Thursday, February 25, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Another project-based example to check out from the MIT Media Lab
The physical gesture could be a variety of different actions; it may be composed of a small wave of the hand, large movements incorporating the entire body or simply be a state of being, a posture or a stance. Gestures in dance, martial arts, sports, ceremonial occasions, religious events, dramatic arts, the symphony and even at the stock market are part of complex systems of regulated movements. Yet such habitual activities as eating, drinking, working and greeting one another can be considered gestures too. The word "gesture" does not refer to subconscious or involuntary actions like expressions or mannerisms. Gestures are generally regarded as intentional movements.
Perhaps what makes a gesture so powerful is not the gesture itself but the moment before the gesture or between the gestures. Walter Benjamin explains that in theater a pause between gestures is essential because spacing the gestures apart from one another makes them "quotable" or perhaps memorable. These spaces between the gestures allow the viewer to reflect on what is being seen and experienced.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
...is being immersed in data exclusively a matter related to visual (or textual) cul ture, as typified by the types of screen-based (or scree-mediated) projects that Manovich is examining, or are there are other societal modes of interaction with data which are ripe for exploration by artists? Are we also immersed in data when Wal-Mart, the organization with the most powerful database and computing systems in the world, monopolistically cuts its prices based on database-driven analysis enabled by their massive intelligence corporate/retail spy network? Or when the carrot juice we purchase from a cooler at a local market is fresh? Or when our credit report and other background checks determine the outcome of financial transaction such as a home purchase? Or when a package arrives at your house on time? Or the police arrive at your door?I also wanted to point to a couple of other projects that are related and might be of interest. One is the ongoing work of the two-person net.art team JODI, who early on started playing with the background of the web. Look at their home page, then view it's source.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Monday, February 15 will be a furlough day for Ryan, therefor we will not be meeting for class. We will be meeting as usual on Wednesday, and everyone should have read Lev Manovich's essay on data visualization and made a post to your blog in response.
One point that I would like everyone to consider is Manovich's assertion that data-visualization as art is a fundamental shift from a romantic conception of the sublime. He even goes so far as to say that "the desire to take what normally falls outside of the scale of human senses and make (it) visible and manageable aligns data visualization art with modern science." One conclusion that Manovich arrives at is that art should "make the method out of irrationality" rather than trying to overemphasize the rational and objective. How does this claim relate to your own ideas about making and appreciating art?Check out some of the links under Day 8 on the calendar to see some of the works Manovich discusses as well as other related works.
* Also remember that your team needs to have produced a finalized video document of your paper prototype (uploaded to the web - e.g. archive.org, youtube, vimeo).
For those that are interested in faculty and student responses to the mandatory furlough and other responses to the economic situation, there will be an open discussion at the YMCA, Latzer Hall, from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., which is where I will be during our normal class meeting time.
Image above from the Information Aesthetics blog
Monday, February 8, 2010
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
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