introduction(s) to new media fdm 20c: introduction to digital media lecture 11.04.2007

1. introduction(s) to new media fdm 20c: introduction to digital media lecture 11.04.2007 warren sack / film & digital media department / university of california, santa cruz

2. last time • waiting list • a definition of digital art • demo tapes: epic, alan kay, apple “knowledge navigator”

3. outline for today • quiz concerning the book internet art • waiting list • your definitions of “digital media” • my definitions of “media” and “digital” • murray and manovich’s definitions of “new media” • a look at some key internet art sites • discussion and demonstration for project one

4. waiting list • principles of ordering • transfers have preference over non-transfers • majors have preference over non-majors • juniors have preference over sophomores • sophomores have preference over frosh • those who came the first day of class have preference over those who did not • within categories, people have been randomly assigned a position

5. waiting list • caitlin faulknar • matt folson • davis banta • jessica lamendella • ryoji yoshimura • jesse clark • colin bruce • ryan campbell • jongwoon lim • geraldine porras

6. waiting list • stephanie ramirez • chris nuth • melody thauxquchay • jennifer kim • mai xia vang • taylor broek • michael martinez • chance finley • brooke young • andy shauer • jesus rosales, jr.

7. waiting list 12. melissa freeland 13. sarah jeremiah 14. sean murphy 15. jill barry 16. alexander whittlesey 17. sophie ludel 18. ryoji yoshimura 19. kyle eck 20. justin rimando 21. kameron niksefat

8. waiting list 22. travis delucia 23. robeson bowmani 24. dustin escoffery 25. dana shinn 26. mary spenger 27. lance woodson 28. junji yamakoshi 29. lisa ballard 30. madison williams 31. kristen mccurley

9. waiting list 32. nicole wright 33. aris millare 34. natasia schibinger 35. abraham rivas 36. richard flores 37. enes mentese

10. please see me after class • obeson bowmani • max landman • marisol ortiz-melendrez • amber pittenger • nicholas savino

11. student definitions of “digital media”

12. my definition of media When technologies connect or separate people, they become media.

13. winston churchill on architecture • “we shape our buildings and then they shape us.”

14. marshall mcluhan on media • “we make our media and then they make us.”

15. my definition of digital • digital = computer

16. but, computers can take many different material forms • “computer technology” does not necessarily start as silicon and gold; • “computer technology” does not necessarily need to be implemented as hardware or software.

17. george boole: “an investigation into the laws of thought” (1847)

18. charles babbage, “difference engine” (1848)

19. the two building blocks of computers • switches: a steering element that can combine multiple signals into a single signal • connectors: the connecting element must have the ability to branch , so that a single output can feed many inputs. see w. daniel hillis, the pattern on the stone: the simple ideas that make computers work (especially “chapter 1: nuts and bolts”)

20. an or block built with hydraulic valvessource: hillis, p. 14

21. hillis’ tinker toy computer

22. claude shannon: “a symbolic analysis of relay switching circuits” (1939)

23. definitions of new media • janet murray • lev manovich • ...and --through murray and manovich -- noah wardrip-fruin and nick montfort

24. some preliminary questions • who is noah wardrip-fruin? • who is nick montfort? • who is lev manovich? • who is janet murray? • what does “pullulating” mean?

25. janet murray’s definition of new media • new media are a single medium: the digital medium (p. 3) • humanists v. engineers (p. 4-5) • their convergence in learning (p. 5) • representational power of the computer derives from four qualities (p. 6): • procedural • participatory • encyclopedic • spatial

26. lev manovich’s definition of new media • new media: “parallel tendencies in modern art and computing technology after world war ii” (p. 15) • borges v. bush • new media technologies: “computer programming, graphical interface, hypertext, multimedia, wired and wireless computing” (p. 15) • “these technologies themselves have become the greatest art works of today.” (p. 15)

27. lev manovich’s definition of new media (continued) • new media v. cyberculture • new media as computer technology used as a distribution platform • new media as digital data controlled by software • new media as the mix between existing cultural conventions and the conventions of software • new media as the aesthetics that accompanies the early stage of every new modern media and communication technology • new media as faster execution of algorithms previously executed manually or through other technologies • new media as the encoding of modernist avant-garde; new media as metamedia • new media as parallel articulation of similar ideas in post-wwii art and modern computing

28. internet art sites • museums and collections: rhizome, mediaartnet, whitney artport, etc. • festivals: ars electronica, isea, transmediale, etc. • exhibitions: database imaginary, pong.mythos, etc.

29. project one: create a hypertext • html • sftp • due: this friday, april 13th

30. next time • topic: hypertext