional activism impossible and most new technologies only benefit "the man" anyway, so the only place to "stick it to him" is in cyberspace.
-1994 "The World-Wide Web", this article written by "Berners-Lee et al" describes and defines every aspect of the modern www phenomenon. The essay also compares alternate proposed versions of the web which didn't make it to the one that did. In the end the web didn't have to be amazing, just good enough to send email.
Reaction:
Surveillance--I understand the privacy concerns and how big brother-like the web must have seemed in the beginning. This is especially relevant now with the patriot act and that big long list of possible terrorists which has prevented tons of normal people from flying. I'm honestly surprised that the government is that organized. On the one hand, I don't care if people are watching me, but on the other hand--who are they, and why are they doing it? I throw out tons of tracking cookies every time I scan my computer, but it didn't stop someone in Madrid from emptying my bank account last September. I got the money back, but my questions have not been answered.
Espen Aarseth--who is this guy? I bet he made up that name, anyone who studies video games and their profundity as "just games, meant to be played" needs a name like that. I don't understand why he went off on this cyber lit theory tangent though.
CAE--Words like "cyberhippies" are so funny to me! I think this is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard of. "Cyber sit-ins?" are you kidding? Maybe I'm still stuck in a print mentality.
WWW--I've heard my grandpa talk about how flawed the internet was for years; he's probably the only person over 60 I've ever known who's better at figuring out technology than my 10-year-old cousins. I remember when it first became public and there were all these ads on the radio encouraging people to "get connected" and "join the information superhighway." Now we can't do anything without it.
-1994 Espen J. Aarseth (1965-present). Important figure in the field of "video game studies." His essay "Nonlinearity and Literary Theory," is about the field of literary theory and criticism in the hyper/cybertext age. He was one of the first to address nonlinear text as a new form of literature, whith its own brand of theory and criticism.
-1994 Critical Art Ensemble--organization consisting of five members with various new media expertise (video, animation, graphic and web design, etc.) whose is focus the exploration of the intersections between art, critical theory, technology, and political activism. "Nomadic Power and Cultural Resistance" discusses their theories about how the internet has made traditional activism impossible and most new technologies only benefit "the man" anyway, so the only place to "stick it to him" is in cyberspace.
-1994 "The World-Wide Web", this article written by "Berners-Lee et al" describes and defines every aspect of the modern www phenomenon. The essay also compares alternate proposed versions of the web which didn't make it to the one that did. In the end the web didn't have to be amazing, just good enough to send email.
Reaction:
Surveillance--I understand the privacy concerns and how big brother-like the web must have seemed in the beginning. This is especially relevant now with the patriot act and that big long list of possible terrorists which has prevented tons of normal people from flying. I'm honestly surprised that the government is that organized. On the one hand, I don't care if people are watching me, but on the other hand--who are they, and why are they doing it? I throw out tons of tracking cookies every time I scan my computer, but it didn't stop someone in Madrid from emptying my bank account last September. I got the money back, but my questions have not been answered.
Espen Aarseth--who is this guy? I bet he made up that name, anyone who studies video games and their profundity as "just games, meant to be played" needs a name like that. I don't understand why he went off on this cyber lit theory tangent though.
CAE--Words like "cyberhippies" are so funny to me! I think this is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard of. "Cyber sit-ins?" are you kidding? Maybe I'm still stuck in a print mentality.
WWW--I've heard my grandpa talk about how flawed the internet was for years; he's probably the only person over 60 I've ever known who's better at figuring out technology than my 10-year-old cousins. I remember when it first became public and there were all these ads on the radio encouraging people to "get connected" and "join the information superhighway." Now we can't do anything without it.
Monday, November 27, 2006
never-ending timeline
1991-Pelle Ehn (Swedish professor of design) and Morten Kyng (Danish professor of "pervasive computing") led the Scandinavian "Utopia" project which worked with the user to design new interfaces for computer software. Their work, chronicled in the essay "Cardboard Computers" influenced the design of all software which followed.
1991-Chip Morningstar (developer of software and large-scale interactive gaming communities) and Randall Farmer (also a pionneer in the field of computer gaming communities) developed Habitat, the precursor to modern "Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Games." This project is described in detail in "The Lessons of Lucasfilm's Habitat."
1991-J. David Bolter (1951-present). American professor of communication and culture. He, along with John B. Smith and Michael Joyce created the "Storyspace" system for writing and editing hypertext fiction. His essay "Seeing and Writing" discusses the effects of technology on the writing process.
1991-Stuart Moulthrop. American author and innovator of electronic literature and hypertext fiction. His essay "You Say You Want a Revolution?" describes the role of hypertext in relation to other media.
1991-Robert Coover (1932-present). American professor and author of "fabulation and metafiction." His article "The End of Books" advocates hypertext writing and fiction.
1993-Scott McCloud (1960-present). American cartoonist. His book "Understanding Comics" is a comic which explains the "neglected art" of comics. This was basically the first study of the medium, it started the shift toward a more serious regard for comics as an art form.
Reaction:
Phew, 1991 was a big year.
We all know how I hate gaming communities like Ultima Online. I don't understand why these things need to exist. But the work of Chip Morningstar and Randall Farmer took me back a bit, mainly because they mentioned Palace, a really early virtual world I was into for a minute in junior high. It was basically like instant messaging with avatars, where instead of chat rooms as a link and a new screen, you moved your character into a virtual room. I got bored with it really quickly though, I prefer the real world (you couldn't make your character do very much either).
I don't think hypertext as we know it could ever replace television, it's just not user-friendly enough. The book as we know it might someday cease to exist, however, the linear novel will never die.
I can't believe I haven't heard of Scott McCloud! I live for graphic novels, and I think Dan Clowes is possibly the greatest storyteller of all time. McClouds comic in the book was so witty, explaining comics with a comic--genius! His representation of himself also reminded me of that tutorial that early macs always came with, you know, the guy sitting at the desk teaching you how to use the mouse and create folders and documents and other basic computer activities.
1991-Chip Morningstar (developer of software and large-scale interactive gaming communities) and Randall Farmer (also a pionneer in the field of computer gaming communities) developed Habitat, the precursor to modern "Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Games." This project is described in detail in "The Lessons of Lucasfilm's Habitat."
1991-J. David Bolter (1951-present). American professor of communication and culture. He, along with John B. Smith and Michael Joyce created the "Storyspace" system for writing and editing hypertext fiction. His essay "Seeing and Writing" discusses the effects of technology on the writing process.
1991-Stuart Moulthrop. American author and innovator of electronic literature and hypertext fiction. His essay "You Say You Want a Revolution?" describes the role of hypertext in relation to other media.
1991-Robert Coover (1932-present). American professor and author of "fabulation and metafiction." His article "The End of Books" advocates hypertext writing and fiction.
1993-Scott McCloud (1960-present). American cartoonist. His book "Understanding Comics" is a comic which explains the "neglected art" of comics. This was basically the first study of the medium, it started the shift toward a more serious regard for comics as an art form.
Reaction:
Phew, 1991 was a big year.
We all know how I hate gaming communities like Ultima Online. I don't understand why these things need to exist. But the work of Chip Morningstar and Randall Farmer took me back a bit, mainly because they mentioned Palace, a really early virtual world I was into for a minute in junior high. It was basically like instant messaging with avatars, where instead of chat rooms as a link and a new screen, you moved your character into a virtual room. I got bored with it really quickly though, I prefer the real world (you couldn't make your character do very much either).
I don't think hypertext as we know it could ever replace television, it's just not user-friendly enough. The book as we know it might someday cease to exist, however, the linear novel will never die.
I can't believe I haven't heard of Scott McCloud! I live for graphic novels, and I think Dan Clowes is possibly the greatest storyteller of all time. McClouds comic in the book was so witty, explaining comics with a comic--genius! His representation of himself also reminded me of that tutorial that early macs always came with, you know, the guy sitting at the desk teaching you how to use the mouse and create folders and documents and other basic computer activities.
Sunday, November 26, 2006
the line of time
-1986 Langdon Winner. American political theorist and professor of science and technology. His paper "Mythinformation" adressed "major focuses upon social and political issues that surround modern technological change."
-1987 Lucy Suchman. American professor of sociology and former manager of Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center. Her book Plans and Situated Actions critiqued early artificial intelligence programs and ultimately led to changes "within the language of AI."
-1988 Michael Joyce (1945-present). American English professor and writer (and critic) of hypertext fiction and electronic literature. In "Siren Shapes" Joyce advocates the use of hypertext for educational uses, and draws a distinction between "constructive" and "exploratory" hypertexts.
-1988 Bill Nichols. American historian and theoretician of documentary film. In his essay, "The Work of Culture in the Age of Cybernetic Systems," Nichols discussed new media simulations and the indications of modern society's tendency to "work against the system" when engaged in these simulations.
