суббота, 30 апреля 2011 г.
пятница, 1 апреля 2011 г.
Installation art in cyberspace
As an idea for an installation art project in cyberspace, mostly in the context of games like Secind Life, I think a social critique project would be interesting. With the number of people who have come to treat Second Life as their main life, I believe it would be fascinating to see reactions to a project that would critique and to a degree criticise the importance of online presence in people's lives.
My idea is fairly complicated and probably time and money consuming. It would involve, at first, creating a number of bots who would only be interested in playing video games or participating in some kind of online communities. Then, it would involve putting a glass building-like cube in the middle of the street where a lot of people would pass.
While I believe it is quite clear where I'm heading with this idea, I am going to continue. The next step would be to seat all of the bots in the glass cube and just display them playing video games or participating in some sort of online activities without any rest or break. I don't know if the bots in Second Life require food or bathroom breaks, but they would be allowed that. However, they would be sleeping at their desktops, etc.
Thus the players will see a reflection of themselves in the cyberspace but it is the reflection of their selves in real life.
While I do think this would be an interesting project that would make some people stop and think, it seems too time consuming and too much of a commitment.
Also I'm just a little bit afraid that someone would sue me for cruelty to bots.
My idea is fairly complicated and probably time and money consuming. It would involve, at first, creating a number of bots who would only be interested in playing video games or participating in some kind of online communities. Then, it would involve putting a glass building-like cube in the middle of the street where a lot of people would pass.
While I believe it is quite clear where I'm heading with this idea, I am going to continue. The next step would be to seat all of the bots in the glass cube and just display them playing video games or participating in some sort of online activities without any rest or break. I don't know if the bots in Second Life require food or bathroom breaks, but they would be allowed that. However, they would be sleeping at their desktops, etc.
Thus the players will see a reflection of themselves in the cyberspace but it is the reflection of their selves in real life.
While I do think this would be an interesting project that would make some people stop and think, it seems too time consuming and too much of a commitment.
Also I'm just a little bit afraid that someone would sue me for cruelty to bots.
среда, 30 марта 2011 г.
To anonymity
In the age of obsession with authorship, ownership and rights to intellectual property, 4chan image boards are an anomaly. While the image board does provide you with the option of putting your name down, the majority of posters choose to post anonymously, and in fact the posters who do include the name may become ostracized by the other members of the community and be labeled as "noobs," or amateurs.
The desire for anonymity is of course understood on the Internet however this degree of it is rather rare. The majority of Internet communities are out to build just that, a community, with identities and characters, however 4chan almost depersonalizes their members.
While this would be just an interesting occurrence on an average imageboard, 4chan has a fair amount of influence not only on the Internet culture but on normal pop culture as well.Rickrolling, LOLcats, macro culture in general, and many more aspects that we consider a normal part of the Internet originated on 4chan. In American culture, most people would try as hard as they can to claim the pioneering of an idea, however in the 4chan anonymous context, who takes the credit?
No one does. No one, to my knowledge, tries. "it is us, it is 4chan, it is the Internet."
4chan is the mostly anonymous community that shapes the entertainment oriented Internet.
The desire for anonymity is of course understood on the Internet however this degree of it is rather rare. The majority of Internet communities are out to build just that, a community, with identities and characters, however 4chan almost depersonalizes their members.
While this would be just an interesting occurrence on an average imageboard, 4chan has a fair amount of influence not only on the Internet culture but on normal pop culture as well.Rickrolling, LOLcats, macro culture in general, and many more aspects that we consider a normal part of the Internet originated on 4chan. In American culture, most people would try as hard as they can to claim the pioneering of an idea, however in the 4chan anonymous context, who takes the credit?
No one does. No one, to my knowledge, tries. "it is us, it is 4chan, it is the Internet."
4chan is the mostly anonymous community that shapes the entertainment oriented Internet.
пятница, 18 февраля 2011 г.
I am a fairly frequent visitor of the Korean-American community messageboards called soompi (www.soompi.com/) One might think, "What in the world would bring you there?" True enough, I'm fairly far from a Korean American. I'm not Korean, or even Asian in anyway, incredibly white girl from the European part of Russia and on top of all that, not even American. I'm pretty sure I just missed all the checkpoints. I do speak an Asian language with a fair degree of fluency, but it is Japanese and knowing the history between Japan and Korea that should have only built up tension, should it not have?
