U1 w28
March 9, 2008
I am re writing this post as I managed to wipe it while posting the shadow flowers video. I am not sure how relevant it is to the MADA but I think it maybe important to note the shift of ideas which is a direct result to taking part on the MADA.
Reading that post felt like a shift has taken place in my thinking. This has been down to reading Sherry Turkle’s ‘Life On The Screen’ and her explanation of bricolage techniques.
These things along side some emails from others on the course have made me realise that I had never expected to enjoy doing something I felt I was no good at and so turned that thing in to a form of punishment making a vicious circle.
MADA has helped me understand something that has been a very negative approach I have had all of my educational life: that I could not enjoy something I found difficult and therefore had to punish my self to make myself do it and so find it more unpleasant and difficult.
It looks a bit silly written down but it really has lifted a huge weight off my shoulders about things I have used to reinforce ideas around self esteem and in a sense was completely unlooked for and something of a by product. But if I hadn’t got the apple mac, or been given the chance to take part in this MA, had a chance to interact with everyone and be opened to new ideas I would still be punishing myself when I found things difficult to re enforce the idea that I couldn’t do them because I was no good at them.
u1 w27
March 2, 2008
This week has been something of a culture shock with the arrival of a apple power mac. Interestingly coinsiding with reading Sherry Turkle’s ‘Life On The Screen.’
Turkle in chapter 1, discusses the differences between microsoft and apple mac and introduces the term of ’bricolage’ which refers to a more intuitive form of reasoning and understanding as opposed to more concrete modes of reasoning.
‘Bricoleurs approach problem-solving by entering into a relationship with their work materials that has more of the flavour of a conversation than a monologue.’ (p51 para.3)
Turkle sates that people’s preference for either mac or Microsoft can be seen to express their cognitive state.
All of which was somewhat reasurring as I was completely un prepared for the impact the apple would have on me. On unpacking it I was bowled over by the design and materials used. It felt like a familiar tool rather than a machine that confirmed my ignorance each time I used it.
The difference for me is very similar to that between working with a European paper such as copy paper, and Japanese paper where you are connected and intended to be connected to the paper by a whole ethic of the materials used to produce it , technology and ideology behind production of it.
Some body thought to put 2 USB ports on the top edges of the key board, someone thought to give colours as a means of organizing projects, the icons are readily understandable, the key board is legible as are the symbols on it. I have used a pc for 7 years now. I have never been able to use the symbols for commands. Yet I found I was able to on the apple.
Andy raised a question during the chat on Monday, which was whether digital art became digital solely through being viewed via digial media, eg: computer screen or projector. I’d like to say ‘yes’ but I wouldn’t dream of saying a woodblock I’d hand printed on to Japanese paper qualified as a Japanese print simply because I had printed on to Japanese paper.
u1 w23
February 15, 2008
John Brockman
‘Science at the edge.’
Weidenfeld and Nicholson.2004.
Tom Sorell
‘Descartes a very short introduction.’
Oxford University Press. 2000
Daniel Goleman
‘Social Intelligence, new science of human relationships.’
Hutchinson. 2006
David Hockney.
‘That’s the way I see it.’
Thames and Hudson. 1999.
Sherry Turkle
‘The second self. Computers and the human spirit.’
Simon and Schuster. 1985
Sherry Turkle
‘Life on the screen. Identity in the age of the internet.’
Simon and Schuster. 1995
Howard Rheingold
‘Virtual reality.’
Seeker and Warburg. 1991
Howard Rheingold
‘The virtual community.’
MIT Press. 2000
John Bowlby.
‘A secure base.’
Routledge. 1988.
Janet H. Murray.
‘Hamlet on the holodeck. The future of narrative in cyberspace.’
The Free Press. 1997
Enculturation. (2007, November 7). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 15:53, March 13, 2008, from 5http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Enculturation&oldid=169805075
Mores. (2008, March 12). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 15:54, March 13, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mores&oldid=197683511
Donna Haraway. (2008, February 25). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 15:54, March 13, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Donna_Haraway&oldid=193932098
TRUST AND PRIVACY IN CYBERSPACE: A VIEW FROM
AN ASIAN VANTAGE POINT
Mr Rohan Samarajiva
Director-General of Telecommunications
Telecommunications Regulatory Commission
Sri Lanka
http://sociologyindex.com/cyberculture.htm
The Money programme: Email is rung my life.’
BBC Television 2008
2008.
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Megaman NT Warrior. Ryo Takamisaki. VizKids. 2004
This is a children’s manga which explores the idea of a society in the near future where society relies solely on computers and each individual is given a ‘pet’ or personal terminal that is similar to a wireless PC by which people through out the world can be linked to each other and access the devices that support their world. The navigational programmes inside the pets are called Netnavis with each Netnavi having its own character and appearance.
The manga explores the idea of the owner of the Pet linking or synchronizing with the character with in the pet device so that human becomes computer and computer become human.
I was intrigued by this story as it focused around themes of blending ideas on identity, avatars, computer communities and physical and intellectual identities.
‘The second Self Computers and The Human Spirit.’ Sherry Turkle. Touchstone. 1985.
Turkle investigates the effects that computers may have on the human psychology. How they change the way in which we relate to the world, others and machines.
How interaction with computers has instigated us to re assess our ideas of what it is to be human, think and feel.