-1990 Lynn Hershman. American artist and filmmaker. She created the first interactive video art installation. In "Fantasy Beyond Control," Hershman discusses her next unprecedented step in interactive video art--the narrative CD-ROM.
Reactions:
I think it's amazing that digital media, so new that we still don't quite know what to do with them, began changing the way society thinks and functions so soon after their creation. Not only did these new media change society, but on such a large scale that people noticed and began writing papers about it.
I'm not really sure what Michael Joyce was talking about. Whenever I think of hypertext novels I just think of choose your own adventure books...I can't get past that.
I loved Bill Nichols' ideas, and the example before the text about people putting the simulated baby in the microwave. We all do that! I remember when I got the Sims with the expansion pack that came with a coin-operated "massaging" heart-shaped bed (you know, cheesy motel style), first you try to see if you can make the man and the woman have sex. Of course they do, so then you make them fight and see if they'll still do it when they're mad at each other. Then, you introduce a new female neighbor and see if the wife will have sex with her. Ultimately they become lesbians and kick the husband out. Before I got the bed, I spent hours trying to see if the husband would kill himself if I made him depressed enough.
Aw, I remember CD-ROMS. They don't even call them that anymore do they? We just use the term "disk" and assign new formats to it every year but we never change the name. In any case, I'd like to see some of Lynn Hershman's CD-ROMs.
-1987 Lucy Suchman. American professor of sociology and former manager of Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center. Her book Plans and Situated Actions critiqued early artificial intelligence programs and ultimately led to changes "within the language of AI."
-1988 Michael Joyce (1945-present). American English professor and writer (and critic) of hypertext fiction and electronic literature. In "Siren Shapes" Joyce advocates the use of hypertext for educational uses, and draws a distinction between "constructive" and "exploratory" hypertexts.
-1988 Bill Nichols. American historian and theoretician of documentary film. In his essay, "The Work of Culture in the Age of Cybernetic Systems," Nichols discussed new media simulations and the indications of modern society's tendency to "work against the system" when engaged in these simulations.
-1990 Lynn Hershman. American artist and filmmaker. She created the first interactive video art installation. In "Fantasy Beyond Control," Hershman discusses her next unprecedented step in interactive video art--the narrative CD-ROM.
Reactions:
I think it's amazing that digital media, so new that we still don't quite know what to do with them, began changing the way society thinks and functions so soon after their creation. Not only did these new media change society, but on such a large scale that people noticed and began writing papers about it.
I'm not really sure what Michael Joyce was talking about. Whenever I think of hypertext novels I just think of choose your own adventure books...I can't get past that.
I loved Bill Nichols' ideas, and the example before the text about people putting the simulated baby in the microwave. We all do that! I remember when I got the Sims with the expansion pack that came with a coin-operated "massaging" heart-shaped bed (you know, cheesy motel style), first you try to see if you can make the man and the woman have sex. Of course they do, so then you make them fight and see if they'll still do it when they're mad at each other. Then, you introduce a new female neighbor and see if the wife will have sex with her. Ultimately they become lesbians and kick the husband out. Before I got the bed, I spent hours trying to see if the husband would kill himself if I made him depressed enough.
Aw, I remember CD-ROMS. They don't even call them that anymore do they? We just use the term "disk" and assign new formats to it every year but we never change the name. In any case, I'd like to see some of Lynn Hershman's CD-ROMs.
Sunday, November 12, 2006
the irrepressible timeline
-1981 Ted Nelson's Literary Machines. This is "a complete outline" of his Xanadu project, an archiving, information-sharing computer network--basically his idea of the world wide web.
-1982 Bill Viola (1951-present)American video artist. His essay "Will There Be Condominiums in Data Space?" discusses the philosophy behind his unprecedented work with the video medium.
-1983 Ben Bagdikian (1920-present)Armenian-born (American) educator and journalist. He originally published The Media Monopoly in 1983, and accurately predicted the current reign of mega-corporations over various media. In the first edition, he cited 50 corporations which dominated all mass-media, in 2000, he cited 6.
-1983 Ben Shneiderman (1947-present) American computer scientist/pioneer in the field of human/computer interaction. In his article "Direct Manipulation" he describes a user interface system which is dependent on graphics, rather than programming languages--more like a video game. This idea defined the term "user-friendly."
-1984 Sherry Turkle (1948-present) American clinical psychologist and professor of science and technology at MIT. In her book The Second Self she explored why children play video games and how it affects the way they learn about and experience the world. During a time when video games had reached unprecedented levels of both popularity and criticism, Turkle argued that they might actually be...therapeutic...
-1985 Donna Haraway (1944-present) American professor of feminist theory and "technoscience." Her Cyborg Manifesto united feminism and technology for the first time.
-1985 Richard Stallman (1953-present) American activist and hacker. In 1985 he founded the GNU Project--a free unix-like system created in response to AT&T's decision to charge people for using Unix. Stallman has been a vocal advocate of free software ever since.
-1986 Terry Winograd (1946-present) American professor of computer science. Fernando Flores (1943-present)Chilean philosopher and senator. Their book Understanding Computers and Cognition, though some see it as anti-A.I., proposes simply that we use computers as extensions of ourselves, tools, and only employ AI to the few situations where it would be appropriate to do so.
-1986 (1991) Brenda Laurel. American human/computer interaction researcher and software designer. Both in her 1986 thesis and her 1991 book, Computers as Theatre, Laurel proposes that Aristotle's Poetics is the key to understanding computers.
-1986 Jan L. Bordewijk and Ben van Kaam. (I couldn't find info about them) Their essay "Towards a New Classification of Tele-Information Services" begins to classify various forms if digital communication that emerged with the rise of the internet. Basically, they created classifications for types of media which had not previously existed.
Reaction:
I don't understand why Ted Nelson hates the world wide web. I'm sure it could have been done better but this is the way it is, so don't cry about it man--find ways to improve what already exists--that's what Richard Stallman is doing. I see both sides to the free media argument though, I'm broke, thus I would like everything on the internet to be free...but people also gotta eat...
Bill Viola is amazing.
I have known about Ben Bagdikian's ideas, not through him, but through a documentary entitled "The Merchants of Cool," probably since I was in high school. Today I believe that there are only 5 companies running everything, but I could be mistaken and I don't even remember their names. I remember when the FCC changed the rules about how many "objective" media outlets a private entity could own and it freaked me out. I enjoy the fact that with the internet every individual has a public forum for their own media, but we still need to keep news out of the hands of politicians, corrupt businessmen and special interest groups.
Sherry Turkle's ideas are echoed in a book I just read for my history of media class: Everything Bad is Good for You by Stephen Johnson--who is a faculty member at NYU. It's funny because now, after more than 20 years of bashing video games, the idea that they're not all that bad for you is becoming more current.
As for Brenda Laurel, I'm sorry but I'd be a goddess over a cyborg any day. But for me it would be more about having that kind of power in modern society than about nostalgia for womens' role in ancient mythology.
-1982 Bill Viola (1951-present)American video artist. His essay "Will There Be Condominiums in Data Space?" discusses the philosophy behind his unprecedented work with the video medium.
-1983 Ben Bagdikian (1920-present)Armenian-born (American) educator and journalist. He originally published The Media Monopoly in 1983, and accurately predicted the current reign of mega-corporations over various media. In the first edition, he cited 50 corporations which dominated all mass-media, in 2000, he cited 6.
-1983 Ben Shneiderman (1947-present) American computer scientist/pioneer in the field of human/computer interaction. In his article "Direct Manipulation" he describes a user interface system which is dependent on graphics, rather than programming languages--more like a video game. This idea defined the term "user-friendly."
-1984 Sherry Turkle (1948-present) American clinical psychologist and professor of science and technology at MIT. In her book The Second Self she explored why children play video games and how it affects the way they learn about and experience the world. During a time when video games had reached unprecedented levels of both popularity and criticism, Turkle argued that they might actually be...therapeutic...
-1985 Donna Haraway (1944-present) American professor of feminist theory and "technoscience." Her Cyborg Manifesto united feminism and technology for the first time.
-1985 Richard Stallman (1953-present) American activist and hacker. In 1985 he founded the GNU Project--a free unix-like system created in response to AT&T's decision to charge people for using Unix. Stallman has been a vocal advocate of free software ever since.
-1986 Terry Winograd (1946-present) American professor of computer science. Fernando Flores (1943-present)Chilean philosopher and senator. Their book Understanding Computers and Cognition, though some see it as anti-A.I., proposes simply that we use computers as extensions of ourselves, tools, and only employ AI to the few situations where it would be appropriate to do so.
-1986 (1991) Brenda Laurel. American human/computer interaction researcher and software designer. Both in her 1986 thesis and her 1991 book, Computers as Theatre, Laurel proposes that Aristotle's Poetics is the key to understanding computers.
-1986 Jan L. Bordewijk and Ben van Kaam. (I couldn't find info about them) Their essay "Towards a New Classification of Tele-Information Services" begins to classify various forms if digital communication that emerged with the rise of the internet. Basically, they created classifications for types of media which had not previously existed.
