The Garden of Forking Paths and more…

The Garden of Forking paths:  Jorge Luis Borges

As We may Think:  Vannevar Bush

Photosynth:  Blaise Aguera Y Arcas

All linked to choices, Dr. You is main character; goes to kill a man because of his name to be a message for the English army to attack during WWII.   Albert has book:  The Garden of Forking Paths, having connection of You being the grandson of Tsuipen who wrote this book.  Touching on you, the reader, having multiple possibilities, a labyrinth of signs, has he killed Albert already, will soon, or even not kill him at all.  The key, decipherer of labyrinth will be killed.  Therefore stuck in the labyrinth forever, the reader takes his own view of story and thus contributes to the story itself.  About not being able to go back, and a need to destroy to move forward.  The discussion of “chess”, the infinite possible moves in a limited space, with sacrificing needed to move forward.

Bush: started up DARPA-part of defense department to find way miliary could survive a nuclear attack, back in 40’s and 50’s.  Focus on communication survival.  ARPA net was solution: ” the backbone of the internet”.  Bush’s wish for future –> Micro Storage.  Wanted something that held all information in the world.  Wanted a series of links between one physics paper to another  (Hyperlinks)  Combining all types of media into one place.  Scientists manipulate data the more data available the more accurate the answer.  Problem becomes how do we find something specific in all the massive data.  DIKW

D=Data  I=Information  K=Knowlege  W= wisdom

Data is the most raw form, information is data with purpose/understanding, knowledge is placing information in context, and wisdom is finding way of using knowledge.

Ways to find specific information, filtering out the inperfections. (ie. keywords, hyperlinks, associative trails, trustedsources) Visualization.

Seadragon:  Visualization masses of data semelessly connected.  Take all data from everyone, social environment, instead of specific sources- everyone contributes.  Even links of false images of Notra Dam to real photos of Notra Dam.  Almost hyperimaging rather then hyperlinking.

Non linear story telling

Hypertext systems- have a span of time the world is ready for certain art pieces. Grammatron hit a sweet spot with its release. As a narrative piece, moves forward by new pages being loaded, simple java script actions. Changing time frames makes the reading timed. You are not controlling the read but are forced to read at narratives pace. New idea of controlling the reader. Look yields: simple red page with animation, black text, and two yellow bars to separate text and animation. Red could signify: sexual contectes, structural devise that connects piece. Different background=new chapter. Second chapter has links so a choice for reader; changes the path of narrative. All in a attempt to create a new way of story telling. Whether it is successful or not, is dependent on the individual reader.

A non-linear story telling(much like the chose your own adventure books). The reader constructs their own reading of a piece.

Bring up the idea of Golum- the creature created with masters blood to due its biddig. [Modern day Avatar digital character representing you] Use of idea of Golum; text as a web not linear story telling; Where one have control and don’t have control .

Another example of this new story telling is “Six Sex Scene”: a hypertext always have a way back”home”, but still have forword movement, but tends to have constant number of choices ->No time limit in reading. Links are at bottom rather then placed within reading. Was entitled for the purpose of six different men she had sexual relations with- either actually or sudo.

Another hypertext was the “My boyfriend came back from the War”, with images accompanying the text. Also, staying the same page except for the small section the reader chooses. Leaving the way the story is told in the hands of the reader.

Zork, Nethack, Lambda Moo

Zork was one of the first computer games, text based adventure. Entering into the world of the simulation in a virtual space rather then a real world. Such as Disney world, or world fairs. Zork was the founding base of the modern day video game. By creating the understood concepts of a games play. Be it hidden boundaries or choices of equipment to save memory space within the game. Some modern people are not so prone to this text only based game play. They seem to be more attached to being spoon feed the images rather then using their imaginations to create the lands the hero/avatar is in. I found this with first hand experience with recommending this game to friends. Personally I loved the freedom of the interface and the in depth thought needed to work your way though the game.

Nethack, is closer to modern day with a visual interface and a choice of avatars, via gender and classes. Giving birth to the attachment of life bars, cutscenes, pints, Items, cash, levels, ect. To create that since of addiction with games, that is give and taking of rewards creating up and downs of emotion for the player. Attaching ones self to the little set of pixels on the screen to create not someone else but the player themselves. Even if the character you are playing looks nothing like yourself or carries the same name you begin to believe that it is a part of your personality. At least you attach a piece of your self to them. Creating a blur of narrative space and the real life.

