just some notes from the language of new media, lev manovich
[...]
what new media is not
[...]
the myth of interactivity
[...]
when we use the concept of "interactive media" exclusively in relation to computer-based media, there is the danger that we will interpret "interaction" literally, equating it with physical interaction between a suer and a media object (pressing a button, choosing a link, moving the body), at the expense of psychological interaction. the psychological processes of filling-in, hypothesis formation, recall, and identification, which are required for us to comprehend any text or image at all, are mistakenly identified with an objectively existing structure of interactive links.
[...]
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database and narrative
as a cultural form, the database represents the world as a list of items, and it refuses to order this list. in contrast, a narrative creates a cause-and-effect trajectory of seemingly unordered items (events). therefore, database and narrative are natural enemies. competing for the same territory of human culture, each claims an exclusive right to make meaning out of the world.
[...]
in summary, database and narrative do not have the same status in computer culture. in the database/narrative pair, database is the unmarked term. regardless of whether new media obejcts present themselves as linear narratives, interactive narractives, databases, or something else, underneath, on the level of material orgainzation, they are all databases. in new media, the database supprots a variety of clutural forms that range from direct translation (i.e., a databasestays a database) to a form whose logic is the opposite of the logic of the material form itself --- narrative. more precisely, a datbase can support narrative, but there is nothing in the logic of the medium itself that would foster its generation. it is not surprising, then, that databases occupy a significant, if not the largest, territory of the new media landscape. what is more surprising is why the other end of the spectrum --- narratives --- still exist in new media.
[...]
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kino-eye and simulators
[...]thus, one of the most common forms of navigation used today in computer culture --- flying through spatialized data --- can be traced back to 1970s military simulators. from baudelaire's flaneur strolling through physical streets, we move to vertov's camera mounted on a moving car and then to the virtual camera of a simulator that represents the viewpoint of a military pilot.[...]
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the new temporality: the loop as a narrative engine
[...]can the loop be a new narrative form appropriate for the computer age? it is relevant to recall that the loop gave birth not only to cinema but also to computer programming. programming involves altering the linear flow of data through control structures, such as "if/then" and "repeat/while"; the loop is the most elementary of these control structures. most computer programs are based on repetitions of a set number of steps; this repetition is controlled by the program's main loop. so if we strip the computer from its usual interface and follow the execution of a typical computer program, the computer will reveal itself to be another version of ford's factory, with the loop as its conveyer belt.[...]
- prologue: vertov's dataset
- what new media is not
- the myth of interactivity
- database and narrative
- kino-eye and simulators
- the new temporality: the loop as a narrative engine
what new media is not
[...]
- new media is analog media converted to a digital representation. in contrast to analog media, which is continuous, digitally encoded media is discrete.
- all digital media (texts, still images, visual or audio time data, shapes, 3-d spaces) share the same digital code. this allows different media types to be displayed using one machine -- a computer -- which acts as a multimedia display device.
- new media allows for random access. in contrast to film or videotape, which store data sequentially, computer storage devices make it possible to access any data element equally fast.
- digitization inevitably involves loss of information. in contrast to an analog representation, a digitally encoded representation contains a fixed amount of information.
- in contrast to analog media where each successive copy loses quality, digitally encoded media can be copied endlessly with degradation.
- new media is interactive. in contrast to old media where the order of presentation is fixed, the user can now interact with a media object. in the process of interaction the user can choose which elements to display or which paths to follow, thus generating a unique work. in this way the user becomes the co-author of the work.
the myth of interactivity
[...]
when we use the concept of "interactive media" exclusively in relation to computer-based media, there is the danger that we will interpret "interaction" literally, equating it with physical interaction between a suer and a media object (pressing a button, choosing a link, moving the body), at the expense of psychological interaction. the psychological processes of filling-in, hypothesis formation, recall, and identification, which are required for us to comprehend any text or image at all, are mistakenly identified with an objectively existing structure of interactive links.
[...]
----------------------------------------------------------------
database and narrative
as a cultural form, the database represents the world as a list of items, and it refuses to order this list. in contrast, a narrative creates a cause-and-effect trajectory of seemingly unordered items (events). therefore, database and narrative are natural enemies. competing for the same territory of human culture, each claims an exclusive right to make meaning out of the world.
[...]
in summary, database and narrative do not have the same status in computer culture. in the database/narrative pair, database is the unmarked term. regardless of whether new media obejcts present themselves as linear narratives, interactive narractives, databases, or something else, underneath, on the level of material orgainzation, they are all databases. in new media, the database supprots a variety of clutural forms that range from direct translation (i.e., a databasestays a database) to a form whose logic is the opposite of the logic of the material form itself --- narrative. more precisely, a datbase can support narrative, but there is nothing in the logic of the medium itself that would foster its generation. it is not surprising, then, that databases occupy a significant, if not the largest, territory of the new media landscape. what is more surprising is why the other end of the spectrum --- narratives --- still exist in new media.
[...]
----------------------------------------------------------------
kino-eye and simulators
[...]thus, one of the most common forms of navigation used today in computer culture --- flying through spatialized data --- can be traced back to 1970s military simulators. from baudelaire's flaneur strolling through physical streets, we move to vertov's camera mounted on a moving car and then to the virtual camera of a simulator that represents the viewpoint of a military pilot.[...]
----------------------------------------------------------------
the new temporality: the loop as a narrative engine
[...]can the loop be a new narrative form appropriate for the computer age? it is relevant to recall that the loop gave birth not only to cinema but also to computer programming. programming involves altering the linear flow of data through control structures, such as "if/then" and "repeat/while"; the loop is the most elementary of these control structures. most computer programs are based on repetitions of a set number of steps; this repetition is controlled by the program's main loop. so if we strip the computer from its usual interface and follow the execution of a typical computer program, the computer will reveal itself to be another version of ford's factory, with the loop as its conveyer belt.[...]
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