Reaction:
I don't understand why Ted Nelson hates the world wide web. I'm sure it could have been done better but this is the way it is, so don't cry about it man--find ways to improve what already exists--that's what Richard Stallman is doing. I see both sides to the free media argument though, I'm broke, thus I would like everything on the internet to be free...but people also gotta eat...
Bill Viola is amazing.
I have known about Ben Bagdikian's ideas, not through him, but through a documentary entitled "The Merchants of Cool," probably since I was in high school. Today I believe that there are only 5 companies running everything, but I could be mistaken and I don't even remember their names. I remember when the FCC changed the rules about how many "objective" media outlets a private entity could own and it freaked me out. I enjoy the fact that with the internet every individual has a public forum for their own media, but we still need to keep news out of the hands of politicians, corrupt businessmen and special interest groups.
Sherry Turkle's ideas are echoed in a book I just read for my history of media class: Everything Bad is Good for You by Stephen Johnson--who is a faculty member at NYU. It's funny because now, after more than 20 years of bashing video games, the idea that they're not all that bad for you is becoming more current.
As for Brenda Laurel, I'm sorry but I'd be a goddess over a cyborg any day. But for me it would be more about having that kind of power in modern society than about nostalgia for womens' role in ancient mythology.
Monday, November 06, 2006
latest timeline reactions
Augusto Boal's work reminded me both of my own experience using theatre to prevent teen pregnancy prevention in impoverished areas of Honolulu, and also of that new Robin Williams movie, "Man of the Year." How exactly do you run for office, but not seriously, and then win?
As for Negroponte's work, I can't imagine architecture without computers. I'm sure it's still taught the old-fashioned way, with t-squares and all that just to make sure people know what they're doing (the same way we're required to learn math without a calculator before they let us use one), but it seems to me that modern architecture could not be designed without computers.
I couldn't find as much information about Weizenbaum's Eliza program as I would have liked. How did he implement it in such a way that people opened up? Did they know it was just a computer? What was his test group? I agree that we shouldn't let machines make important decisions for us, but I'm sure that in some cases we do, I'm just struggling to think of an example.
I didn't really understand the Deleuze and Guattari's book. I know they had to invent a new word to describe it, and all the strange words in it seemed much shiftier than the "language" employed in "A Clockwork Orange" which is still linnear. I just feel like it would be a chore to read the whole thing.
As for Negroponte's work, I can't imagine architecture without computers. I'm sure it's still taught the old-fashioned way, with t-squares and all that just to make sure people know what they're doing (the same way we're required to learn math without a calculator before they let us use one), but it seems to me that modern architecture could not be designed without computers.
I couldn't find as much information about Weizenbaum's Eliza program as I would have liked. How did he implement it in such a way that people opened up? Did they know it was just a computer? What was his test group? I agree that we shouldn't let machines make important decisions for us, but I'm sure that in some cases we do, I'm just struggling to think of an example.
I didn't really understand the Deleuze and Guattari's book. I know they had to invent a new word to describe it, and all the strange words in it seemed much shiftier than the "language" employed in "A Clockwork Orange" which is still linnear. I just feel like it would be a chore to read the whole thing.
more timeline
1974-Augusto Boal (1931-present) Brazilian theatrical director, writer, and politician.
Interactive performance artist who used his interactive techniques to help the oppressed people of South America. These techniques are described in his 1974 book, "Theatre of the Oppressed." He is the only new media pioneer to have been jailed for practicing his art. In 1992 he ran for political office "as an act of theatre" and won, but was not reelected in 1996.
1975-Nicholas Negroponte (1943-present) American civil architect and computer scientist. He founded the Architecture Machine Group and the Media Lab at MIT and was one of the first architects to use computers and he was an innovator in the field of new media as a tool for architectural design. His "Soft Architecture Machines" describes methods developed by Negroponte and his collaborators at MIT.
1976-Joseph Weizenbaum (1923-present) German-born professor of computer science at MIT. His "Computer Power and Human Reason" is a result of his experiences with his AI program, ELIZA, which was the first to use natural language processing to interact with people. This experience led him to become one of the leading critics of artificial intelligence.
1977-Myron Krueger (1942-present) American new media artist. He was one of the first to research and work in the areas of "responsive environments" and "artificial reality" (i.e. virtual reality).
1977-Alan Kay (1940-present) and Adele Goldberg (1945-present). American computer scientists who co-wrote the essay "Personal Dynamic Media" which accurately predicted the future of the "notebook" or laptop computer.
1980-Gilles Deleuze (1925-1995) and Felix Guattari (1930-1992) were a French philosopher and psychoanalyst who co-wrote several works including "A thousand Plateaus"--for which they invented the genre/concept rhizomatic. Which as I understand it is a nonlinear form of writing or hypertext with a unique syntax.
1980-Seymour Papert (1928-present) South-African born MIT mathemetician, computer scientist and educator. In the 1960s he invented a philosphy of education which he called constructionism, and as the home computer became more common he began to see it as a powerful tool for learning. He invented the LOGO programming language which allowed children to control the computer and their own educational experience. His book, "Mindstorms" describes the role of the computer in constructionist education.
1980-Richard A. Bolt (?) American computer scientist. He was a member of Negroponte's Architecture Machine group at MIT. He designed the "Put-That-There" interface which was the first "multimodal" interface--it used speech and gesture input, as opposed to just typing.
Interactive performance artist who used his interactive techniques to help the oppressed people of South America. These techniques are described in his 1974 book, "Theatre of the Oppressed." He is the only new media pioneer to have been jailed for practicing his art. In 1992 he ran for political office "as an act of theatre" and won, but was not reelected in 1996.
1975-Nicholas Negroponte (1943-present) American civil architect and computer scientist. He founded the Architecture Machine Group and the Media Lab at MIT and was one of the first architects to use computers and he was an innovator in the field of new media as a tool for architectural design. His "Soft Architecture Machines" describes methods developed by Negroponte and his collaborators at MIT.
1976-Joseph Weizenbaum (1923-present) German-born professor of computer science at MIT. His "Computer Power and Human Reason" is a result of his experiences with his AI program, ELIZA, which was the first to use natural language processing to interact with people. This experience led him to become one of the leading critics of artificial intelligence.
1977-Myron Krueger (1942-present) American new media artist. He was one of the first to research and work in the areas of "responsive environments" and "artificial reality" (i.e. virtual reality).
1977-Alan Kay (1940-present) and Adele Goldberg (1945-present). American computer scientists who co-wrote the essay "Personal Dynamic Media" which accurately predicted the future of the "notebook" or laptop computer.
1980-Gilles Deleuze (1925-1995) and Felix Guattari (1930-1992) were a French philosopher and psychoanalyst who co-wrote several works including "A thousand Plateaus"--for which they invented the genre/concept rhizomatic. Which as I understand it is a nonlinear form of writing or hypertext with a unique syntax.
1980-Seymour Papert (1928-present) South-African born MIT mathemetician, computer scientist and educator. In the 1960s he invented a philosphy of education which he called constructionism, and as the home computer became more common he began to see it as a powerful tool for learning. He invented the LOGO programming language which allowed children to control the computer and their own educational experience. His book, "Mindstorms" describes the role of the computer in constructionist education.
1980-Richard A. Bolt (?) American computer scientist. He was a member of Negroponte's Architecture Machine group at MIT. He designed the "Put-That-There" interface which was the first "multimodal" interface--it used speech and gesture input, as opposed to just typing.
Monday, October 30, 2006
Timeline
1970-Software--Information Technology. This was an exhibit organized by Jack Burnham which featured the work of Ted Nelson, The Architecture Machine Group, John Baldessari, Vito Acconci, Hans, Haacke, and Joseph Kosuth among others. This exhibition was the first which called upon visitors to operate computers. There were also many technical difficulties which many experienced for the first time though they remain commonplace today.
1970-Hans Magnus Enzensberger (1929-present). German writer and poet, he wrote "Constituents of a Theory of the Media" which deals with New Left Socialism and refers to the media as "the Consciousness Industry."
1972-Jean Baudrillard (1929-present). French cultural theorist, philosopher, sociologist, etc. etc. Champion of post-modern thought. His essay "Requiem for the Media" is a response to Enzensberger's 1970 writing which Baudrillard opposes.
1972-Raymond Williams (1921-1988). Welsh, Marxist academic/novelist. His essay "The Technology and the Society" criticized television's role in society and intruduced the concept of flow (organizing principle of television.)
1974-Ted Nelson's Computer Lib/Dream Machines. This was "the most important book in the history of new media, because it accurately predicted the arrival of the personal computer as we know it.
Reaction:
I can't tell the difference between Enzensberger and Baudrillard. I have no idea what they're talking about and that's why I can't really explain their two schools of thought. My history of media class has taught me that it takes an average of 300-500 years to find the most effective use for any new medium, so how could anyone possibly understand the uses and effects of media that were barely 20 years old at the time?
