Click it

Our whole lives are spent searching. What makes each person different, is what he or she finds. Different search methods will lead one consumer to different conclusions because their operating systems cover different territory. 

For example, if I was looking for the book "The Alchemist," there are many different ways I could find it on the internet. The most conventional way would be to go to Amazon and type in the title. This seems that it might be the best way to find a book, but not necessarily. Another option would be to look up nearby bookstores and then use google maps to track your way on foot. This search would lead you to a store full of books, so instead of leaving with one, you leave with two others you could not leave without that were in the same section. A third way would be to use flicker's color search or the book pop to try  to match the purple color on the book. This may lead you to books that are completely unrelated to your previous area of inquiry, and you may end up ordering some new knowledge you had previously never been turned on to. Over all, I wouldn't say that these later search methods are "bad." They just aren't as effective as the direct line. For some shoppers, however, this is ok. There are some people that want to peruse through the book stacks, and with Amazons latest marketing information,  consumers are only shown a relatively narrow selection of books. By searching through some of the less conventional models, more creativity and variation can be found. 

If we were to change the whole way of searching, for example by not clicking at all. How would this change the items we do choose? It was interesting to think of how computers may have evolved without the idea of clicking a mouse. They would probably look very different. The mouse itself is a form of actively choosing where to click. It is tactile and gives the user a sense of control. When it was taken away from me, I began to feel lost at first, but slowly over time I became much more comfortable with the new system. It was interesting to search through the different search engines to see what results would come my way. 

The Museum of Jurassic Technology

Technology is defined as "the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes," however in this digital age, most people have a much more narrow view of technology.  Most people think of computers, cell phones and many of the other recent innovations that reflect current scientific breakthroughs. Hundreds of years ago though, breakthroughs in science and engineering were much more primitive. So when I walked into the Museum of Jurassic Technology, I was surprised to find exhibits about superstition and art the size of a pinhead. It is interesting to think about these trends in human thinking to current culture.

The first exhibit that I became interested in talked about many different superstitions and the home remedies that people used to apply against them. Superstitions can be classified as technology by the definition above because they apply current scientific knowledge (or lack there of) to every day life.   example, some people would make their children eat whole mice on toast to cure stammering.  Now, we would never eat mice on toast because studies have found that there in no correlation between mice pie and the voice box. I think this might have worked only because kids were so mortified by eating mice bones and fur that they were conditioned to stop stuttering. Today, superstitious tend to focus on luck, religion and other topics that we do not have definitive knowledge about. 

Some other exhibits including my favorite where they showed ex-rays of flowers to show their internal organs more directly showed the evolution of individual thought through science, but other parts of the museum just started to confuse me. For example, I listened to a recording that talked about an a virus that infects ants in rain forests and sprouts brightly colored fungi from their remains. I struggled to see how each of the exhibits corresponded to one another and to the museum as a whole. I guess even the natural aspects of the museum, represent different items and phenomena that helped to increase the base of human understanding and experience.  

The museum seemed like it was a collection of random artifacts, and it was. But because they covered such a wide range of topics from religion to trailer parks, dice to pinhead art a larger conclusion can be made. Humans make assumptions about the world around them based on what they have seen and experienced, this manifests itself in everyday actions and production (technology). I was interested to think why did this person decide to devote his time to creating art out of butterfly wings? While it is impossible to know the answer to this question, it is sure that the motivation came from his beliefs about the world around him and was made possible by advancement in tools that enabled him to precisely cut and place teeny pieces of wings. The museum draws together these relics from the past in order that we may understand better the knowledge that existed before more recent findings. It talks both about the collectivity of human knowledge and the uniqueness of individual experience to produce novel goods and perceptions of life. 

Kleine Welt

In this short interactive video called Kleine Welt, or Small World, the narrators perspective of small town life came through by guiding the audience through a series of slides and stories. At first, I thought it was really interesting to be able to choose what slides you went through and create your own story within the larger project. However, as I got closer to the end, my choice became less and less. By the end of the project, there were many slides with only one red box to click on and advance to the next slide. I started to think what this lack of choice meant about living in a small town. You make initial choices about how you want to live, but being in a small town really limits your free will and choice. I wondered if everyone was given the same narrow choices at the end like I was. It is really important in flash, at least to me, to have the choice between hotspots mean something that relates to your project as a whole. Choice lets the audience get involved with the story, and become invested in its progress, but if it does not increase the understanding of the main point of a project, I do not think it should be utilized. In this project, I felt that choice and interactivity were used effectively because it enabled me to explore the town like I would normally. 

My Second Life

This weekend, I began to explore the mystical world of Second Life. In this online planet, avatars can explore, make friends, buy property and even fly.  The opportunities are endless, just like in real life. For me, however, I could not connect emotionally to my avatar, nor could I master the rules that govern Second Life. All in all, I believe that Second Life may be a good outlet for some people, but I could not get into it. 

It was interesting to see the creations other Second Life members had made, and the imagination that came into creating objects such as this strawberry seat. The world is actually very beautiful. This night scene depicted had waterfalls and palm trees everywhere. Exploration also brought me to arctic tundras, tropical islands, and even Korea. Walking around in this virtual world expanded the number of places an individual could go. For someone who is generally confined to a homogenous environment, Second Life could provide a way to get out of the everyday confines of life. For me, I would rather step out my own front door and explore the real world.  Another aspect of the game that I would not buy into is the actual purchasing of Linden with real US dollars. Second Life users can buy property and material objects for their avatars to enjoy, however I could not justify spending my real money on an intangible, virtual house. 

