To the viewers amazement, the machine is alive as it relays the human pulse.

end of report

Techno-gestation

The aim of the modern man is a to race to reality. The sooner you find yours the sooner you can get on with a normal life. Re-align your ideas into a web of normalness that is the mean of existence. This is reality. There are enough micro epochs existing at this time of human presence that there is no way of actualizing reality. The word should not exist in its conventional form. Ality is what we need to be concerned with now. No “re” about it, access granted strictly to the unbiased actions originating from archetypal instants…but is there really a point in time where you inherent self has no say in what it interprets? Is it possible to connect your actions directly to your vision without dealing with the personal interface of self? Does this idea of ality exist or are we confined to dealing with the data that makes it to our psyche first due to warn pathways between neurological nodes. As D.J. Spooky says in Rhythm Science, “any shift in the traffic of information can create not only new thoughts, but new ways of thinking.” Is it possible, to rewire the analog boards we have adapted to out of necessity? This is the goal of the person living in twenty-first century, to put behind them the ways of thinking that lead us to be so individualistically clustered and socially flustered. Contemporary society as a whole is so concerned about what others perceive as reality that they are too nervous to show their alities to one another.

In a “light-speed” environment, we need light speed processors to stay afloat. Don’t worry though the six-core is soon to come. Techno-lustation has grabbed the populous by the nuts and is fondling them ever so gently. Can’t afford it, just wait six weeks and then jump back into the swarm. This mentality is omnipotent. I visited a tribe that was located about five miles up the Amazon from Leticia, Colombia. Here I am thinking holy shit, I’m going to visit a tribe on the Amazon we must have to take turns because hollowed out trees can only hold so many people and we had nine in our group. No…we had a fucking speedboat, and the tribe; they had a cell phone in a box, like the true American idol. This only exemplifies the interconnectedness of all things and if I wanted to I could text the tribe when I got back to the States to thank them for the souvenirs. There is no stopping this trend. We have collectively connected to world and so we might as well enjoy it. I mean how many of our grandparents could even believe that we are able to send large images across the state without any wires in a matter of seconds? That’s incredible and that’s just barely touching the surface. There have always been artistic recontextualizations, just think of the message the female nude conveyed in Titian’s, Venus of Urbino, compared to that of Manet’s, Olympia. Both controversial works of art with basically the same composition, but because of what was going on in society at the time they carry different messages. As Marshall McLuhan would say the “The medium is the message” and the artist is the antennae to society. This means the role of the artist is to create with any available media in order to convey the message of their time to the rest of the future.

A/V interactive compositions on the NET by Sergio Maltagliati

Beginning with netOper@ in 1997, Sergio Maltagliati has created works on the Internet that combine audio and video elements into an intriguing interactive Internet experience. As far as a formal education, Maltagliati studied music at the Conservatory “Luigi Cherubini” in Florence, Italy. Shortly after he finished his education at the Conservatory he began to paint. He then created his own style of combining the two practices into interactive web sites where the viewer is invited to compose a unique work by simple mouse manipulations. Maltagliati often collaborated with a famous electronic music professor from Italy named Pietro Grossi. Grossi was the first person to introduce the infamous experimental musician from America, John Cage, to Italy in 1964. In 1965 Grossi was offered the first professorship teaching electronic music in Italy. The professorship was at the Conservatory in Florence where Maltagliati later attended.

This relationship manifested itself into netOper@ in the spring of 1997. The work was the first interactive web experience coming from Italy at the time, which to me really dates the project. To be the first to do anything is this world separates you from everybody else trying to accomplish that same task. It separates you in the way of being able to overstep the mental boundaries of disbelief, which many artists fall victim to. The experience that netOper@ brought to the web was fantastic; the “viewer” is transformed into the “doer”. Even if you are a three year old blasting away at the mouse you would be able enjoy the experience of this net art. On the other hand, if you approach the screen with the intent of creating your own dynamic composition, that is possible too.

