final project

Kathryn Tucker

Dr. Lucas

Tech and the creative artist

6/25/09

Final Project

Janet Murray’s book, Hamlet on the Holodeck: The Future of Narrative in Cyberspace, made me think that a lot of aspects of art and being an artist in the digital age seem to follow some patterns from previous shifts in technologies (orality to written works to print, etc). One key aspect for art and creative artists seems to be the shift from being separate from the audience to having an inclusive, interactive partnership with the audience. Art, and creative artists, allow us to explore aspects of our world. Some of these explorations are influenced by the advancements in technology and aspects of our inner selves. I really liked the areas that Murray wrote about avatars and other masks that people wear in the electronic age. Murray writes, “The holodeck provides a safe space in which to confront disturbing feelings we would otherwise suppress; it allows us to recognize our most threatening fantasies without becoming paralyzed by them … the holodeck is an optimistic technology for exploring inner life” (25). Avatars and masks in cyberspace, like the holodeck, allow us more freedom to express ourselves since we are doing it through another being/ an other.

The characters in Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash use the “metaverse” (22) like we presently use the internet and World Wide Web. The metaverse mixes immersion, sharing and commercial cultures, RW and RO cultures, and it fits the ideal model for what Lessig called for in a culture where the future generations were not merely “pirates” (109). People open up more when they feel like they are not being judged and they might be more experimental and creative in a safe environment. We feel bolder and safe through our masks since we can rationalize that it is not us in a way: the in game or fantasy self/avatar and the real life self. The characters in Snow Crash experiment with the appearance they want to have in the metaverse if they have the skills or they buy a look to hide behind while they are in this fantasy world. Most MMORPG’s (massive multi-player on-line role playing games) are already using techniques to work this idea into their systems like on WOW (World of Warcraft) you can talk to everyone by typing something that everyone will see or whisper. Hiro Protagonist has his visible avatar that everyone can see in the metaverse but he also possesses an invisible avatar that allows him to be more secretive so he can examine artifacts in privacy.

Different systems and technologies allow different kinds of art and creative artists will probably continue playing with and experimenting on the new programs and systems to their capacities to see what they can create. This is similar to how Stephenson has the different individuals involved with “The Black Sun” (37) work on different aspects of the club and avatars in this virtual world. They all follow their creativity within the possible realm of the metaverse. I feel that Murray was trying to show that the audience will be immersed more into a story that appears “more real than reality” (21). The metaverse provides the absent culture that the real world no longer provides the individuals that are in the novel. Murray breaks down “the four essential properties of digital environments as procedural, participatory, spatial, and encyclopedic and the first two are interactive and the second two are immersive” (71). Snow Crash provides all of these key aspects since the world that Stephenson creates has set rules that the characters cannot break away from, the audience feels like they are a part of the story since it starts off in the middle of action, the story sets up its own set world space, and has an encyclopedic break drown of the terminology key to its universe.

The story is interactive and immersive to degrees for the readers. By shifting the characters that the reader follows along with the main point of view of the story, the readers have to remain actively engaged with the story to understand what is going on in the plot lines and development of the story. People get drawn in to communities when they play WOW and other MMORPG’s, and even meet up for LARP’s like Vampire the Masquerade. The same is true for the characters in Snow Crash since they actively play different roles in the communities in the story and the communities on the metaverse. They all provide worlds that we can easily get caught up in and that allows for active, creative participation.

There is the World Digital Library which is allowing people better access to information and materials from around the world. The advancements in computer networking and the web are leading us further to becoming what Marshall McLuhan called “the global village” (Morton lecture) so it will be easier for creative artists and art to only try to connect to people through similarities to the world around them and not just individual societies and areas of the world. In Stephenson’s story, Hiro is working on adding information to the “Library” that is being formed to regain a massive collection of knowledge since physical libraries cease to exist.

I was interested in what Henry Jenkins’ book, Convergence Culture: Where Old And New Media Collide, covered as far as the relationship between media convergence, participatory culture, and collective intelligence and how they seemed to constantly crisscross throughout its content. Jenkins states, “By convergence, I mean the flow of content across multiple media platforms, the cooperation between multiple media industries, and the migratory behavior of media audiences who will go almost anywhere in search of the kinds of entertainment experiences they want” (2). Audiences to not want to be left as observers but want to have more active roles in what they are watching, reading, etc. This is similar to the characters in Snow Crash, Hiro strives to get access from all kinds of mediums to add with his “Intel” job and so that he can earn money and this allows access to others to gain access to this sources of information. The culture is made up of consumers and corporations but there are even more subgroups and levels to this hierarchy. Some people are more computer literate, some people have inside sources, and corporations have different information than people who are on the other side of the economic tightrope. So, the corporation is happy by having new ways to try to stay in business and the consumers are happy by finding engaging materials to occupy their time.

