Some notes:
“The medium is the message” emphasizes that the medium itself shapes human experiences and social structures, rather than just its content.
Through which medium is the project presented? — I am more interested in making physical things —> for me to think about what material, what textile? What is the meaning/ message I want to send out through using these materials?
I went to a panel talk with Catalina Tuca from Chile. She created an art project about the luma tree/ luma stick. The luma tree was used to make sticks for the police. Thus it contains an implication of state violence. Nowadays, although the sticks used by the police are made with plastics, they are still called “luma”. — the symbolic meaning of objects
“The restructuring of human work and association was shaped by the technique of fragmentation that is the essence of machine technology. The essence of automation technology is the opposite.“
Prompts:
- What is different about computational media than previous media? If the “Medium is the Message” what is the message of computation? How does it disrupt the existing institutions of our culture? Are we using computers or are they using us? How have computers extended our reach in time and space and what has improved in your life and in society and what has gotten worse because of it?
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- Unlike traditional media, computational media are interactive, and can give real-time feedback. I would argue that it may be able to generate more surprises — sometimes the computer can generate new scripts based on our input. In other words, unlike the static traditional media form, computational media is dynamic and flexible.
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- The digital world expands the concept of “space” — the interspace communication cannot be perceived. (When talking about space in the digital era, I can’t stop thinking about the lab of Professor X in X man — a lot of blue lights/ beams going on in a HUGE space.) Computational media also opens a new era of imagination. There are many discussions and artworks around cyborg, the combination of technology/ the metallic texture with other medium.
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- The project I have in mind is Metempsychosis: The Passion of Pneumatics by Ivana Bašić. The reflective nature of the metals gives out a futurist and unapproachable sense, and will presents the idea of “violence”. The plastic seems solid yet fragile — solid in the sense that it is a hard material, fragile because it is merely a shell. The “fetus”, I believe is made with alabaster and wax. Although it is not as soft as materials like foam, its shape helps with expressing the idea. This installation feels fluid, futuristic, a little bit of monotonic and uncanny, but I do love the choice of the materials (at least how they get to be presented). | link to the project
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- Another question I find interesting: for me computer/ computational world is always about the future — can it be about the past? How?
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- How is computational media used in the above projects? Are there any projects that stand out? How does computation shape the story that gets told? Can these same stories be told without the computational elements? what would change?
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- the project Tree conveys the warning of deforestation by interfering with our perception of the space. Using VR technology, it is as if the user is placed in the real forest. The VR headset grants the user with a new perspective unachievable in real life cases, and allows user to interact with the bird. What makes the experience more realistic is the incorporation of the sound. | link to the project
- I guess what is fascinating about VR/ AR/ apparatus in NFT world is how they extends our ways of interaction with our environment. Things are no longer real in the physical sense, but they can be perceived by human beings. — They feel real without being actually real!
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