As I am currently about midway through, William Burroughs' Naked Lunch, I payed particular attention while watching the DVD on Burroughs. Although we only got to see a little bit of it, the DVD really offered a glimpse into the mind of the writer. Even in watching him speak during the interview, one can notice the style of thought that comes forth in his writing. My favorite aspect of the documentary was seeing the contrast between Burrough's writing, which is dark, violent, and often very grotesque, and Burroughs in a normal conversation, where he exposes himself as being extremely intelligent, articulate, and well read. This alone exposes that his work, although often haphazard, has very specific authorial intent.
Often when I think about video art, I think of what is on the screen itself. I look at how the artist manipulates and edits the film. I rarely take into account the surrounding environment. What Impressed me about Nam June Paik was not necessarily the video work itself, but how well he integrated video as form and content into large sculptures and installations. The DVD really offered insight into a wide variety of his work. It sparked in me a definite interest in the artist, and I will look deeper into his work in the future.
The DVD biography of Marshall McLuhan was a little bit silly, to say the least. The narrator used too much over the top language and description that felt out of place in a straight documentary. The animation of the Maelstrom was also overused and felt forced. That being said, the documentary was, once again, a very valuable insight. McLuhan's character did not come out as thoroughly in The New Media Reader as it did in the film. The DVD summed up his character very well. In the short time I learned about his faith and attitude towards life. Most importantly was the information about his opinion of technology. Although we did not get to see all of the four questions he said should be asked about a new invention, I thought the questions themselves were very well thought out and important in a technological age. His competing interest and fear of gregarious technology carry a vital message today.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Thursday, October 18, 2007
History of the Internet, Chess Pieces, Second Life, Ken Perlin
The History of the Internet documentary was very well done. It focused very well on the humble beginnings of the single most important technology of the past century. The film managed to get a huge amount of information and history across within an impressively short time frame. It also managed to explain a lot of technical aspects of the internet, like packet-switching systems, without resorting to too much unfriendly technical jargon.
Upon viewing the Documentary about John Cage's Chess Pieces, I found it to be a pretty heavy lecture, rather stale and void of passion. However, the film did do very well to cement John Cage as an amazing multimedia artist. Through Chess Pieces, he managed to create a piece that was both visually beautiful, but also had an accompanying soundtrack, all achieved through the medium of paint. Whereas a modern artist might use a computer to create a combined audio-visual piece, Cage used traditional media of paint and music composition to create something new through combination.
The articles on Second Life that describe car shows, orchestras, and performers, were really fascinating to me. Though the novelty of second life may wear off after a time, it holds an interesting role in cyberspace. Second Life exists as a virtual land of do-as-you-please, in which any user can create content, given the right skill set. However, this is essentially what the web is all about. In an age where more and more people are computer-literate, the web itself is a kind of second life, where everyone is now creating content and interacting based on that content. What Second Life really offers is a visualization in 3d space of shared content, which in and of itself is actually very important. The appeal of Second Life lies in the fact that it is simply the internet represented in 3d as a landscape. Instead of websites, Second Life users rent "sims", plots of land on which they can place any content they wish. Second Life's success lies in that it take the two dimensional display of a web browser, and brings it into a novel, three dimensional display. Whether it will evolve enough to last is difficult to say.
Seeing Ken Perlin's work first hand, as explained by him was a great view into the mind of someone so passionate about computer technology. While much of his work is related to AI, and replicating human though processes and theatricality, it is clear that he truly believes that computers can make the world a better place, and that technology is key in education. While playing around with the applications on his site was interesting and fun, hearing Ken explain the intent behind them really gave me a deep respect for him and his work
Upon viewing the Documentary about John Cage's Chess Pieces, I found it to be a pretty heavy lecture, rather stale and void of passion. However, the film did do very well to cement John Cage as an amazing multimedia artist. Through Chess Pieces, he managed to create a piece that was both visually beautiful, but also had an accompanying soundtrack, all achieved through the medium of paint. Whereas a modern artist might use a computer to create a combined audio-visual piece, Cage used traditional media of paint and music composition to create something new through combination.
The articles on Second Life that describe car shows, orchestras, and performers, were really fascinating to me. Though the novelty of second life may wear off after a time, it holds an interesting role in cyberspace. Second Life exists as a virtual land of do-as-you-please, in which any user can create content, given the right skill set. However, this is essentially what the web is all about. In an age where more and more people are computer-literate, the web itself is a kind of second life, where everyone is now creating content and interacting based on that content. What Second Life really offers is a visualization in 3d space of shared content, which in and of itself is actually very important. The appeal of Second Life lies in the fact that it is simply the internet represented in 3d as a landscape. Instead of websites, Second Life users rent "sims", plots of land on which they can place any content they wish. Second Life's success lies in that it take the two dimensional display of a web browser, and brings it into a novel, three dimensional display. Whether it will evolve enough to last is difficult to say.