The software-info tech exhibit made me laugh just because of all the technical difficulties. It's like that story from the history of the internet where one of the programmers was trying to demonstrate the new network to IBM for the first time and the whole system crashed. New things are already under closer scrutiny and people are quick to criticize, no one will excuse you if you haven't worked all the bugs out. When I think about the exhibits we saw at the galleries in chelsea though, it's apparent how far we've come.
1970-Hans Magnus Enzensberger (1929-present). German writer and poet, he wrote "Constituents of a Theory of the Media" which deals with New Left Socialism and refers to the media as "the Consciousness Industry."
1972-Jean Baudrillard (1929-present). French cultural theorist, philosopher, sociologist, etc. etc. Champion of post-modern thought. His essay "Requiem for the Media" is a response to Enzensberger's 1970 writing which Baudrillard opposes.
1972-Raymond Williams (1921-1988). Welsh, Marxist academic/novelist. His essay "The Technology and the Society" criticized television's role in society and intruduced the concept of flow (organizing principle of television.)
1974-Ted Nelson's Computer Lib/Dream Machines. This was "the most important book in the history of new media, because it accurately predicted the arrival of the personal computer as we know it.
Reaction:
I can't tell the difference between Enzensberger and Baudrillard. I have no idea what they're talking about and that's why I can't really explain their two schools of thought. My history of media class has taught me that it takes an average of 300-500 years to find the most effective use for any new medium, so how could anyone possibly understand the uses and effects of media that were barely 20 years old at the time?
The software-info tech exhibit made me laugh just because of all the technical difficulties. It's like that story from the history of the internet where one of the programmers was trying to demonstrate the new network to IBM for the first time and the whole system crashed. New things are already under closer scrutiny and people are quick to criticize, no one will excuse you if you haven't worked all the bugs out. When I think about the exhibits we saw at the galleries in chelsea though, it's apparent how far we've come.
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Okami
It's funny, as I was reading this article, my roommate came home and turned on his playstation. His brother had just given him Okami, so I actually got to see it in action. Personally, I don't have much patience for videogames which require investing lots of time to explore and decipher--I prefer games like Katamari where you just have to roll a giant ball of stuff--but Okami is so different, and so fun just to look at. This game to me was like an interactive version of Princess Mononoke, just because of the way all the characters spoke and all the Japanese mythology involved. The animation is also really unique, I don't think there's anything else like it on the market right now.
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Responses to Articles
Cyberface:
This technology reminds me of that Al Pacino movie, "Simone" that came out a few years ago about a virtual actress who programmed and controlled by her director. The Cyberface technology looks a lot like Ken Perlin's face program, though more sophisticated. Is it possible for a computer-animated mask to have a person's "soul?"
E-books:
I have never liked the idea of e-books, or the idea of paying for files or media that can only be viewed on a computer, but this sony e-vention has potential. They need to fix that backlighting thing, but if I could keep all my books in one device and still read them like normal books, life would be amazing.
Musical robot:
Will this change the way musicians play? Will they try to imitate these machines after they're done imitating us? While this could be a useful tool for musicians practicing at home, I would expect music played by a machine would lack the...life that music we play ourselves has.
Virtual Reporter:
I think everyone knows how I feel about all these virtual worlds, and businesses that endorse them and make it seem okay to live their instead of here with the rest of us. I thought it was really interesting though, how Reuter's wouldn't set up in WOW because the players were "too uncivilized."
This technology reminds me of that Al Pacino movie, "Simone" that came out a few years ago about a virtual actress who programmed and controlled by her director. The Cyberface technology looks a lot like Ken Perlin's face program, though more sophisticated. Is it possible for a computer-animated mask to have a person's "soul?"
E-books:
I have never liked the idea of e-books, or the idea of paying for files or media that can only be viewed on a computer, but this sony e-vention has potential. They need to fix that backlighting thing, but if I could keep all my books in one device and still read them like normal books, life would be amazing.
Musical robot:
Will this change the way musicians play? Will they try to imitate these machines after they're done imitating us? While this could be a useful tool for musicians practicing at home, I would expect music played by a machine would lack the...life that music we play ourselves has.
Virtual Reporter:
I think everyone knows how I feel about all these virtual worlds, and businesses that endorse them and make it seem okay to live their instead of here with the rest of us. I thought it was really interesting though, how Reuter's wouldn't set up in WOW because the players were "too uncivilized."
Sunday, October 22, 2006
Inside the Actor's Studio: George W. Bush (via cut-up method)
Preface
The dialogue that follows did not actually take place, rather, it did, but not as it is presented here. President George W. Bush is one of the most controversial presidents this country has ever seen. He is the leader of the free world, and before his $400,000 a year presidential salary kicked in he was worth over $20 million. Though this is a small fortune by today’s standards, President Bush is arguably the most powerful man in the world.
Rather than attempt to interview the president myself--a difficult feat, even for Katie Couric--I chose the most famous, oft-spoofed, and capable interviewer of all: James Lipton.
What follows is a dialogue constructed from transcripts of Inside the Actor’s Studio and “Bushisms” compiled by the fine people at www.thetruthaboutgeorge.com. In some cases, the word “actor” has been changed to relate to politics, and words or symbols in brackets may have been added for continuity. Otherwise, these are all direct quotes from the President of the United States, and James Lipton.
. . .
James Lipton: In each generation, it falls to two or three actors to define their time; in succession: Brando, Nicholson, DeNiro, Pacino, Streep and Sean Penn…have left indelible imprints on their craft, and although the books are barely open on the emerging generation, there is one young actor who is virtually unrecognizable from one film to the next and unforgettable in every one of them. The actor’s studio is proud to welcome [President George W. Bush].
President Bush: Thank you all very much. Please be seated. (Applause). Thank you. Sonny, thanks for the introduction. Thanks for your leadership. Every time I’m invited to this rostrum I’m humbled by the privilege and mindful of the history we’ve seen together.
JL: Here’s a very political guy. Did any of that derive from your feelings as a child living in a political household?
PB: I’m a follower of American politics, [but] if people want to get to know me better, they’ve got to know my parents and the values my parents instilled in me, and the fact that I was raised in West Texas, in the middle of the desert, a long way from anywhere, hardly. There’s a certain set of values you learn in that experience.
JL: Was it easy? Was it difficult? Was it interesting?
PB: I think--tide turning--see, as I remember--I was raised in the desert, but tides kind of--it’s easy to see a tide turn--did I say those words?
JL: Talking about your mother, she had very political and feminist…
PB: We stand for things.
JL: So she’s a prominent feminist.
PB: You know, it’s hard work to try to love her as best as I can, […] so thank you for reminding me about the importance of being a good mom and a great volunteer as well.
JL: I also understand that there were some near fist fights over who, which of you was getting the true and authentic method.
PB: It’s a myth to think I don’t know what’s going on. It’s a myth to think that I’m not aware that there’s opinions that don’t agree with mine, because I’m fully aware of that. I can only speak to myself.
JL: Clearly, you were not dissuaded.
PB: As a matter of fact, I know relations between our governments is good.
JL: Let me ask you a question about the gladiatorial contests. They look dangerous…
PB: The United States of America is engaged in a war against an extremist group of folks […] Trying to stop suiciders--which we’re doing a pretty good job of on occasion--is difficult to do. And what the Iraqis are going to have to eventually do is convince those who are conducting suiciders who are not inspired by Al Qaeda, for example, to realize there’s a peaceful tomorrow.
JL: You have said that you always approach [politics] with a rock and roll mentality. Is that true?
PB: My views are one that speaks to freedom. My answer is bring them on.
JL: When you are in the Oval office and you are praying, about to give this speech, no in order to get to a place like that how do you protect yourself on a set, to carry through and reach that point?
PB: I always jest to people, the Oval Office is the kind of place for people standing outside--they're getting ready to come in and tell me what for, and they walk in and get overwhelmed by the atmosphere, and they say, “Man, you're looking pretty." They’ve seen me make decisions, they’ve seen me under trying times, they’ve seen me weep, they’ve seen me laugh, they’ve seen me hug. And now they know who I am, and I believe they’re comfortable with the fact that they know I’m not going to shift principles or shift positions based upon polls and focus groups.
JL: I’m sure that when people talk to you about that role, they refer to one act, the one activity in it…
PB: I cut the taxes on everybody. I didn’t cut them. The Congress cut them. I asked them to cut them. I’m the decider, and I decide what is best.
JL: Both are plagues.
PB: We look forward to hearing your vision, so we can more better do our job. That’s what I’m telling you. I speak plainly sometimes, but you’ve got to be mindful of the consequences of the words.
JL: Mimicry isn’t really acting is it? But it’s something amazing…
PB: I’m also mindful that man should never try to put words in God’s mouth. I mean, we should never ascribe natural disasters or anything else to God. We are in no way, shape, or form should a human being, play God.