However, I do have interest in Korean pop culture, music and fashion and while I don't understand the lyrics in music, I was able to have some fairly in depth discussions about some of the artists on these message boards. No one seemed hostile towards the non-asian girl and in fact there were some bilingual members that were willing to translate some of my favourite songs. My ability to speak Japanese did not create tension, in fact I was asked to translate on a few occasions. While the racially-based communities and forums may seem very isolated from the mainstream internet, I believe that it is not that hard to enter them to some degree and most members will be helpful and kind, and appreciate the interest in their culture from someone who has no connection whatsoever to it.
I am sure that the only time you will end up in a flame war is if you start one yourself. And in that case, you reap what you sow.
However, I do have interest in Korean pop culture, music and fashion and while I don't understand the lyrics in music, I was able to have some fairly in depth discussions about some of the artists on these message boards. No one seemed hostile towards the non-asian girl and in fact there were some bilingual members that were willing to translate some of my favourite songs. My ability to speak Japanese did not create tension, in fact I was asked to translate on a few occasions. While the racially-based communities and forums may seem very isolated from the mainstream internet, I believe that it is not that hard to enter them to some degree and most members will be helpful and kind, and appreciate the interest in their culture from someone who has no connection whatsoever to it.
I am sure that the only time you will end up in a flame war is if you start one yourself. And in that case, you reap what you sow.
пятница, 11 февраля 2011 г.
The concept of internet - technological art
Technology, mathematics, computing - some believe that everything about these is cold, heartless, dead. For some, it is because they believe anything this logical can not be considered artistic, others are just wary of artificial intelligence of any level.
Besides, the artistic types nowadays would not touch math with a ten foot pole, right? There's nothing artistic or elegant about maths.
While the websphere nowadays is overflowing with human-created graphics designs, colours, in the period while the internet was just developing (1947-1990), it can be considered the epitome of a logical, mathematical structure.
That is the point of view most would take. But is that really true? Did internet really start out as an empty shell that we just filled with art, splattering our new, artistic ideas upon every surface?
I for one do not believe this is true. Perhaps me being raised around computers since I was 2, learning to operate MS-DOS and unzip files before I could read or even coherently speak has affected my way of thinking, but I think that technology as a whole is a beautiful form of art that can only encourage us to create further. As an artist, occasional writer a lot of my work contains allusions to the internet, computing, mostly in the most basic of forms - binary, html code, etc, mostly because I find it absolutely fascinating.
Internet was created to share data and information. In my opinion there is nothing more elegant and beautiful than the pursuit and sharing of knowledge. Thus, at least the underlying purpose is artistic, is it not?
In addition to that, there is nothing more artistic than invention. If there is no place for maths and technology in art, then where does that place DaVinci? If there is no place for logic in art, where does that place philosophy, writing? Psychology? All these fields are intertwined to the most complex degree, as they are the utmost human being. I don't believe that there's a single person in this world who is not a creator, an artist of some kind. Those who write code, invent, create, those who came up with the prototypes for calculators and computers, those who created the internet, are no less of artists than those who paint landscapes and portraits. If anything, they might be more.
Expressing what they see through visual, auditory media or taking an abstract concept and actually realizing it, which one is more artistic? Can you really believe that computing is dead and heartless?
Besides, the artistic types nowadays would not touch math with a ten foot pole, right? There's nothing artistic or elegant about maths.
While the websphere nowadays is overflowing with human-created graphics designs, colours, in the period while the internet was just developing (1947-1990), it can be considered the epitome of a logical, mathematical structure.
That is the point of view most would take. But is that really true? Did internet really start out as an empty shell that we just filled with art, splattering our new, artistic ideas upon every surface?
I for one do not believe this is true. Perhaps me being raised around computers since I was 2, learning to operate MS-DOS and unzip files before I could read or even coherently speak has affected my way of thinking, but I think that technology as a whole is a beautiful form of art that can only encourage us to create further. As an artist, occasional writer a lot of my work contains allusions to the internet, computing, mostly in the most basic of forms - binary, html code, etc, mostly because I find it absolutely fascinating.