The advancements in computer networking and the web are leading us further to becoming what McLuhan called “the global village” so it will be easier for creative artists and art to only try to connect to people through similarities to the world around them and not just individual societies and areas of the world. In Snow Crash, in world is a global village on the metaverse is looks like the real world might look like and has redefined groups who cling together as villages a part of a larger group of people. Jenkins keeps saying “convergence culture” and maybe this is not just that the old and new media are converging but more to the idea of what McLuhan said “we are a global village.” In the digital age, we are beginning to become a global village because the different cultures of the world are converging together into something new on the internet and through the electronic technologies during this shift of culture (digital age). So, maybe that is what Jenkins meant or something about the new cultures that we are forming now through and on these technological advancements: the internet, handheld electronic devices, etc. For example, the knowledge cultures and the other examples Jenkins provides in the book. Human nature is still to try to group in communities of common interest like in Stephenson’s book – people group by local/racial groups in the club on the metaverse.

Lessig explains RO culture to be the group of people that only intends on consuming the productions made by other artist. He writes “There’s a part of culture that we simply consume. We listen to music. We watch a movie. We read a book. With each we’re not expected to do much more than simply consume”(36). This is similar to practices on the metaverse and how characters in Stephenson’s book similar consume “products” like the “hypercards” (67) that contain drugs, etc. So, the books presents the readers with areas that RO culture survives into the future but it also shows examples of RW culture since there is a lot of interaction by the consumers and businesses in the story. I think the future in Stephenson’s book appears to be more RW culture. All the previous books we have read kept bringing up points about how viewers/consumers are all wanting to be more in the producing or creating position. People do not want to be simply spectators in the digital age or the direction our culture is heading towards in the future. RO culture is mainly incorporated in some form into the RW culture). The two cultures that constantly pop up in the book are the commercial culture and sharing culture. They seem to coexist in different aspects of the world in Snow Crash. When sharing cultures pop up in the book, they appear to be more “thee regarding” than “me regarding” (Lessig 151) since they do benefit the culture and others (though they have benefits to the person sharing the materials, service, or knowledge too). Sometimes the commercial and sharing cultures seem to blend to work together in the different aspects of society in the characters’ real lives and lives on the metaverse.

Throughout Snow Crash, the world that we are drawn into appears to be a model of a “hybrid culture” (Lessig 231) between the commercial and sharing culture which many of the previous books examined in this class have pointed out as a solution to further the advances of the internet and our culture’s success. Therefore, Stephenson’s book is the perfect accumulation of the possible properties for the future of our culture. The culture pulls together an immersive, participatory, hybrid that wraps around loose ends that theorists agree are something that our culture must address to reach a future better than our present. The story does not shun the need for improvement. The characterization of Hiro and others as hackers is similar to the discussion of our youth being pirates. They still need to find ways to appear as more functional members of society and not as “criminals” by finding their key play in a society that fits towards their benefit to the digital age. Hiro’s knack for destroying the virus and saving everyone creates a new position for him in the community on the metaverse, and the same is true for the benefits of today’s youth with the vast advancements on the internet that adults cannot master.

Works Cited:

Jenkins, Henry. Convergence Culture: Where Old And New Media Collide. New York: New York University Press, 2006.

Lessig, Lawrence. Remix: Making Art And Commerce Thrive In The Hybrid Economy. New York: The Penguin Press, 2008.

Morton, Clay. Class Lecture. 1/7/09.

Murray, Janet. Hamlet on the Holodeck: The Future of Narrative in Cyberspace. Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 1997.

Stephenson, Neal. Snow Crash. New York: Bantam Books, 1992.

AMV: Remixed culture

Lawrence Lessig wrote an interesting book called Remix: Making Art And Commerce Thrive In The Hybrid Economy. In his book, Lessig discusses why remixes have meaning and power to the masses:
Their meaning comes not from the content of what they say; it comes from the reference, which is expressible only if it is the original that gets used. Images or sounds collected from real-world examples become “paint on a palette” . . . . When you “mix these symbolic things together” with something new, you create, as Soderberg put it, “something new that didn’t exist before.” (74-75)
This reminds me of AMVs since they are videos that people create like a painting. The material used in an animated music video is all mixed up in a way to create the final product. The AMV may consist of one anime or many animes and other other videos for the visual aspect, and the visual is set to a soundtrack or audio made up of many sound clips, songs, etc. Some of the AMVs I have on my computer are longer since they are larger videos called AMV Hell 1, AMV Hell 2, etc. The are ones that a person might see at conventions and show a true splicing of our culture. The have older and newer animes mixed together for the visual and songs or phrases that are truly nostalgic for many viewers. One mixes in the theme song for Darkwing Duck, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and many older childhood favorites, and the “Hells” are a mix of childhood innocence, consumer marketing (tv), and aspects of maturity from the adult world. Some are irony and some make you want to cry since they touch a place deep in your heart about the past and culture.