JL: We begin our classroom with the questionnaire invented by the great Bernard Pebo. What is your favorite word?
PB: Uninalienable.
JL: What is your least favorite word?
PB: Erection--election.
JL: When this goes on the air…what this gentleman gave us tonight is going to ruin your reputation! People will think you’re a pussycat. What turns you on?
PB: A good-old Texas girl, like me.
JL: What turns you off?
PB: If it were to rain a lot.
JL: What sound or noise do you love?
PB: If you listen carefully, if Saddam were president of the United States he would still be in power, and we’s be a lot better off.
JL: What sound or noise do you hate?
PB: Tribal sovereignty.
JL: A question I’ve been waiting nine and a half years to ask you. What is your favorite curse word?
PB: Brownie.
JL: Excellent! What profession, other than yours, would you like to attempt?
PB: Occasionally reading.
JL: What profession would you absolutely not like to participate in?
PB: Retiring.
JL: Finally, if heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?
PB: We all thought there was weapons there, [George]!
JL: Here are your students.
Student #1: Hi, my name is Melinda. I’m a first year actress. I just have to say--first of all, I’m so excited that you’re here, so, thanks for coming.
PB: Thank you.
Student #1: My question is about your process…
PB: I glance at the headlines just to kind of get a flavor for what’s moving. I rarely read the stories, and get briefed by people who probably read the news themselves.
Student #2: Hi, my name is Sarah Wilson.
PB: Hi!
Student #2: And my question is actually…um…You’ve been so open and honest with us tonight in everything you’ve been telling us. And my question is how do you remain so open and honest in your work and in your own life?
PB: Let me put it to you bluntly: in a changing world, we want more people to have control over your own life. Because the--all which is on the table begins to address the big cost drivers. For example, how benefits are calculated, for example, is on the table; whether or not benefits rise based upon wage increases or price increases. There’s a series of parts of the formula that are being considered. And when you couple that, those different cost drivers, affecting those--changing those with personal accounts, the idea is to get what has been promised more likely to be--or closer delivered to what has been promised. Does that make any sense to you? It’s kind of muddled. Look, there’s a series of things that cause the--like, for example, benefits are calculated based upon the increase of wages, as opposed to the increase of prices. In other words, how fast benefits grow, how fast the promised benefits grow, if those--if that growth is affected, it will help on the red.
Student #3: Good evening Mr. President.
PB: Hi.
Student #3: My name is Michael Romani. I’m a first year actor and…um...I notice that you choose your work with such integrity. And I’m wondering if there was ever a point early in you career where there was a very difficult decision to make about what work to do based on: “God, I have to eat,” and what helped you keep with the integrity that you seem to have so innately?
PB: I think younger workers--first of all--younger workers have been promised benefits the government--promises that have been promised, benefits that we can’t keep. That’s just the way it is. It means your own money would grow better than that which the government can make it grow. And that’s important. If you’re a younger person, you ought to be asking members of Congress and the United States Senate and the president what you intend to do about it. If you see a train wreck coming, you ought to be saying, “What are you going to do about it, Mr. Congressman, or Madam Congressman?” I believe we are called to do the hard work to make our communities and quality of life a better place.
The dialogue that follows did not actually take place, rather, it did, but not as it is presented here. President George W. Bush is one of the most controversial presidents this country has ever seen. He is the leader of the free world, and before his $400,000 a year presidential salary kicked in he was worth over $20 million. Though this is a small fortune by today’s standards, President Bush is arguably the most powerful man in the world.
Rather than attempt to interview the president myself--a difficult feat, even for Katie Couric--I chose the most famous, oft-spoofed, and capable interviewer of all: James Lipton.
What follows is a dialogue constructed from transcripts of Inside the Actor’s Studio and “Bushisms” compiled by the fine people at www.thetruthaboutgeorge.com. In some cases, the word “actor” has been changed to relate to politics, and words or symbols in brackets may have been added for continuity. Otherwise, these are all direct quotes from the President of the United States, and James Lipton.
. . .
James Lipton: In each generation, it falls to two or three actors to define their time; in succession: Brando, Nicholson, DeNiro, Pacino, Streep and Sean Penn…have left indelible imprints on their craft, and although the books are barely open on the emerging generation, there is one young actor who is virtually unrecognizable from one film to the next and unforgettable in every one of them. The actor’s studio is proud to welcome [President George W. Bush].
President Bush: Thank you all very much. Please be seated. (Applause). Thank you. Sonny, thanks for the introduction. Thanks for your leadership. Every time I’m invited to this rostrum I’m humbled by the privilege and mindful of the history we’ve seen together.
JL: Here’s a very political guy. Did any of that derive from your feelings as a child living in a political household?
PB: I’m a follower of American politics, [but] if people want to get to know me better, they’ve got to know my parents and the values my parents instilled in me, and the fact that I was raised in West Texas, in the middle of the desert, a long way from anywhere, hardly. There’s a certain set of values you learn in that experience.
JL: Was it easy? Was it difficult? Was it interesting?
PB: I think--tide turning--see, as I remember--I was raised in the desert, but tides kind of--it’s easy to see a tide turn--did I say those words?
JL: Talking about your mother, she had very political and feminist…
PB: We stand for things.
JL: So she’s a prominent feminist.
PB: You know, it’s hard work to try to love her as best as I can, […] so thank you for reminding me about the importance of being a good mom and a great volunteer as well.
JL: I also understand that there were some near fist fights over who, which of you was getting the true and authentic method.
PB: It’s a myth to think I don’t know what’s going on. It’s a myth to think that I’m not aware that there’s opinions that don’t agree with mine, because I’m fully aware of that. I can only speak to myself.
JL: Clearly, you were not dissuaded.
PB: As a matter of fact, I know relations between our governments is good.
JL: Let me ask you a question about the gladiatorial contests. They look dangerous…
PB: The United States of America is engaged in a war against an extremist group of folks […] Trying to stop suiciders--which we’re doing a pretty good job of on occasion--is difficult to do. And what the Iraqis are going to have to eventually do is convince those who are conducting suiciders who are not inspired by Al Qaeda, for example, to realize there’s a peaceful tomorrow.
JL: You have said that you always approach [politics] with a rock and roll mentality. Is that true?
PB: My views are one that speaks to freedom. My answer is bring them on.
JL: When you are in the Oval office and you are praying, about to give this speech, no in order to get to a place like that how do you protect yourself on a set, to carry through and reach that point?
PB: I always jest to people, the Oval Office is the kind of place for people standing outside--they're getting ready to come in and tell me what for, and they walk in and get overwhelmed by the atmosphere, and they say, “Man, you're looking pretty." They’ve seen me make decisions, they’ve seen me under trying times, they’ve seen me weep, they’ve seen me laugh, they’ve seen me hug. And now they know who I am, and I believe they’re comfortable with the fact that they know I’m not going to shift principles or shift positions based upon polls and focus groups.
JL: I’m sure that when people talk to you about that role, they refer to one act, the one activity in it…
PB: I cut the taxes on everybody. I didn’t cut them. The Congress cut them. I asked them to cut them. I’m the decider, and I decide what is best.
JL: Both are plagues.
PB: We look forward to hearing your vision, so we can more better do our job. That’s what I’m telling you. I speak plainly sometimes, but you’ve got to be mindful of the consequences of the words.
JL: Mimicry isn’t really acting is it? But it’s something amazing…
PB: I’m also mindful that man should never try to put words in God’s mouth. I mean, we should never ascribe natural disasters or anything else to God. We are in no way, shape, or form should a human being, play God.
JL: We begin our classroom with the questionnaire invented by the great Bernard Pebo. What is your favorite word?
PB: Uninalienable.
JL: What is your least favorite word?
PB: Erection--election.
JL: When this goes on the air…what this gentleman gave us tonight is going to ruin your reputation! People will think you’re a pussycat. What turns you on?
PB: A good-old Texas girl, like me.
JL: What turns you off?
PB: If it were to rain a lot.
JL: What sound or noise do you love?
PB: If you listen carefully, if Saddam were president of the United States he would still be in power, and we’s be a lot better off.
JL: What sound or noise do you hate?
PB: Tribal sovereignty.
JL: A question I’ve been waiting nine and a half years to ask you. What is your favorite curse word?
PB: Brownie.
JL: Excellent! What profession, other than yours, would you like to attempt?
PB: Occasionally reading.
JL: What profession would you absolutely not like to participate in?
PB: Retiring.
JL: Finally, if heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?
PB: We all thought there was weapons there, [George]!
JL: Here are your students.
Student #1: Hi, my name is Melinda. I’m a first year actress. I just have to say--first of all, I’m so excited that you’re here, so, thanks for coming.
PB: Thank you.
Student #1: My question is about your process…
PB: I glance at the headlines just to kind of get a flavor for what’s moving. I rarely read the stories, and get briefed by people who probably read the news themselves.
