It is funny how futuristic books and movies come out telling what people think is going to happen in the future. This article was written in 1993 and Bruce Sterling was just hoping for the day of the “multimedia global circus!”, when you could get the “Encyclopedia Britannica in one hot second. Computer networks worldwide will feature 3-D animated graphics, radio and cellular phone-links to portable computers, as well as fax, voice, and high-definition television”. All this and more has taken place since the 80s and early 90s.
Everything in the world starts with an idea or question. Their question was, how do we protect our network from a nuclear attack? Answer, you find a way to play hot potato with passing information from node to node and boom that is how the internet started. The internet could do four things when it first started: long distance computing, mail (e-mail), discussion groups (chat rooms), and file transfers. The internet kind of still is uncensored, you can say whatever you want (unless whatever you are saying is harmful or threatening to people).
Now that we have covered the interface and understand the ways of the computer, it’s time to make use of this machine with its many wonderful functions. Manovich describes three examples of operation for the computer: Selection, Compositing, and Teleaction. Basically there are endless ways to select and coordinate different sets of data which can be sequenced together to perform a function, or string together different sequences as in the scenes of a movie. These selected operations are separate from the data because the operation or sequence of operations can be applied to any number of different sets of data. He describes the DJ as the profound figure of what can associate closest to the selection operation. DJ’s make selections of various songs or clips of audio and string them together to form a continuous and coherent piece. Some even make use of the synthesizer, which is a product of new media, as it provides the means to select a variety of functions from a physical menu or board. “Now artists are more like accessories to the machine.” Manovich goes on to describe compositing as the construction of seamless 3D virtual space. This is the process of layering different visual elements to compose a virtual world with all the elements acting independently or with each other. There are a number of different styles of montage which stem from the idea of compositing. I find it difficult to visualize them separately without only being able to think of Americas Funniest Videos montage sequences. I was particularly struck by the work, or description of work, from Jean-Luk Godard. I was intrigued with his technique of electronically mixing a number of different subjects into one shot, with the layering of images dissolving in and out from one another, but not completely. I felt I had been experiencing a similar visual experience when drifting in and out of dreams while engaging with the words on my screen; the screen of course presenting a virtual window to another world. Not to say at all that I did not enjoy the reading, but you know… it happens. It is an odd experience to go from mid sentence instantaneously to an image of a blue elephant and an entirely different setting without accepting or fully denying the situation as real or at the very least fluid and continuous.
I think it is particularly relevant to consider the origin of the internet and its original design and purpose in light of the recent call for action to censor the internet. “There is no “Internet Inc.” There are no official censors, no bosses, no board of directors, no stockholders. In principle, any node can speak as a peer to any other node, as long as it obeys the rules of the TCP/IP protocols, which are strictly technical, not social or political.” It is also interesting to consider the internet is essentially indestructible short of a global, catastrophic, apocalyptic, entire earth destroying event. It’s like a cockroach for better or worse.
Its a little unrelated, but I’m sitting in on one of John’s classes and he made a similar DJ analogy trying to explain the RGB channel mixer in PS to his students.
What struck me most about this reading is the correlation between post-modern aesthetics and the development of new media technology – the tools are updated and refined appropriations of both analog electronic media tools and “old media” tools, whose primary function goes further on the post-modern train and are not intended to deal with newly minted elements, but with media that is appropriated from databases of preexisting *commercially available* parts. “recycling and quoting of the past media content, artistic styles and forms became the new ‘international style’”.
I know we talked about it briefly before, but it would’ve been interesting to see when/where exactly the porn industry came into the public development of the internet as I’m sure some of the first images communicated were porn.
True that, man…
The early internet makes me think of expensive computers that dont do anything, chatrooms/IM, and dial-up. It was a good/quick article. I cannot believe that the internet was growing as much as 20% a month. In reference to Blade Runner, I watched it, and it was pretty great. (I thought it was a sequel to Blade, and thats why I had never seen it.) As far as Lev, I’d like to start by mentioning Apple’s slogan, “the power to be your best” Which was funny to me because Lev later says “New media object are rarely created completely from scratch; usually they are assembled from ready-made parts. Put differently, in a computer culture authentic creation has been replaced by selection from a menu.” I agree and disagree with that statement. Menues, fitlers, and options are limiting because options within the software–most aren’t smart enough to write the program–so to be ‘your best’ is perplexing. I do understand that old media had already encompassed the photo-montage and that in some ways new-media standardizes the process making it easier to perform–but is it a bad thing that its not generated from scratch? Does that limit its creativity? (121) I dont think so, I admit that i struggle with my expression because of technical deficiencies. _______ Lev also talks about digital compositing and the new ability to create fake spaces. From any perspective–the ability to create a ‘fake space’ is so useful, but it makes me think of the idea of the hyper-reality. BLAH. The article is about digital construction/assemblage and how it has always been done, but its now more easy than ever.