Seeing Ken Perlin's work first hand, as explained by him was a great view into the mind of someone so passionate about computer technology. While much of his work is related to AI, and replicating human though processes and theatricality, it is clear that he truly believes that computers can make the world a better place, and that technology is key in education. While playing around with the applications on his site was interesting and fun, hearing Ken explain the intent behind them really gave me a deep respect for him and his work
Chelsea Galleries
I found Eddo Stern's pieces to be very thought provoking in their use of web and game popular icons to form new visual forms. His motorized shadow puppets were visually beautiful at first glance, and then hilarious when one recognizes the form of Steven Segal flexing numerous appendages, or Chuck Norris fending off a lion with his bare hands. His pieces dealing with online gaming forums were particularly revealing about not only gaming but cyber culture in general. In the anonymous realm of the internet and text-based forums, people are often more willing to expose themselves emotionally and politically than they might be in person. One piece, a face made up of icons and characters from World of Warcraft and other online games, presented excerpts from an actual online debate about a boy's Christian family and their conflict with his online gaming habit.
My favorite piece, perhaps of the whole day, was Daniel Rozin's Weave Mirror, entirely for its stunning visual appeal, and use of technology in a piece that felt so organic. Watching an entirely organic looking piece morph and shift in reaction to movement in real time was infinitely pleasurable. Rozin masterfully blended traditional aesthetics with high technology to create the piece.
The pieces we saw at Eyebeam all seemed to have one thing in common, being a theme of interconnectivity with the real world. The hut for sheltering illegal immigrants, the video balloon, and the mock airline were directly influenced by and commented on extremely current issues. The Airline used computer technology to the most interesting effect, being able theoretically to update itself in real time based on actual flights carrying prisoners around the world. This gave the piece and undeniable eeriness and immediacy.
My favorite piece, perhaps of the whole day, was Daniel Rozin's Weave Mirror, entirely for its stunning visual appeal, and use of technology in a piece that felt so organic. Watching an entirely organic looking piece morph and shift in reaction to movement in real time was infinitely pleasurable. Rozin masterfully blended traditional aesthetics with high technology to create the piece.
The pieces we saw at Eyebeam all seemed to have one thing in common, being a theme of interconnectivity with the real world. The hut for sheltering illegal immigrants, the video balloon, and the mock airline were directly influenced by and commented on extremely current issues. The Airline used computer technology to the most interesting effect, being able theoretically to update itself in real time based on actual flights carrying prisoners around the world. This gave the piece and undeniable eeriness and immediacy.
Dan Kanemoto and Dan Blank
I really appreciated the personal style and feeling put into every drawing of Dan Kanemoto's Letter From the Western Front short animated film. In a modern technological era when whole movies are done using entirely computer effects at massive budgets, it was refreshing to see hand painted and drawn images, augmented and set to motion using a computer. With this method, Kanemoto managed to merge traditional animation with computer effects and motion, to bring out the best aspects of each method.
Dan Blank's Shadowplay achieves a similar success, albeit with a different kind of animation. Everything three dimensional in the piece was created with clay and animated in traditional stop-motion. The two dimensional figures of the shadows and posters were then animated via computer. This particular style really succeeded in separating and contrasting the three dimensional, tactile world of the living, with the flat world of shadows.
Dan Blank's Shadowplay achieves a similar success, albeit with a different kind of animation. Everything three dimensional in the piece was created with clay and animated in traditional stop-motion. The two dimensional figures of the shadows and posters were then animated via computer. This particular style really succeeded in separating and contrasting the three dimensional, tactile world of the living, with the flat world of shadows.
To page 246 in The New Media Reader
TIME LINE:
1960's: Idea of intrinsic importance of medium gains popularity.
1966: Founding of E.A.T.
1968: ARC Technological demonstration.
The main focus of this portion of the book was on artists, mostly of the sixties, and their views and usage of New Media in art; as well as the meaning of computer and electronic media in the artistic sphere. What I found quite interesting was Macluhan's take on meaning within a medium itself. He describes a light bulb as being a medium in and of itself, as a transmitter of information. Any information actually transmitted, in the form of words or light, actually constitutes a separate medium. This led me to start thinking about the computer and the internet in these terms. A computer, while often a medium in and of itself, as become the main method for transmitting information and other media. The transition medium (computer, light bulb), may actually have more intrinsic meaning than the media transmitted.
It was ideas like Macluhan's that clearly led to the founding of the E.A.T. I have always been personally fascinated by the exploration of technology as a means of artistic expression, so this portion of the text was really interesting to read. The piece that I found most interesting in its melding of technical and artistic intent was John Cage's piece in which sound and light were generated by the nuances of a tennis match, which used a chaotic game to control the output of a rigid technological structure.
1960's: Idea of intrinsic importance of medium gains popularity.
1966: Founding of E.A.T.
1968: ARC Technological demonstration.
The main focus of this portion of the book was on artists, mostly of the sixties, and their views and usage of New Media in art; as well as the meaning of computer and electronic media in the artistic sphere. What I found quite interesting was Macluhan's take on meaning within a medium itself. He describes a light bulb as being a medium in and of itself, as a transmitter of information. Any information actually transmitted, in the form of words or light, actually constitutes a separate medium. This led me to start thinking about the computer and the internet in these terms. A computer, while often a medium in and of itself, as become the main method for transmitting information and other media. The transition medium (computer, light bulb), may actually have more intrinsic meaning than the media transmitted.