Student #2: Hi, my name is Sarah Wilson.
PB: Hi!
Student #2: And my question is actually…um…You’ve been so open and honest with us tonight in everything you’ve been telling us. And my question is how do you remain so open and honest in your work and in your own life?
PB: Let me put it to you bluntly: in a changing world, we want more people to have control over your own life. Because the--all which is on the table begins to address the big cost drivers. For example, how benefits are calculated, for example, is on the table; whether or not benefits rise based upon wage increases or price increases. There’s a series of parts of the formula that are being considered. And when you couple that, those different cost drivers, affecting those--changing those with personal accounts, the idea is to get what has been promised more likely to be--or closer delivered to what has been promised. Does that make any sense to you? It’s kind of muddled. Look, there’s a series of things that cause the--like, for example, benefits are calculated based upon the increase of wages, as opposed to the increase of prices. In other words, how fast benefits grow, how fast the promised benefits grow, if those--if that growth is affected, it will help on the red.
Student #3: Good evening Mr. President.
PB: Hi.
Student #3: My name is Michael Romani. I’m a first year actor and…um...I notice that you choose your work with such integrity. And I’m wondering if there was ever a point early in you career where there was a very difficult decision to make about what work to do based on: “God, I have to eat,” and what helped you keep with the integrity that you seem to have so innately?
PB: I think younger workers--first of all--younger workers have been promised benefits the government--promises that have been promised, benefits that we can’t keep. That’s just the way it is. It means your own money would grow better than that which the government can make it grow. And that’s important. If you’re a younger person, you ought to be asking members of Congress and the United States Senate and the president what you intend to do about it. If you see a train wreck coming, you ought to be saying, “What are you going to do about it, Mr. Congressman, or Madam Congressman?” I believe we are called to do the hard work to make our communities and quality of life a better place.
Monday, October 16, 2006
timeline reactions
All of the pioneers covered in this installment seem interconnected, like the cybernetic artists and engineers who collaborated. I had no idea that WIRED had been around so long, it always seemed so..new, but I guess that's how it surived. the ARC demonstration sounds like it was a huge rock concert for computer people, it's pretty exciting. The 60s were just full of so much energy and progress. I wonder if the people actually living those times felt it, or if it just seems glamorous to us now. What will people think of this period later?
The timeline returns...
--1962, 1964 Marshall McLuhan (1911-1980) Canadian English Lit. professor and communications theorist. He founded WIRED Magazine. He was the first to suggest that new media should be studied, and he was the first "true celebrity" academic.
--1961, 66,67,72 E.A.T. Experiments in Art and Technology. Movement began in 1960 when Billy Kluver invented the technology for Jean Tiguely's sculpture "Hommage to New York." The group was actually founded in 1966 by Kluver, Robert Rauschenberg, Robert Whitmen, and Fred Walhauer. EAT formulated the artist-engineer relationship and indirectly launched sound artist John Cage, dancer Merce Cunningham, and Andy Warhol.
--1964 Nam June Paik (1932-2006) South-Korean/American artist. He was the first to use tv in his art and is considered the first video artist.
--1968 Augmentation Research Center This was William English and Douglas Englebarts' group. In 1968 they performed the "mother of all demos" at the Fall Joint Computer Conference in San Francisco. This was one of the first live, public demonstrations of interactive computing.
--1961, 66,67,72 E.A.T. Experiments in Art and Technology. Movement began in 1960 when Billy Kluver invented the technology for Jean Tiguely's sculpture "Hommage to New York." The group was actually founded in 1966 by Kluver, Robert Rauschenberg, Robert Whitmen, and Fred Walhauer. EAT formulated the artist-engineer relationship and indirectly launched sound artist John Cage, dancer Merce Cunningham, and Andy Warhol.
--1964 Nam June Paik (1932-2006) South-Korean/American artist. He was the first to use tv in his art and is considered the first video artist.
--1968 Augmentation Research Center This was William English and Douglas Englebarts' group. In 1968 they performed the "mother of all demos" at the Fall Joint Computer Conference in San Francisco. This was one of the first live, public demonstrations of interactive computing.
Eric Rosenthal
His background is impressive and he had some interesting things to say, however Mr. Rosenthal needs to work on his public speaking skills. His lecture didn't really hold my attention, and I'm not sure I agreed with what he had to say. I know that no media comes anywhere close to reproducing an image as well as we see with our eyes, but I believe that's as it should be. Television and photographs and the like are both representational and subjective mediums--any image that we reproduce is like shorthand for the eyes. An artist doesn't want to show you what they see exactly as they see it, it's usually one isolated aspect or message. If televesion or photographs looked as real the world, I think it would be more dangerous than beneficial to society. If that were the case, media could easily become a replacement for the real world, and that shouldn't happen.
As for the discussion at the end about not having a durable means of recording our history, that's an extremely bleak, materialistic, and pessimistic technological goal. As it stands we have fairly accurate records of human history dating back to biblical times, and calling current digital media inadequate for this purpose is ridiculous. Pointing out all of digital and paper media's recordkeeping fallacies anticipates the worst case scenario both for our civilization and our meida. Why should we live everyday assuming not only that our cds will get eaten by tropical bacteria, but that something is going to wipe out our civilization and the memory of it. Our media lasts as long as we need it to, and human beings, believe it or not, are capable of memory. Everything we know, the next generation will know too, and the next, and if the next one gets wiped out, no one will care that they don't remember because they'll be dead. Why are people obsessed with "what they'll leave behind" and all these artificial forms of immortality? If we manage to record every detail of every aspect of our lives on some form of futuristic durable media, what purpose will it serve? Who will read it? why?
As for the discussion at the end about not having a durable means of recording our history, that's an extremely bleak, materialistic, and pessimistic technological goal. As it stands we have fairly accurate records of human history dating back to biblical times, and calling current digital media inadequate for this purpose is ridiculous. Pointing out all of digital and paper media's recordkeeping fallacies anticipates the worst case scenario both for our civilization and our meida. Why should we live everyday assuming not only that our cds will get eaten by tropical bacteria, but that something is going to wipe out our civilization and the memory of it. Our media lasts as long as we need it to, and human beings, believe it or not, are capable of memory. Everything we know, the next generation will know too, and the next, and if the next one gets wiped out, no one will care that they don't remember because they'll be dead. Why are people obsessed with "what they'll leave behind" and all these artificial forms of immortality? If we manage to record every detail of every aspect of our lives on some form of futuristic durable media, what purpose will it serve? Who will read it? why?
Monday, October 09, 2006
Chelsea Galleries
Postmasters:
I really enjoyed Natalie Jeremijenko's interactive bird art, however I would have liked to know more about the data she gathered. Do birds prefer fast food to vegan food? Which perches did they like best? Were they scared when their perch started talking to them? I was also disappointed that we couldn't play with the remote control ducks.
Gehry Building:
I don't know what to make of the Gehry building really. I suppose it's good right, because it's green and energy-efficient and all that? I like the way the glass is clear, not green, so it interacts more with the sky. When I was in Vancouver last summer I noticed all the glass skyscrapers were sort of greenish, like a dirty fish tank. It looked even worse under the sky, which remains overcast something like 80% of the year.
Bitforms:
This gallery was really fun. I wanted the belts to do more though. I spent most of the time in front of the screen with all the tiny images constructing a larger image. Some of the images were being filmed in real time but others were from way before. I kept standing there trying to figure out the program, trying to time how long before it would switch. Was it just picking random images? Was it drawn to images wherein one color made up the whole frame? then I realized, the longer I stood there, the more prominently I would become part of this art.
Eyebeam:
I could have sat and watched the time-lapse footage of manhattan for hours. That space was so amazing, it was like 6 or 8 times the size of my apartment. The simulation though, makes me uneasy. Are meteors going to be the next generation of fireworks? The way technology keeps evolving, it's silly of me to feel uneasy about any of it. in my history of media class right now we're talking about socrates debating the evils of writing (a new technology at the time). his argument was that it was a cheaper, less truthful form of speech. however, I wouldn't know about his argument if plato never wrote it down. maybe fireworks should stay within the atmosphere.
Pace-Wildenstein:
I could make this. I saw the movie about the flowers, but the one I was really into was the one with the chicken. It was hands, a chicken, a plate, and a mirror. I think he was taking the chicken apart and putting it on the plate, but I only saw half and a mirror image so it became like a kaleidoscope. Dead flesh being ripped apart and manipulated times 1000 plus sound effects. Awesome.
As for the other NYTimes articles, I'm exited about the onyx project, because i would love a choose your own adventure movie, however I like watching good movies more than once. Because I wouldn't be able to do that with this, I guess I'd have to come up with a new way to evaluate it. Either way, I could waste many hours on something like that. As for the special effects one, no matter how the technology improves, it still looks fake. 3/4 of all movies made today seem to be shot against the green screen, and it shows. give me 1980s Cronenberg effects any day.