The later works of Maltagliati went on to some more interactive pieces, but this time they involved cell phones. These where not as impressive given the capabilities of cell phones at the time, but nonetheless still challenged what was being done with current technology and it was involving the community on a large scale (just an early version of the recent invitation we received to be a part of the “Vectorial Elevation” collaborative light exhibition). This, to me, is extremely important. We have this technology that is supposed to make communicating easier through digital means. Many of us are using this digitization to confine our voices within a small, enclosed environment and not allowing it to really expand our social network. These projects, that can be found here at Maltagliati’s website (http://www.visualmusic.it/visualmusic.htm) area a great example of the ideal capabilities inherent in communication technology. At the time the state of the art cell-phone technology was the imode, which you can read about here-àhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I-mode

This technology was developed in 1999 and was a sort of foundation for the common 3G networks we experience today.

After expanding his horizons, Maltagliati reunited with Grossi and created Circus 4 and Circus 8. These two projects are visually more interesting for me engage in because they were using the much larger audio and visual capabilities of the PC. All of these projects can be found at the site listed above and you can develop your own opinion of the work.

ART.

Artists working in the late 90’s were exposed to the expanse world of computer-aided communication. Other generations have seen computers placed within their lives, but not nearly to the degree as these early web pioneers who witnessed the uprising of digital communication to such a democratic degree. The primary focus I found repeated throughout the net.artists was on the social impact that this technology is having on the population. Internet artist are striking dialogue between the users and their machines in an attempt to raise questions of their communicative validity. Others were exploring the rhetorical routes they could initiate in order to allow the viewer to embark on a seemingly one of a kind virtual experience. By one of a kind, I refer to the route that many net.artists lead the viewer through. There is a start to the site, but the exploration is up to the viewer/user and their individual direction.

A common theme found amongst internet artist is the participation aspect many involve with their work. Having said this it is hard to imagine a piece of net.art that is not participatory given the typing of the url. or even to click on a hypertext is an act of participation engaging the viewer intimately into the piece. Artist who focus on feedback from the viewer are extremely entertaining with their work due to the mirrored voyeuristic quality. That is one thing about the net, people love to look at other people’s lives and not really have any association with them. This makes the net a detached community collective that allows the user to keep up with the society without even being a part of it.

Confusion is also a common theme throughout some of the internet artists. I believe this is a purposeful tactic chosen in order to further involve the user into the enigmatic quality exhibited by the internet. The journey through ones site is as much as the experience as the content within it. There is a sort of reward experienced when navigating through a confusing site and finally reaching the text that you think is the reason for the site but then your not sure because there is an image that is over in the corner that leads you into a completely experience. The exploration of self and society are prominent within the work of many of the early net.artists.

The introduction to net art outline exemplifies the ubiquitous nature of the art. Anyone who has any knowledge of computers should strictly follow those simple guidelines to transform their thoughts or visions into a global work of art. I enjoy the idea that they bring Realization over Theorization. This is a real time experience, animated in front of your eyes, giving the viewer the feeling of exclusive entertainment. This forces you to make an immediate realization as to what you are seeing. The immediacy must be a factor of the intimate connection you have when using a computer. The artist is coming into your living room so that he/she can share their vision with you.

ADDED THOUGHTS on CONtemporary COMM>

The facebook phenomenon is a version of this topic where you have a social buffer that makes human interaction easier to engage. It seems that with this new standard of communication people are developing an anxiety when put into real life social situations. The texting trend that is ubiquitous today is a direct relation to this idea that people feel safer at a communicative distance. It is much more of a hassle to write a long message than to just call the person, but for some reason we feel the need to text. Why? What does this mean to want the digital space between thoughts? Does a normal conversation with another human contain too much pressure? I will be honest. When I first used AOL chat, I would get on there with my friends just to make fun of people. There was this anonymity that was not to even be reached by the riving prank call. It was great. Now users enjoy a part of that cloaking effect even when talking with their friends. It is almost like your text is a messenger of your mind. And your mind is a mediator of your self. So there are multiple extension of thought going on here, and I think the goal is to seamlessly combine these devices together. We must use the tools of technology to enhance our communicability, not to hinder.

Digital narratives

The contextual framework for the first two stories is a documentation of personal reflection. The writers seem to have a desire to express their feelings about the thoughts that consume them most. In Jackson’s “MY BODY”, she describes a range of concerns that reveal an idiosyncratic thought process tilting towards the side of fiction in order to shed light on the all too familiar lack of adolescent self esteem. The fantasy aspect to the story is in her writing style itself. I think that she is really reliving these thoughts and they are just so extreme that they come across as fiction. The interesting part of this writing is the imaginative mind of a youth.