One way that Lawrence Lessig sees digital technology influencing our culture is through AMVs (animated music videos). This is one way that I am a part of the remix culture. I am not a producer of AMVs but I am a part of the community that they thrive in. AMVs are a good example of RW (read write) culture and a shift away from RO (read only) culture. As Lessig states, “I’ve described two cultures and two kinds of creativity. One (RO) culture is fueled by professionals. The other (RW) is fueled by both professionals and amateurs” (84). AMVs are a product of RW culture since they are not only made by professionals but by professionals and amateurs. A person can view the AMVs that an older, highly educated individual created and the AMVs that a high school student created on a site right next to each other. It does not matter if the person is a professional or an ordinary person, any person can create AMVs as long as that person has the skill. Also, any individual can participate in the community that surrounds AMVs even if they are not skilled at producing them. Lessig mentions AMVs when writing about remix as a culture:
Remixes happen within a community of remixers. In the digital age, that community can be spread around the world . . . . consider, for example, the community creating anime music videos (AMVs) . . . . The aim for these creators is in part to learn. It is in part to show off. It is in part to create works that are strikingly beautiful. (77)
The community for AMVs span over many different sites on the internet and the people who make up the community can some times come together at conventions (cons) like AWA (Anime Weekend Atlanta). If you want to know more about AWA you can check it out here: http://www.awa-con.com/

At cons, a person can go into a room and watch a marathon of AMVs and contests between individuals to see who has created the “best AMVs.” The contests are between a number of people who’s animated music videos were preselected for the competition by the judges but the winners are decided by the crowd (this reinforces the communal sense we all feel about the community). It was at AWA that I was first introduced to AMVs in this magnitude, but before the con I had seen AMVs on a friend’s computer. The con really brought a sense that we were a part of something much larger and a part of a community. These AMVs are immersive to individuals for many different reasons…some people get caught up in the action while others are drawn in by the underlying message. Some people become immersed by the AMV community because of the feelings and connections to the past that the videos provide and the community provides access to others who might have similar ties to these videos (the sites with links and comment boxes allow them the chance to share with one another in a way that distance would have provented in the past). So, not only are the videos immersive but sometimes the communities and sense of comradery at cons are immersive to a level beyond what the videos  alone could provide.

On sites, like YouTube, the community members can post their AMVs and others can comment on the content through praise, creative feedback, and even with links to their own AMVs in response to the source AMV. Some of the response animated music videos were created as a challenge to the original, some were inspired by the source’s creativity, and others simply want to share their work if it ties with the content in some way. Some post purely to show their participation within this new community of individuals that can connect people from all over the world. This reminds me of our previous reading assignments for this class since it is another example of the “global village” in action and the need for viewers or consumers to be producers and actively involved with the new possibilities provided by the digital age.

Work Cited:
Lessig, Lawrence. Remix: Making Art And Commerce Thrive In The Hybrid Economy. New York: The Penguin Press, 2008.