I really enjoyed Natalie Jeremijenko's interactive bird art, however I would have liked to know more about the data she gathered. Do birds prefer fast food to vegan food? Which perches did they like best? Were they scared when their perch started talking to them? I was also disappointed that we couldn't play with the remote control ducks.
Gehry Building:
I don't know what to make of the Gehry building really. I suppose it's good right, because it's green and energy-efficient and all that? I like the way the glass is clear, not green, so it interacts more with the sky. When I was in Vancouver last summer I noticed all the glass skyscrapers were sort of greenish, like a dirty fish tank. It looked even worse under the sky, which remains overcast something like 80% of the year.
Bitforms:
This gallery was really fun. I wanted the belts to do more though. I spent most of the time in front of the screen with all the tiny images constructing a larger image. Some of the images were being filmed in real time but others were from way before. I kept standing there trying to figure out the program, trying to time how long before it would switch. Was it just picking random images? Was it drawn to images wherein one color made up the whole frame? then I realized, the longer I stood there, the more prominently I would become part of this art.
Eyebeam:
I could have sat and watched the time-lapse footage of manhattan for hours. That space was so amazing, it was like 6 or 8 times the size of my apartment. The simulation though, makes me uneasy. Are meteors going to be the next generation of fireworks? The way technology keeps evolving, it's silly of me to feel uneasy about any of it. in my history of media class right now we're talking about socrates debating the evils of writing (a new technology at the time). his argument was that it was a cheaper, less truthful form of speech. however, I wouldn't know about his argument if plato never wrote it down. maybe fireworks should stay within the atmosphere.
Pace-Wildenstein:
I could make this. I saw the movie about the flowers, but the one I was really into was the one with the chicken. It was hands, a chicken, a plate, and a mirror. I think he was taking the chicken apart and putting it on the plate, but I only saw half and a mirror image so it became like a kaleidoscope. Dead flesh being ripped apart and manipulated times 1000 plus sound effects. Awesome.
As for the other NYTimes articles, I'm exited about the onyx project, because i would love a choose your own adventure movie, however I like watching good movies more than once. Because I wouldn't be able to do that with this, I guess I'd have to come up with a new way to evaluate it. Either way, I could waste many hours on something like that. As for the special effects one, no matter how the technology improves, it still looks fake. 3/4 of all movies made today seem to be shot against the green screen, and it shows. give me 1980s Cronenberg effects any day.
Timeline part deux
1963--Ivan Sutherland (1938- ) American computer programmer. He invented the sketchpad system in 1963 for developing military radar. It was the "graphical ancestor" of today's computer interface and graphics systems.
1964--Roy Ascott (European?) First to connect cybernetics and didactics to art. His essay, "The construction of change" is considered by many to be the first published discussion of new media art.
1965--Ted Nelson (1937- ) American sociologist, philosopher, and internet pioneer. He invented the term "hypertext" among others, and the concept that goes along with it.
1961, 1973, 1981--The Oulipo (Ouvrior de Litterature Potentielle--Workshop for Potential Literature). This was a group of French-speaking writers and mathematicians who sought "new structures and patterns which may be used by writers in any way they enjoy." The group was founded by Raymond Queneau and Francois le Lionnais in 1960. Members included Jean Lescure, Claude Berge, Paul Fournel, and Italo Calvino
Ivan Sutherland's sketchpad idea reminded me of both, Ken Perlin's pad program and a demonstration video for a touch-screen interface at tisch.
I don't think I really understand what Ascott's art is all about, but it made me think of early 90s video art made of walls of television screens. i don't know why.
Ted Nelson was cool because he wasn't trained in computer programming per-se, yet he made the internet as we know it possible.
I had never heard of the Oulipo before reading about this, and I certainly had no idea Italo Calvino's work was created with the help of computers. I have heard of such things as novels written without the letter e or the letter s, but it never occured to me that one would need a computer to accomplish such a thing.
1964--Roy Ascott (European?) First to connect cybernetics and didactics to art. His essay, "The construction of change" is considered by many to be the first published discussion of new media art.
1965--Ted Nelson (1937- ) American sociologist, philosopher, and internet pioneer. He invented the term "hypertext" among others, and the concept that goes along with it.
1961, 1973, 1981--The Oulipo (Ouvrior de Litterature Potentielle--Workshop for Potential Literature). This was a group of French-speaking writers and mathematicians who sought "new structures and patterns which may be used by writers in any way they enjoy." The group was founded by Raymond Queneau and Francois le Lionnais in 1960. Members included Jean Lescure, Claude Berge, Paul Fournel, and Italo Calvino
Ivan Sutherland's sketchpad idea reminded me of both, Ken Perlin's pad program and a demonstration video for a touch-screen interface at tisch.
I don't think I really understand what Ascott's art is all about, but it made me think of early 90s video art made of walls of television screens. i don't know why.
Ted Nelson was cool because he wasn't trained in computer programming per-se, yet he made the internet as we know it possible.
I had never heard of the Oulipo before reading about this, and I certainly had no idea Italo Calvino's work was created with the help of computers. I have heard of such things as novels written without the letter e or the letter s, but it never occured to me that one would need a computer to accomplish such a thing.
Monday, October 02, 2006
timeline etc.
--1941 Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986) Argentinian librarian/poet. He wrote the "Garden of Forking Paths " and invented the idea of the hypertext novel.
--1946 Vannevar Bush (1890-1974) American engineer who played a political role in developing the atomic bomb. He described the idea of the memex--an information storage/compression device, basically the precursor to the internet--in his essay "As We May Think."
--1950 Alan Turing (1912-1954) English mathematician and cryptographer. He discussed artificial intelligence in his essay "Computing Machinery and Intelligence" wherein he introduced the "Turing Test" designed to differentiate between "sentients" and computers.
--1954 Norbert Weiner (1894-1964) American mathematician who founded the study of cybernetics during WWII research under Vannevar Bush. He discussed his early theories and ethical dilemmas of science and technology in the nuclear age in "Men, Machines, and the World About."
--1960 Joseph Carl Robnett Licklider (1915-1990) American scientist/mathematician who led ARPA from 1962-1964. In his essay "Man-Computer Symbiosis" Lick introduced the idea that computers could be more than calculating devices, they could be communication devices. He was the first to recognize the importance of computer networking.
--1961 Allan Kaprow (1927-2006) American artist. Through his "Happenings in the New York Scene" he developed the earliest performance art and interactive art--new media.
--1961 William Burroughs (1914-1997) American beat writer. In his essay "The Cut-Up Method of Brion Gysin" he referenced computer pioneer John von Neumann, and basically discussed hands-on physical hypertext and its uses. He was famous for his non-linear style of writing, i.e. hypertext novels.
--1962 Douglas Englebart (1925-) American inventor and internet pionneer. He invented the mouse, and with the help of a team developed the window, the word processor, hypertext and computer networking. His "Augmenting the Human Intellect" discusses how artifacts, language, methodology, and training can make humans more effective.
first of all, I really enjoyed meeting Ken Perlin. He strikes me as a lovable genius whose mind works in ways very different from our own. I wish I had some talent which came as easily to me as computer graphics and programming seems to come to him.
While reading Bush's descriptions of the memex, I kept picturing the filing system and the graphics from the Yiddish Theatre documentary. It struck me that, though he pictured it differently in his quasi-futuristic-1940s-atomic-age mind's eye, this was exactly what he was talking about. We have arrived.
Turing's writing sort of scared me, because back then he was already envisioning a time where it would be necessary to administer a test to tell man from machine. This raises other questions for me, as did "Blade Runner," why is it bad if machines become sentient, or start thinking for themselves? Why can't they just be like Data on Star Trek? Why can't we all just get along?
Norbert Weiner's scientific ethics about withholding scientific information from those who plan to use it for evil were truly inspired. Though Bush never said so explicitly, it seems to me he would have felt the exact opposite. There appear to be two camps of scientists: those who feel that any advancement or new technology is good, and those who feel that technology is only as good as its use. Were I scientific in any capacity I would be of the latter group, thus I have a lot of respect for Weiner.
I don't have much to say about Licklider. Networking is important and it must have been hard to figure that out back in the day but his paper was boring.
Why did Allan Kaprow tone it down after the sixties? Wikipedia alluded to his performances toward the end of his career only requiring audiences to clap. You can't invent performance art and be all in the moment then go back to being boring. That's just counter-productive and hypocritical.
Before reading this I had never linked Burroughs with hypertext. Now I totally understand Naked Lunch. Have you ever seen Cronenburg's film version of that book? It's amazing; same thing, you don't have to watch it in order or in one sitting.
Englebart clearly did not get enough credit for all that he did for computing ant the internet, however he was not deterred and that's admirable. One thing I find fault with however, in everything I've read about him, every text mentions how people only know him as "the guy that invented the mouse," but all the other things he did would stick in my head a lot better if everyone didn't keep bringing up the mouse. He should complain.