My avatars name is Opal Burner. I was supposed to be able to change her appearance however I wanted, but for some reason, she is now wearing two skirts and has hair covering half of her face. I tried. This disconnect in control was another reason I could not get into Second Life.  I need to become more literate in the Second Life language before I make my final judgement, but as of now I do not understand where the main areas of business are, nor how to maneuver my avatar through the virtual world effectively. This disconnect may have contributed to my inability to bond with my avatar. I ended up flying through mountains, sinking in the rivers, and overall got very lost. 

I will try Second Life again soon, hopefully with better results. 

The movie, The Way things Go by Peter Fischli and David Weiss followed a series of events that passed energy through a variety of forms. From different camera angles, I found myself focusing on separate angles of the action. If the camera was looking from in front of the spark or falling board, I looked at the cause of the action. If the camera was positioned behind the bubbling foam or rolling ball, I would focus on the effect. The movie talked about narrative because depending on the perspective and angle of the camera, the chain of random causes and effects took on a whole different meaning. When an author creates a story, he or she must take care of the perspective. Any change in camera angle draws attention to a new set of images with their own connotative meanings. 

The Soft Cinema Project by Andres Kratky and Lev Manovich draws attention to the complex connotative connections that occur whenever we recall memory. For an author, many inspirations and experiences go into the creation of a narrative. When a viewer watches the narrative, he or she fills in the gaps and makes assumptions about what is going on based on what they already understand. The Soft Cinema project asks how much structure an audience needs to understand a narrative. It combines text, video, audio and color schemes to trigger emotional responses so the audience can create an opinion about the piece. Regardless of the meaning an author conveys within the artwork, a viewer will take what he or she wants from it. Narrative creates the structure for a piece, however the true meaning is determined by the observer. 

Fuzzy Biological Sabotage

The Critical Art Ensemble has created a website in which different groups and organizations can have a space to advertise their position on new biotechnology techniques and theories. They justify their mission by saying that it is "Fuzzy Biological Sabotage," meaning that they take up a position on the boarder line between two polar positions, and rely on the reactions of the public to decide which way the movement will continue. In other words, they have evenly presented the websites of groups with different opinions about biotechnology, and hope that visitors to the site will be inspired to start a dialogue with their peers about their own thoughts. CAE seems to be bipartisan on the subject, stating that they only want to "slow the current molecular invasion."  

The CAE also is experimenting with the line between science and art. They gave the associated organizations similar virtual spaces through which to share their opinions. The reactions of visitors to the  site will draw conclusions as to which advertising techniques are most effective in today's society. Some of the groups, such as Marching Plague, use alternative forms of expression, such as video and a museum installation to make their point about fear and bioterrorism. Other websites rely on strong emotional appeals to connect to their viewers. The Society for Reproductive Anachronisms uses a jarring sketch of a couple engaging in sexual intercourse to grab the attention of the audience. Uses of emotional visual stimuli in this arena are very effective because they serve to alert people of their true feelings on a subject. When people are shown a strong source image, they are forced to take a stance. The CAE welcomes this use of controversial imagery  in order to get people talking. 

Each of the organizations chosen by the CAE represents a different point of view. I believe that the CAE chose organizations that were not perfect, and had obvious flaws regardless of how which position you look at it from. The imperfection of the site leads to more discussion, and more emotion regarding the issue, which is the purpose of the site as a whole. 

Reproduction and Visual Technologies

This week for our blog prompt, we were asked to watch and analyze how the style of two short films, The Synthetic Philosophy of the Glance by Eric Faden, and  This Unfamiliar Place by Eva Ilona Brzeski functions to prove the point each is trying to convey.  Each author uses the the form of their short film to highlight their main point. 

In the first film, Eric Faden tries to draw a connection between visual cinema, railroads, and their ability to transport people to a different place or see things from a different perspective. He begins by giving three examples of movies that place the railroad at the center of the character's ability to see and process the world around them. Not only are they transported to a different location, but they are also able to view the world in a new and unique manner by their experience with the railroad. Movies too, not only enable us to see the world through a different perspective, but also comment on our position within that world. Faden uses the recreation of a classical movie style to illustrate the perspective of a young girl experiencing one of the first movies, and shows how the use of the railroad ties into the creation of a motion picture. He guides us through a girl's adventure by railroad, into the city, where she watches a documentary about the correlation between cinema and trains in what seems to be an old movie titled "The Day Trip." During the movie, he says that the creation of the railroad, made possible the acceptance of visual cinema by the masses, because just as video "the steam engine, that powerful stage manager throws the switches...and then shifts the view point every moment," - Benjamin Gastineau, and requires a new understanding of perspective. He punctuates his point at the end of the video, by revealing that the depiction of an old film was just that. Faden had transported his audience into a new time and space to make the audience more able to understand the connection between the genesis of cinema with the cultural impact of the railroad. 

The second film, This Unfamiliar Place, similarly parallels its form with function. The author is trying to make sense of, and investigate the details of her father's dark past in the concentration camp in Warsaw, Poland during WWII. The film takes the form of a documentary, that attempts to find the answers to her questions regarding her father's mysterious past. However, although this film is factual, drawing from her own perception and her father's words to draw conclusions, the audience is left just as confused about the man's experience in the concentration camp. She uses short and sporadic visual clips that are hard to interpret, and left me unclear about their connection to the discovery of meaning for the author. She tries to draw parallels between her own life, and the unknown story of her father, but nothing seems to satisfy the questions that linger in her brain and the minds of the audience.