It is funny how futuristic books and movies come out telling what people think is going to happen in the future. This article was written in 1993 and Bruce Sterling was just hoping for the day of the “multimedia global circus!”, when you could get the “Encyclopedia Britannica in one hot second. Computer networks worldwide will feature 3-D animated graphics, radio and cellular phone-links to portable computers, as well as fax, voice, and high-definition television”. All this and more has taken place since the 80s and early 90s.
Everything in the world starts with an idea or question. Their question was, how do we protect our network from a nuclear attack? Answer, you find a way to play hot potato with passing information from node to node and boom that is how the internet started. The internet could do four things when it first started: long distance computing, mail (e-mail), discussion groups (chat rooms), and file transfers. The internet kind of still is uncensored, you can say whatever you want (unless whatever you are saying is harmful or threatening to people).
Now that we have covered the interface and understand the ways of the computer, it’s time to make use of this machine with its many wonderful functions. Manovich describes three examples of operation for the computer: Selection, Compositing, and Teleaction. Basically there are endless ways to select and coordinate different sets of data which can be sequenced together to perform a function, or string together different sequences as in the scenes of a movie. These selected operations are separate from the data because the operation or sequence of operations can be applied to any number of different sets of data. He describes the DJ as the profound figure of what can associate closest to the selection operation. DJ’s make selections of various songs or clips of audio and string them together to form a continuous and coherent piece. Some even make use of the synthesizer, which is a product of new media, as it provides the means to select a variety of functions from a physical menu or board. “Now artists are more like accessories to the machine.” Manovich goes on to describe compositing as the construction of seamless 3D virtual space. This is the process of layering different visual elements to compose a virtual world with all the elements acting independently or with each other. There are a number of different styles of montage which stem from the idea of compositing. I find it difficult to visualize them separately without only being able to think of Americas Funniest Videos montage sequences. I was particularly struck by the work, or description of work, from Jean-Luk Godard. I was intrigued with his technique of electronically mixing a number of different subjects into one shot, with the layering of images dissolving in and out from one another, but not completely. I felt I had been experiencing a similar visual experience when drifting in and out of dreams while engaging with the words on my screen; the screen of course presenting a virtual window to another world. Not to say at all that I did not enjoy the reading, but you know… it happens. It is an odd experience to go from mid sentence instantaneously to an image of a blue elephant and an entirely different setting without accepting or fully denying the situation as real or at the very least fluid and continuous.
I think it is particularly relevant to consider the origin of the internet and its original design and purpose in light of the recent call for action to censor the internet. “There is no “Internet Inc.” There are no official censors, no bosses, no board of directors, no stockholders. In principle, any node can speak as a peer to any other node, as long as it obeys the rules of the TCP/IP protocols, which are strictly technical, not social or political.” It is also interesting to consider the internet is essentially indestructible short of a global, catastrophic, apocalyptic, entire earth destroying event. It’s like a cockroach for better or worse.
-Peter Kamback
My wordpress is http://adamremionwilliams.wordpress.com/ so ya’ll can check out my Haeckel thing.
Its a little unrelated, but I’m sitting in on one of John’s classes and he made a similar DJ analogy trying to explain the RGB channel mixer in PS to his students.
What struck me most about this reading is the correlation between post-modern aesthetics and the development of new media technology – the tools are updated and refined appropriations of both analog electronic media tools and “old media” tools, whose primary function goes further on the post-modern train and are not intended to deal with newly minted elements, but with media that is appropriated from databases of preexisting *commercially available* parts. “recycling and quoting of the past media content, artistic styles and forms became the new ‘international style’”.
I know we talked about it briefly before, but it would’ve been interesting to see when/where exactly the porn industry came into the public development of the internet as I’m sure some of the first images communicated were porn.
True that, man…
The early internet makes me think of expensive computers that dont do anything, chatrooms/IM, and dial-up. It was a good/quick article. I cannot believe that the internet was growing as much as 20% a month. In reference to Blade Runner, I watched it, and it was pretty great. (I thought it was a sequel to Blade, and thats why I had never seen it.) As far as Lev, I’d like to start by mentioning Apple’s slogan, “the power to be your best” Which was funny to me because Lev later says “New media object are rarely created completely from scratch; usually they are assembled from ready-made parts. Put differently, in a computer culture authentic creation has been replaced by selection from a menu.” I agree and disagree with that statement. Menues, fitlers, and options are limiting because options within the software–most aren’t smart enough to write the program–so to be ‘your best’ is perplexing. I do understand that old media had already encompassed the photo-montage and that in some ways new-media standardizes the process making it easier to perform–but is it a bad thing that its not generated from scratch? Does that limit its creativity? (121) I dont think so, I admit that i struggle with my expression because of technical deficiencies. _______ Lev also talks about digital compositing and the new ability to create fake spaces. From any perspective–the ability to create a ‘fake space’ is so useful, but it makes me think of the idea of the hyper-reality. BLAH. The article is about digital construction/assemblage and how it has always been done, but its now more easy than ever.