--1946 Vannevar Bush (1890-1974) American engineer who played a political role in developing the atomic bomb. He described the idea of the memex--an information storage/compression device, basically the precursor to the internet--in his essay "As We May Think."
--1950 Alan Turing (1912-1954) English mathematician and cryptographer. He discussed artificial intelligence in his essay "Computing Machinery and Intelligence" wherein he introduced the "Turing Test" designed to differentiate between "sentients" and computers.
--1954 Norbert Weiner (1894-1964) American mathematician who founded the study of cybernetics during WWII research under Vannevar Bush. He discussed his early theories and ethical dilemmas of science and technology in the nuclear age in "Men, Machines, and the World About."
--1960 Joseph Carl Robnett Licklider (1915-1990) American scientist/mathematician who led ARPA from 1962-1964. In his essay "Man-Computer Symbiosis" Lick introduced the idea that computers could be more than calculating devices, they could be communication devices. He was the first to recognize the importance of computer networking.
--1961 Allan Kaprow (1927-2006) American artist. Through his "Happenings in the New York Scene" he developed the earliest performance art and interactive art--new media.
--1961 William Burroughs (1914-1997) American beat writer. In his essay "The Cut-Up Method of Brion Gysin" he referenced computer pioneer John von Neumann, and basically discussed hands-on physical hypertext and its uses. He was famous for his non-linear style of writing, i.e. hypertext novels.
--1962 Douglas Englebart (1925-) American inventor and internet pionneer. He invented the mouse, and with the help of a team developed the window, the word processor, hypertext and computer networking. His "Augmenting the Human Intellect" discusses how artifacts, language, methodology, and training can make humans more effective.
first of all, I really enjoyed meeting Ken Perlin. He strikes me as a lovable genius whose mind works in ways very different from our own. I wish I had some talent which came as easily to me as computer graphics and programming seems to come to him.
While reading Bush's descriptions of the memex, I kept picturing the filing system and the graphics from the Yiddish Theatre documentary. It struck me that, though he pictured it differently in his quasi-futuristic-1940s-atomic-age mind's eye, this was exactly what he was talking about. We have arrived.
Turing's writing sort of scared me, because back then he was already envisioning a time where it would be necessary to administer a test to tell man from machine. This raises other questions for me, as did "Blade Runner," why is it bad if machines become sentient, or start thinking for themselves? Why can't they just be like Data on Star Trek? Why can't we all just get along?
Norbert Weiner's scientific ethics about withholding scientific information from those who plan to use it for evil were truly inspired. Though Bush never said so explicitly, it seems to me he would have felt the exact opposite. There appear to be two camps of scientists: those who feel that any advancement or new technology is good, and those who feel that technology is only as good as its use. Were I scientific in any capacity I would be of the latter group, thus I have a lot of respect for Weiner.
I don't have much to say about Licklider. Networking is important and it must have been hard to figure that out back in the day but his paper was boring.
Why did Allan Kaprow tone it down after the sixties? Wikipedia alluded to his performances toward the end of his career only requiring audiences to clap. You can't invent performance art and be all in the moment then go back to being boring. That's just counter-productive and hypocritical.
Before reading this I had never linked Burroughs with hypertext. Now I totally understand Naked Lunch. Have you ever seen Cronenburg's film version of that book? It's amazing; same thing, you don't have to watch it in order or in one sitting.
Englebart clearly did not get enough credit for all that he did for computing ant the internet, however he was not deterred and that's admirable. One thing I find fault with however, in everything I've read about him, every text mentions how people only know him as "the guy that invented the mouse," but all the other things he did would stick in my head a lot better if everyone didn't keep bringing up the mouse. He should complain.
Monday, September 25, 2006
internet history etc...
My grandfather graduated from MIT with a bachelor's and master's in engineering in 1959, so the whole time we watched the film in class I was wondering if he had worked with any of those grad student/internet pioneers. of course he hadn't since most of that happened after his time, but he did get to use some of the equipment. I don't understand why it took so long for the government to relinquish control of the internet, but I remember how quickly everything changed after 1994. In fourth grade I was typing papers on my mom's word processor, but by sixth grade I was addicted to instant messager. on a side-note I really liked Ken Perlin's pad program, and I'd rather play with that than windows.
The garden of forking paths reminded me of two things: choose your own adventure books, and the short stories of Kelly Link. The choose your own adventure connection is obvious, but why aren't those popular anymore? I used to have a ton. Borges' writing reminds me of Kelly Link mainy because of the style, the way it seems to start in the middle, as a story within a story wherein the first story never finishes. Kelly Link doesn't introduce the reader to ideas of infinite simultaneous paths of labyrinths, her stories just give you a glimpse of something, like you're looking through a window at it.
The garden of forking paths reminded me of two things: choose your own adventure books, and the short stories of Kelly Link. The choose your own adventure connection is obvious, but why aren't those popular anymore? I used to have a ton. Borges' writing reminds me of Kelly Link mainy because of the style, the way it seems to start in the middle, as a story within a story wherein the first story never finishes. Kelly Link doesn't introduce the reader to ideas of infinite simultaneous paths of labyrinths, her stories just give you a glimpse of something, like you're looking through a window at it.
Sunday, September 17, 2006
The next great movement
In my History of Media class last Thursday, we got into a discussion about the great artistic, philosophic, and literary, movements of the 20th century--you know, post-impressionism, surrealism, dada, existentialism, deconstructionism...etc. When it came to the great movement of today, no one could think of one. The professor argued that there is no new school of thought uniting any artists of any kind in this day and age. After reading the second New Media Reader article, I have decided that "computer-based artistic activities"-- New Media, is the new school.
The idea that "new media is the encoding of modernist avant-garde" supports my theory.
I consider Borges, with his dreamscapes and irrational concepts, to be the father of the New Media Movement. Though Bush may have developed the precursor to the technology which enables new media to exist, it is Borges' ideology that led to the "artistic uses" for this technology--the very definition of new media.
After seeing Microcosmos and Winged Migration, and playing with all the toys on Ken Perlin's website, I realized how completely permeated with new media today's society is. New media has not only changed the daily life of nearly everyone on the planet, but it has allowed us to experience our own world in new ways (as in the films), and to create worlds of our own (such as the technology developed by Ken Perlin). Both of these are the aim of every cultural movement, and new media is that and then some.
The idea that "new media is the encoding of modernist avant-garde" supports my theory.
I consider Borges, with his dreamscapes and irrational concepts, to be the father of the New Media Movement. Though Bush may have developed the precursor to the technology which enables new media to exist, it is Borges' ideology that led to the "artistic uses" for this technology--the very definition of new media.
After seeing Microcosmos and Winged Migration, and playing with all the toys on Ken Perlin's website, I realized how completely permeated with new media today's society is. New media has not only changed the daily life of nearly everyone on the planet, but it has allowed us to experience our own world in new ways (as in the films), and to create worlds of our own (such as the technology developed by Ken Perlin). Both of these are the aim of every cultural movement, and new media is that and then some.
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
WOW and all that cal
My personal experience with World of Warcraft (a.k.a. WOW) has led me to believe that games can ruin lives. While this genre of online role-playing games is an amazing technological feat, it's far too easy to get sucked in. I once lived with two guys who played WOW 12+ hours a day--no exaggeration. A trust-fund kid and a waiter, they would start playing around noon--by which time I had already left for work--and continue until about 7 am (the waiter would go to work for about 5 hours, then start right up again). These guys had spent years perfecting the skills of their characters, buying and building property, and forming "guilds" which acted like gangs terrorizing the other players in the game. During the occasional Sunday morning breakfast my roommates would tell me stories about the housewife in Oregon who joined their guild and helped them lead raids, and the basement-dwelling crew of 30-somethings in Nevada who became their rival guild. As amazed as I was to discover that thousands of people across the country seemed to spend as much time doing this as my former roommates, the most shocking revelation was that people actually buy and sell items in this game on e-bay, for real money! They pay real money for things that don't actually exist in the physical world!
There are those who would argue that money doesn't "actually exist" either, but I think that this trend is the beginning of something very bad. In Second Life where major "real" companies are selling their virtual wares on the game, I think I have found the epitome of wastefullness and excess. In some countries people work 60 hour weeks for a couple dollars, but in the western world we're so obsessed with becoming the God and master of our own virtual universe that we'll spend hundreds of dollars on....nothing, via e-bay.
There are those who would argue that money doesn't "actually exist" either, but I think that this trend is the beginning of something very bad. In Second Life where major "real" companies are selling their virtual wares on the game, I think I have found the epitome of wastefullness and excess. In some countries people work 60 hour weeks for a couple dollars, but in the western world we're so obsessed with becoming the God and master of our own virtual universe that we'll spend hundreds of dollars on....nothing, via e-bay.
Sunday, September 10, 2006
post 1
Hi. I am adele. This blog will be a series of weekly responses and research for my Digital New Media class.
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