Internet was created to share data and information. In my opinion there is nothing more elegant and beautiful than the pursuit and sharing of knowledge. Thus, at least the underlying purpose is artistic, is it not?
In addition to that, there is nothing more artistic than invention. If there is no place for maths and technology in art, then where does that place DaVinci? If there is no place for logic in art, where does that place philosophy, writing? Psychology? All these fields are intertwined to the most complex degree, as they are the utmost human being. I don't believe that there's a single person in this world who is not a creator, an artist of some kind. Those who write code, invent, create, those who came up with the prototypes for calculators and computers, those who created the internet, are no less of artists than those who paint landscapes and portraits. If anything, they might be more.
Expressing what they see through visual, auditory media or taking an abstract concept and actually realizing it, which one is more artistic? Can you really believe that computing is dead and heartless?
пятница, 21 января 2011 г.
To hack or not to hack
That is the question, eternal as the existence of the internet itself.
First, let's think what a hack itself is. In essence, it is just "messing" with the socially applicable uses for one single instrument. While obviously our youtube, facebook, bittorrent and whatnot are hacks, think further. Is blogger a hack? You're posting your own thoughts in a fairly well-spoken manner. How did you do that before? Magazines, letters to editors, something that would get you noticed and get your name out there. Something that will get your friends talking. The internet has managed to make this extremely easy, by obviously hacking the pattern of thought we had up until now.
Further, lookbook is an everyday fashion blog-community in which anyone can post an outfit and show where they have purchased certain items of clothing. Looking for brands, specific items of clothing, etc has never been so easy. But can we make it simpler?
The hack I propose is a real-life-technology symbiotic one, and I do realize that it is completely impractical and would require a ridiculous amount of cash to be put in realization, however, I do think that the girls who contemplate life before the 50th pair of shoes would be extremely excited about it.
It is the real-life outfit scanner. I'm sure every single girl interested in fashion has wondered "Where did she get those tights?!" This thought runs through the minds of girls who can tell the level of authenticity of your Louis Vuitton bag on glance more than once a day. In order for this idea to be brought to life however, we would require every brand (yes, ever) to place electric-magnetic tags on their clothing instead of real paper tags. Then, one could "scan" someone's outfit by "taking a picture" via infrared signals(implemented in Japanese cellphones for about a decade now.)
Impractical? Bordering on fantasy? Maybe. But internet knows, I want one.
First, let's think what a hack itself is. In essence, it is just "messing" with the socially applicable uses for one single instrument. While obviously our youtube, facebook, bittorrent and whatnot are hacks, think further. Is blogger a hack? You're posting your own thoughts in a fairly well-spoken manner. How did you do that before? Magazines, letters to editors, something that would get you noticed and get your name out there. Something that will get your friends talking. The internet has managed to make this extremely easy, by obviously hacking the pattern of thought we had up until now.
Further, lookbook is an everyday fashion blog-community in which anyone can post an outfit and show where they have purchased certain items of clothing. Looking for brands, specific items of clothing, etc has never been so easy. But can we make it simpler?
The hack I propose is a real-life-technology symbiotic one, and I do realize that it is completely impractical and would require a ridiculous amount of cash to be put in realization, however, I do think that the girls who contemplate life before the 50th pair of shoes would be extremely excited about it.
It is the real-life outfit scanner. I'm sure every single girl interested in fashion has wondered "Where did she get those tights?!" This thought runs through the minds of girls who can tell the level of authenticity of your Louis Vuitton bag on glance more than once a day. In order for this idea to be brought to life however, we would require every brand (yes, ever) to place electric-magnetic tags on their clothing instead of real paper tags. Then, one could "scan" someone's outfit by "taking a picture" via infrared signals(implemented in Japanese cellphones for about a decade now.)
Impractical? Bordering on fantasy? Maybe. But internet knows, I want one.
Expectations
I expect to share my ideas and get new ideas from my classmates on how to be a decent netizen. I believe that we will have a lot of interesting topics covered in this class, and that we will engage in some involved conversations/discussions/debates. While I will try my best to be an active part of the class, I hope the rest of my classmates won't let me down!
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