Forking Paths

While being thrown into the middle of story in the way "Forking Paths" did was a bit disorienting; the story slowly centered itself. I really enjoyed the fact that the story began with a simple tale of an Asian German spy and morphed into a complex commentary on reality. The idea that every possibility exists simultaneously is incredibly intriguing since we perceive a single set of events. The Many World Hypothesis disputes the idea of wave function collapse and postulates that their is an objective world where everything exists regardless of individual subjective observers. This Mario interpretation attempts to convey the idea of multiple simultaneous universes. Distressing.

Dr. Horrible

While I appreciate that their budget was far higher than “The Guild”, I thought it was beautifully crafted. It had good editing, writing and music which combined to make a super entertaining show. It also utilized the medium well. It is a fake super villain’s vlog turned into a show on a medium usually used for blogging/vlogging. It feels really well-suited for the internet and all the characters are great. I love the emphasis on a musical style of representation. It makes the whole thing more jovial and entertaining.

The Guild

While it was entertaining, I thought a lot of the scenes were really awkward. Too many silences/awkward characters that kind of drag the webisode from scene to scene. However, I did think the material they used was funny and topical. It caters to a small subset of internet users that play RPG religiously. I thought it was amazing that the budget was $50 and used user input to create each episode.

Intro 2

"these technologies themselves have become the greatest art works of today." This line illuminates the guiding principle to what Manovich is expressing in "New Media from Borges to HTML". The digital media age affords the visual artist a luxury unknown to other artists. The power to disseminate their work immediately and for free. Anything interactive, involving user-input, that's on the web today, is a constantly evolving organism designed by the preferences of 1.6 billion people.(1)

However, Manovich describes this medium can have its downsides. It allows the artist unprecedented power over their art, but the work also becomes infinitely manipulated. The designs take on a life of their own simply because once something sets foot into the digital realm, it instantly obtains infinite potential. There is a huge divide between static, physical object and a dynamic, digital object.

Manovich’s 8 categories to define new media attempt to create a fence around something that thrives in its limitless freedom. Digital representation, a relatable interface coated with a GUI, was initially supported mostly by digital artists. It didn’t become a utilitarian, public project until much later into its life. The digital landscape is sea of possibilities, but our tools of exploration are still in their infancy.

Sites like Stumbleupon take the internet user on a meta-cultural journey through the constant updating of the internet. Using the internet’s own content and keep it alive through a constant churning of human interaction.


1: http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm

RYAN

This piece was about artist Ryan Larkin, a famous Canadian animator. The representation of Larkin was disturbing because it depicted him as a broken, crumbling man with only a little hope left. Larkin seemed to be the future version of the interviewer, who was also decomposing. The visual story was striking in that it brought the viewer into this destitute world filled with hopeless people and lives in shambles. I really enjoyed this animation because it illuminated me to Larkin's life and told a story through visuals. More engrossing than Bingo.

Bingo

I remember this video being nominated for weirdest web video award somewhere. While it's not the strangest thing in the world, it is certainly disconcerting. The animation looks dated, but the concept behind it is intersting. Based on a short play called something like, ignore this play, the protaganist becomes the antagonist by becoming the clown he fights against. I thought the whole piece was truly shocking.

Sand Beasts!

I thought the sand beasts idea was great. Making simple mechincal contraptions come to life by ingenuity. By using the natural fluctuations of the wind, the sand beasts truly look like the have the life of their own since they are tapping into a real life natural occurence. Some of the beasts were actually terrifying. Huge mechanical wooden monsters.

Water Printer

I wish I got to see the underpinnings of this technology because it looked pretty cool. While the designs that were displayed were cool, they were only cool because they were made of water. Very simple. It was also interesting that its use was for commerical purposes in a Japanese mall. I wonder what practical implications it could have.

New Media Reader Introduction

There are a lot of hefty, heavy concepts laid out in the intro to the book detailing the intricacies of digital new media. The intro laid out the elements of which the book was going to cover which is everything from the earliest forms of communication to the most recent. The intro also talked about multiple perspectives that the book will cover about new media from its context to the media itself. I found it interesting that the artists working with new media were the real innovators and explorers of the medium. They had the "stones" to actually manipulate the new within their own context. It took much longer for the general public to accept and utilize the new media. I was also curious to why the American philosophers of new media were late on the uptake. What does europe have that we don't?

Jeff Hann and Jon Stewart's Magic Wall

I've seen Hann's wall on numerous websites and also his presentation at TED and it's always amazing. Having tactile manipulation of digital artifacts is important in having user integration. It's amazing that his technology was picked up by such an image and user-experience conscious company as Apple. The parody over at JS was pretty funny. While it was kind of overdone, I thought the candid interview with Hann was hilarious.

Beatboxing viral video

I'm a total sucker for any non-traditionally made beat. While the guy's flute playing was simple, it was definitely something special watching him multi-task flute playing with his nimble mouth drum. However, the real star of the video was Beardyman with his eclectic set of sounds. He combined humor, drum kit and techno into one musical set. Pretty good.

Danyl Johnson X-Factor YouTube viral video

Now, maybe I'm jaded to good voices because of youtube (as well as my talented friends) or maybe I just hate Simon Cowell, but this clip didn't impress me too much. I've heard lots of great singers and I don't see his performance as so stunning. If anything, it made me want to watch the Joe Cocker version real bad. However, I'm not a complete curmudgeon, his voice was pretty good and he seemed to really enjoy himself. I doubt I'd ever place in Xfactor.

First Post

Hey! This is my first post to the internet! Wassup