Convergence Culture: the swarm of the present day

I was interested in what Henry Jenkins’ book, Convergence Culture: Where Old And New Media Collide , covered as far as the relationship between media convergence, participatory culture, and collective intelligence and how they seemed to constantly crisscross throughout its content. Jenkins states, “By convergence, I mean the flow of content across multiple media platforms, the cooperation between multiple media industries, and the migratory behavior of media audiences who will go almost anywhere in search of the kinds of entertainment experiences they want” (2). I thought that all of these terms were interesting as a read through the book since they reminded me of the book we read last week and how we are moving towards a greater interaction between the observer and what is being observed in the digital age. Audiences to not want to be left as observers but want to have more active roles in what they are watching, reading, etc. I thought it was interesting that Jenkins pointed out how not all individuals who are involved in the convergence culture have the same level of involvement. The culture is made up of consumers and corporations but there are even more subgroups and levels to this hierarchy. Some people are more computer literate, some people have inside sources, and corporations have different information than people who are on the other side of the economic tightrope. This might be one reason that media convergence reminds me of the discussions last week about immersion (when different media blends together to keep consumers engaged than they create an immersive environment). When I read the section in the introduction about television and movies that blend with video games to reach a wider audience I was reminded of some of the examples I have seen recently: Trivial games from tv shows, The Mummy video game, and Aniplay (video games that allow interaction with the original anime storyline). Even World of Warcraft throws in many examples of mainstream and cult cultural references that might spur new shifts of buying and selling of anything to do with the references (beloved characters and names of shows, etc). These revamps of the original products are more interactive and might draw attention back to the original source and any other products from that company, genre, or series which would draw in more money. So, the corporation is happy by having new ways to try to stay in business and the consumers are happy by finding engaging materials to occupy their time. These blended examples seem to follow the message that Jenkins provides: “1. Convergence is coming and you had better be ready. 2. Convergence is harder than it sounds. 3. Everyone will survive if everyone works together” (10). We cannot remain individuals in the global village but we can become many collective intelligences and knowledge communities (fan sites, etc, are already leading these shifts). In chapter one, I was really intrigued about the different points about “spoilers” and I thought that this is another way that convergence culture works to balance out corporations and consumers. “Spoilers” could lead someone to movies and different products that they want to check out and they keep people engaged with shows and other venues for longer periods of time by challenging them to figure out the puzzle. They help the audience to be more than mere spectators. Jenkins writes about the knowledge cultures and their properties:
Earlier, I described theses emerging knowledge cultures as defined through voluntary, temporary, and tactical affiliations. Because they are voluntary, people do not remain in communities that no longer meet their emotional or intellectual needs. Because they are temporary, these communities form and disband with relative flexibility. Because they are tactical, they tend not to last beyond the tasks that set them in motion. Sometimes, such communities can redefine their purpose. Insofar as being a fan is a lifestyle, fans may shift between one series and another many times in the history of their affiliation . . . . The communities that on one level are the producer’s best allies on another level may be their worst enemies. (57-58)
These interactions that Jenkins
described about the knowledge cultures and the helpful and harmful effects of the relationship between producers and the cultures reminds me of a story. In our Speculative Fiction class, we read a story called The Swarm and I could not help by pair aspects of this story to the relationship between knowledge cultures, the swarm, and producers and the materials they pull from in the cultures, the hosts. The cultures seem to be the swarm that travels around and sustain a communal life in the host and thrive on the existence that the host materials provide than until it is too little to support them, so they burst forth from it and move on to another host. This interaction is beneficial to the swarm since it provides them with the existence that they need to carry on and the host gets the buzz and any revenue that the discussions provide by viewers checking out merchandise. I might be off with this comparison but it seems fitting in many respects like if you all think about how people latch on to anything that relates to a show they love: Survivor, American Idol, or Twilight ( any show that producers have crossed over different mediums and that spurs the knowledge cultures of fandom). These give-and-take relationships also seem to pair with what Jenkins discussed about expression since we also spur interest in many things through people we know (word of mouth), what we wear, what we copy and paste, etc, on-line and other interactions that are not just between us as consumers and what producers and corporations provides us with through the many technologies available now. What do you are think?

Work cited
Jenkins, Henry. Convergence Culture: Where Old And New Media Collide. New York: New York University Press, 2006.

Murray: Are most aspects really speculative?