Lambda Moo, though not a game but a text based society.  Attaching to the imaginative aspect of Zork, needing to see the virtual world in your minds eye.  Though instead of being in a controlled environment such as a game, multiple people interact to create a whole new society.   The only limitations being what the creators choices and the users imagination of language.

Pixclation

Boulter Bonaminc- discusses exact reproduciblity.

Photo’s become more plastic, maluible, with pixclation: on piece of a whole image, known today as different color squires or circles combined in large numbers to create a whole image. The more pixels the sharper the image becomes, this is best seen through digital cameras going into mega pixels in modern days.  A Signifier to refer to somthing other then itself.  Binary system of either being on or off/ black or white in its most simple terms.  Within photos it can either be a specific color or a gray scale for the pixel being either on or off.  Smallest action on the piece of art.  We are no longer storing images but a sescription of a image.  25 pixels needed to make a English letter.  More pixels are need, like letters as part of a paragraph or even a whole book, in order to understand larger meanings of things.

Iconic –>Realistic

Pixels–>Objects

Learning from Las Vegas

Thesis: Art is contained by its subject. With two categories labeled through the the writing as “A Duck” or “A Decorated Shed”. Explaining the buildings in Las Vegas as such, either just imitations(icons) of what they are meant to be, such as the fake Pyramids or Roman buildings, or as functional buildings as a art form. Leading to a deep discussion of gas stations, representing a actual building. Ultimately, moving to the discussion of, Rauschenberg making connections of what happens around objects. Expanding it from just art but a reference beyond the piece. Making the art of the piece focused on the viewers interactions or reactions to the piece making the art more involved.

Susan Sontag

“In Plato’s Cave” :  Photos taking/putting oneself into a certain relation to the world that feels like knowledge-and, therefore, like power.   Photos don’t seem like statements of the world, but pieces of it.  Meaning a photo seems real, reliable, a stolen piece of history.  Eliminating the doubt from past experience, ie 1871 French police using photos as crime evidence to convict felons.

Lacan’s thoughts

Contributing with the mirror stage. The stage of intelligence when on can recognize oneself in a mirror. Usually occurring around six months with the human race. Sometime never within any other species know. Leading to the transformation of an individual taking the role of an image. Ceasing to be a living being for a instant and becoming an object/image instead. Also relates to hallucination’s or any use of imagery in the mind. Shows the superiority of the human mind in both having the capability to induce such images and knowing if they are false or not.

Check out the webspace known as Rhizome.org

Seriously check out my exihibition on Rhizome a online communitiy for digital artists.

Enjoy: click here

ps: Enjoy the Dead Carol gif. I think it rocks:

Karl Marks reading

  The ruling class controls all, those not in rule are borderline slaves.  They had nothing and the ruling had everything.  Those in power gained there power by being the ones that help production in society.  If you hold the keys to all the things being made, then you have the power.  The classic, need of some with the suppling by other.  Such as oil manufacturers being able to jack up the price of gas because they can.   The class which is the ruling material force of society, is at the same time its ruling intellectual force.

WWI politics and situation during tis era controlled Marks thoughts, the poverty of Germany which influence the thoughts of the ruling parties to go to war.  War is always good for a hurting economy.  Leading to WWI and the second world war with Hitler taking advantage of the poverty ridden Germany after the failure of WWI.

There are four groups of labor, according to Marks.  Everything reinforces the ruling class, ie:computers made by military as weapons; to help set ruling structure.  Money being a  strong incentive to maintain…structure(dominate para dime).   To have Revolution the lower classes need to take over the ideas of the already ruling class.

Walter Benjamin, reading

Mr. Benjamin goes into depth how we can define art through the ages, and the natural desire to reproduce art.  Be it the student learning for the first time, the master sharpening his skills, or someone how is trying to earn some money.  All three of these reasons are well founded and understandable.  History has shown that reproducing art is second nature to orginalitlity.  Seen as early as the Greeks and there coins, or wood cutouts.  Leading to the middle ages lithograph.  Which was quickly replaced by photography.  And to modern day, the adaption of film, to film with sound.

In todays culture a strong emphasis is placed on the original piece.  Making the deference in worth from mere pennies to millions of dollars.  Then the liquidation of the orginals, in modern day through film, taking old stories and adapting them to film.  Most obviously today the use of comic book stories to film.

Uniqueness comes out of tradition, tradition which is adaptable through history.  The earliest art works being linked to ritual-first magical, then religion.  Second only to the architecture which housed people.

So, the question of whither or not film, and actors are considered art/artists.  Leading to the publick as an examiner, but an absent minded one.