It was ideas like Macluhan's that clearly led to the founding of the E.A.T. I have always been personally fascinated by the exploration of technology as a means of artistic expression, so this portion of the text was really interesting to read. The piece that I found most interesting in its melding of technical and artistic intent was John Cage's piece in which sound and light were generated by the nuances of a tennis match, which used a chaotic game to control the output of a rigid technological structure.
Monday, October 15, 2007
pages 73- 189 of The New Media Reader
Timeline:
1950's and 60's: "Happenings" organized by Allan Kaprow and others.
1961: First appearance of The Cut-Up Method of Brion Gysin.
1962: Licklider assumes leadership of ARPA.
1962: Englebart writes Augmenting Human Intellect.
1963: Ivan Sutherland writes his essay on Sketchpad.
1964: Ascott's Construction of Change.
1965: Nelson's A file structure for the Complex, the Changing, and the Indeterminate.
1969: Second ARPANET node constructed.
1988: Englebart publishes A History of Personal Workstations.
I found the most interesting essays in this section of the book to be the essays on easing and encouraging interaction between humans and computers. Namely, Man-Computer Symbiosis and Augmenting Human Intellect. These essays, though written quite early in the computer age, still resound as we continue through the digital revolution. They champion the computer as having incredible potential as the most useful of tools. The essays suggest using the computer to carry out mundane, organization and mathematical tasks which might normally waste the time of a person. Using a computer for these tasks, leaves human researchers with the tasks that they are better suited for, namely creative and intellectual ones. A File Structure for the Complex further expanded on the theme of eased interaction, predicting (rather accurately) a filing system for computers, with many nods back to Bush's idea of the Memex machine.
This theme of human-computer interaction continued through Ivan Sutherland's essay about his Sketchpad program, essentially the progenitor of all modern graphical user interfaces and graphical drawing programs. It is amazing to me that after so long we are still looking for better and more efficient ways to interact with machines. One revolutionary innovation, which I believe will soon take the world by storm, is the use of multi-touch consoles and interfaces (TED video link). These interfaces introduce manual quasi-tactile manipulation to computers, which seems to me the next logical step after graphical user interfaces.
The New York Happenings, while not a digital phenomenon in and of themselves, certainly relate to the advent of the web as a creative and collaborative environment. The most interesting connection I found was that the happenings, much like the current incarnation of the world wide web, did not always have a clear delineation between performer and audience, or between concrete content and improvisation. Much like the web, these happenings were collaborations and conversations between and among the performers and the audiance. One might also draw a connection to virtual environments like Second Life, in which every user must invoke some sort of character in his or her Avatar, and occupy some fictional space.
1950's and 60's: "Happenings" organized by Allan Kaprow and others.
1961: First appearance of The Cut-Up Method of Brion Gysin.
1962: Licklider assumes leadership of ARPA.
1962: Englebart writes Augmenting Human Intellect.
1963: Ivan Sutherland writes his essay on Sketchpad.
1964: Ascott's Construction of Change.
1965: Nelson's A file structure for the Complex, the Changing, and the Indeterminate.
1969: Second ARPANET node constructed.
1988: Englebart publishes A History of Personal Workstations.
I found the most interesting essays in this section of the book to be the essays on easing and encouraging interaction between humans and computers. Namely, Man-Computer Symbiosis and Augmenting Human Intellect. These essays, though written quite early in the computer age, still resound as we continue through the digital revolution. They champion the computer as having incredible potential as the most useful of tools. The essays suggest using the computer to carry out mundane, organization and mathematical tasks which might normally waste the time of a person. Using a computer for these tasks, leaves human researchers with the tasks that they are better suited for, namely creative and intellectual ones. A File Structure for the Complex further expanded on the theme of eased interaction, predicting (rather accurately) a filing system for computers, with many nods back to Bush's idea of the Memex machine.
This theme of human-computer interaction continued through Ivan Sutherland's essay about his Sketchpad program, essentially the progenitor of all modern graphical user interfaces and graphical drawing programs. It is amazing to me that after so long we are still looking for better and more efficient ways to interact with machines. One revolutionary innovation, which I believe will soon take the world by storm, is the use of multi-touch consoles and interfaces (TED video link). These interfaces introduce manual quasi-tactile manipulation to computers, which seems to me the next logical step after graphical user interfaces.
The New York Happenings, while not a digital phenomenon in and of themselves, certainly relate to the advent of the web as a creative and collaborative environment. The most interesting connection I found was that the happenings, much like the current incarnation of the world wide web, did not always have a clear delineation between performer and audience, or between concrete content and improvisation. Much like the web, these happenings were collaborations and conversations between and among the performers and the audiance. One might also draw a connection to virtual environments like Second Life, in which every user must invoke some sort of character in his or her Avatar, and occupy some fictional space.
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