“Six Sex Scenes” is laid out in similar manner to Jackson but involves more of a “journal for her therapist” context. The writing does cross the line into fantasy especially at the section with her and her dad in the changing room. The way she wrote that was not so much implying that her dad “touched” her as a child but more the psychoactive tendencies of a wondering mind.

These artists are using creative exaggeration in order to develop their latent personalities into a fictionalized alter ego. I think people do this a lot in order to feel a situation out without actually having to change. Once a thought or idea is put into words or on paper then that person can develop that manifestation further. Eisen actually uses that method openly when talking about something that Adam would say. She immediately followed a comment on how that was not true, and she just said it to see what it sounded like.

In the case of little red riding hood, I think she used the story to aid with her concept. The wolf in the fairy tale is this deceptive being that is going to consume her if given the chance. This sounds like the way some people perceive their significant other, i.e. succubus. The story, in the eyes of Leischman, is a bit different due to the contemporary context. The wolf is still the deceptive creature he has always been, but this time he is not the consumer. This plot has a feel of revenge for the hurt that she has endured throughout her relationships.

In Tina Laporta’s “Distance”, the character she plays is voyeuristic, looking in on the lives of net-com participants. Using her own thoughts in the text, she seduces the viewer into the enigmatic environment of the online community. This was extremely new at the time and not many people knew what to think of the ability to communicate at such a distance. “We become artifacts in motion”. That comment resonates within me because now, more so than in “99, are we becoming pixels on a screen

“DAKOTA”

“The ultimate textual experience”

Short film is taken to an exciting new level with Young-Hae Chang’s “DAKOTA”. The imagery is completely comprised of high-speed text changing so fast that if you stop to think about what you just read, you’re already lost. This revolutionary verbal video has all the story of a full-length drama in a fraction of the time. Intense ritualistic drumming accompanies the text driven treat creating an unforgettable multiple sensory experience. .

“The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” by Walter Benjamin

Governmental bodies do not change overnight but there was an insight that fascist system was not going to be the winner of the race even before the war. Benjamin then mentions that art about the proletariat after its assumption of power would be useless compared to the developmental tendencies of art under present conditions of production, because the former has not yet been accomplished it is not as relevant to the current political situation. With these comments, I believe this writing to be centered in the power of art and how it must keep current in the ever-changing condition of politics.

Great works of art are produced because the artist has something to say about their current surroundings, albeit political, environmental, etc. An artistic reproduction can only touch on the technical aspects of the work it is trying to replicate. Its place in time has changed and therefore does not have the historical relevance of the original and its aura will be compromised.

The aura is something that a piece of art carries with it because of the deeper context to which it speaks or simply because of the temporal beauty that it touches upon. Benjamin believes that contemporary masses have lost the aura in their attempt to grab hold of all desired objects, originals or reproduction. In film the fact that there is a mediator between the audience and the actor diminishes the possibility of an aura felt by the viewer. This process destroys the unique aura of the great work by making a reproduction available. The blame here is put on the mass ideology of the universal equality of things, the proletariat?

In the debate of value between a painting and a photo there are very important topics. The fact that there is a debate is the interesting thing. Epochs in time have different realities and in the twentieth century the photograph has no less significance than a fresco of the seventh century due to its cultural significance. The current epoch is far too rapid to have frescos be the primary form of artistic documentation. This technological time is calling for a light speed device to carry over the thoughts of today’s artist.

“The sight of immediate reality has become an orchid in the land of technology.”

“AS WE MAY THINK” by Vannevar Bush

The connection between important publications being as elementary as the square ships means that the information was beginning to surpass the ability to render it all with the modern convention means. This paved the way for the unlimited “memex” (common pc). Bush recognized that there is infinite data out there and that it needs to be easily obtained and linked together in order to advance knowledge. His ideas are just like the open source site, wikipedia (bogus), and the search engine google have offered the users.

The scientists have developed a very comfortable place for us humans to sit back and inconsequentially critique our surroundings. Bush has foreseen the time at which there will be so much information that we simply need to go back (electronically) to recall past realizations or facts and to leave the memory open for topics most relevant to now.