I thought that Janet Murray’s book, Hamlet on the Holodeck: The Future of Narrative in Cyberspace, was interesting and I noticed a lot of points that we discussed in History of Print and some from Lit. by Women and Speculative Fiction. I think that a lot of aspects of art and being an artist in the digital age seems to follow some patterns from previous shifts in technologies (orality to written works to print, etc). All the future aspirations of the digital age though seems to be speculative since we do not know what the technologies will make possibly for art or creative artists. One key aspect for art and creative artists seems to be the shift from being separate from the audience to having an inclusive, interactive partnership with the audience. Art, and creative artists, allow us to explore aspects of our world (which is influenced by the advancements in technology) and aspects of our inner selves. I really liked the areas that Murray wrote about avatars and other masks that people wear in the electronic age. Murray writes, “The holodeck provides a safe space in which to confront disturbing feelings we would otherwise surpress; it allows us to recognize our most threatening fantasies without becoming paralyzed by them … the holodeck is an optimistic technology for exploring inner life” (25). Avatars and masks in cyberspace, like the holodeck, allow us more freedom to express ourselves since we are doing it through another being/ an other. People open up more when they feel like they are not being judged and they might be more experimental and creative in a safe environment. We feel more bold and safe through our masks since we can rationalize that it is not us in a way: the in game or fantasy self/avatar and the real life self. Most MMORPG’s (massive multi-player on-line role playing games) are already using techniques to work this idea into there systems like on WOW (World of Warcraft) you can talk to everyone by typing something that everyone will see or whisper. If you whisper then you are typing something that only the people you address will see. This allows people to be creative and outgoing but they also can be private at the same time. So, different systems and technologies allow different kinds of art and creative artists will probably continue playing with and experimenting on the new programs and systems to their capacities to see what they can create. I think there is a bit more than fandom about the aspect of an active audience (Though it does seem to involve fandom but so do most creative art forms if you think about it). I feel that Murray was trying to show that the audience will be immersed more into a story if they feel like they have power within the narrative. I think it is about shifting people from being just observers without any power to something more (they have more power and control) so that the fictional worlds become “more real than reality”(21). Murray breaks down “the four essential properties of digital environments as procedural, participatory, spatial, and encyclopedic and the first two are interactive and the second two are immersive” (71). She said that while great graphics and spatial environments can be immersive (the rich worlds that you see in some games) so can games that do not have great graphics if they possess a deeper storyline. Whether the graphics are what catches you and draws you into the game (or story) or the storyline to a slow pace, lower graphic quality game…art will vary from individual to individual since we can all be immersed by different things. I really enjoyed what Murray had to say about immersion too. When you think about it immersion really is all around us in the different mediums that we have in our society (whether it is mainstream or subculture or cult classics). ^.^ People get together in small theaters and different places (houses, bars,etc) in their communities for fan showings of films like The Rocky Horror Picture Show ( TRHPS) or Mad Monster Party, they meet on fan fiction and community sites, they play World of Warcraft (WOW) and other MMORPG’s (massively multiplayer on-line role-playing games), and even meet up for LARP’s like Vampire the Masquerade. They all provide worlds that we can easily get caught up in and that allows for active, creative participation. They all have the four points that Murray discussed in chapter 3: they are procedural, participatory, spatial, and encyclopedic (to different degrees). Actually, there are communities and sites open for artists to show off their work that they have created using different programs like photoshop, etc. One is: http://neondragonart.com/oekaki/picture.cgi?

This is a public drawings board section on the NeonDragonArt site. There is also the DeviantArt site and it has all kinds of art forms on it. These sites and public boards allow for the artist to show of his or her work, ask for assistance from others about the programs to improve artwork, get feedback from others, some people provide profiles for their characters or add stories to go along with them, and people request artwork from each other on the sites. The sites are like any society of artists throughout the different shifts in mediums…they pose challenges to each other and all try to continue their craft to the full extent that the programs and electronic medium allows them, but it also provides a large community for them to express themselves. This is one example of how art and creative artists can be interactive by these exchanges and immersive by being drawn into the works of others on the web. I love to go to plays when I get the chance and I love my books but the electronic games, movie sites, stories, libraries are all great as well. There is the World Digital Library (http://www.wdl.org/en/) which is allowing people better access to information and materials from around the world as opposed to the information that is available (literally) at their local libraries.

I think the key is to realize that a lot of the advancements with the electronic culture are still relatively new so there will be people who are optimistic about the advancements and those who are pessimistic (people who jump in head first, experiment, etc and people who will fear these changes). Maybe this is why different advancements seem like shifts in previous cultures of media ecology like with typography (aspects on the computer looking like books again). There is iInk and iPaper where the screen looks like the pages in a book.  There are many examples of creative artists and art on the Electronic Literature Group  Site. I think that these leaps will be fine for creative artists and art as long as it does reflect and relate back the the world and culture that we are immersed in at any given time. The advancements in computer networking and the web are leading us further to becoming what Marshall McLuhan called “the global village” (Morton lecture) so it will be easier for creative artists and art to only try to connect to people through similarities to the world around them and not just individual societies and areas of the world. But, it is hard to say what the future advancements in the electronic culture will be or what other shift will take place so everything really is speculative in a lot of ways.

Morton, Clay. Class Lecture. 1/7/09.

Murray, Janet. Hamlet on the Holodeck: The Future of Narrative in Cyberspace. Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 1997.

hello…

I set up this blog for my class: Technology and the Creative Artist with Dr. Lucas (summer ‘09).
Hello, my name is Kathryn Tucker. I am an English major and am working on getting my B.A.
I enjoy writing and I hope to continue doing so (I hope to get more works published in the future). Besides writing, I am still deciding what I will do after I graduate. I love movies, music, and books and have works from most genres. I really like to spend time with friends but I find that curling up with a nice movie or book and drinking hot tea is wonderful too.

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