Monthly Archives: February 2012

Edge of Art, Chapter 4

1. Describe the difference between Political Design and Hacktivist Art. Use an example of each and describe how that work fits the category of design or art.

– Political Design and Hacktivist Art go hand in hand with one another, usually trying to get the same message across. However, they differ from one another. Political Design attempts to change the world directly with force while Hacktivist Art tries to question it with humor. Hacktivist artists sometimes emulate the high aspirations and the solid programming skills of a particular species of activist that might be called a political designer. DeCSS is an example of Political Design because it challenges what is legal and shows what hacktivists are really capable. Whereas Reamweaver demonstrates Hacktivist Art, revealing what is not meant to seen in a humorous manner.

 

2. What does execution mean? How does it relate to computers (ie .exe files). What are some example of executatble art? How is execution different from representation? In other words how does each realte to the media paradigms of one-to-many vs many-to-many?

– Execution means to turn the potential power of instructions into the actual power of behavior. ‘To execute’
means to enact the code, turning the code into an actual act, preforming what the code is intended to do. Execution and representation are both related in getting a message across, but are completely different acts. A person can execute a project that can move people and bring up a lot of questions. Representation is just being on a side and supporting or showing what you believe.

 

3. Why do you think Hacktivist artists find themselves hacking capitalist and political structures that most other people revere? What problem or dangers do they see in these forms of power? Use sample projects to answer this question.

– What would you say is the most impossible system to hack? Maybe the government’s system? Hacktivists see this as a challenge, doing the impossible and finding out the truth. Hacktivists have more power than the government when they can tap into what is not meant to be seen by the media and revealing it to the public. The Yes Men show how you can simply change the minds of a large amount of people, even a country, by hacking into different places and telling people the truth behind an evil scam.

 

 

 


Hacktivism Find

Journal of Aesthetics and Protest: Oaxaca

http://newmediafix.net/daily/?p=1014

http://www.narconews.com/

 

Back in 2006, the situation in Oaxaca, Mexico had become extremely dangerous. The paramilitary assassinations escalated to the point that the city was being occupied by federal troops and the Mexican army who were rounding up innocent people and disappearing them. It’s urgent that the international community takes action to let the Mexican government know that their actions are not going unnoticed.

This Group gives a list of hierarchies’ mailing addresses so that you can personally send the president, governor, National Security, etc. a letter telling them that what they are doing is wrong.

 


Hacktivism Project Find

Networked Music Review Commission: “ItSpace”

By Peter Traub

http://turbulence.org/Works/itspace/

 

“ItSpace” creates a network of pages within the social networking site MySpace. Instead of people, the pages feature everyday household objects from the artist’s house. Each page has a photo of the object, a description, and most importantly, a 1-minute piece composed of samples of the object being struck, resonated, and so forth. All the pages, or objects, are ‘friends’ with each other, so that visitors who discover one object may jump to the others to see their profiles and hear their sounds. Visitors to the site are invited to create new “ItSpace” pages with pieces made from their own household objects and link those in as ‘friends’ of the original set. “ItSpace” is a 2007 commission of New Radio and Performing Arts, Inc. for Networked_Music_Review. It was made possible with funding from the New York State Music Fund, established by the New York State Attorney General at Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.


Autobotography Finds

http://creepmylife.tumblr.com/

 

Connor has a very unique way of showing his autobotography. He organized his life into different year segments after he graduated high school, creating his own autobotography. He illustrates his life in a paragraph or so for each year. In every sentence, there is a link which you can click that will either bring you to youtube or flicker. When transferred to the site, it will either show a movie clip or an image, showing exactly what he is describing in his autobotography.

 

 

 


A Defining Moment in Human History, David Korten

1- What is the structure of Empire? How does this structure relate to Crosbie’s definitions of Broadcast vs New Media?’

– The structure of Empire is made up by power. The hierarchy continues to push us to make us feel smaller and powerless. We buy up their products, just like they want us to, putting our planet in jeopardy as they continue to use more of our planets resources than it can provide. They are using all of it so soon there will be none. David describes that structure of Empire is made up by hierarchies and their power to control us in a sense. This relates to Crosbie;s definition of broadcast vs. New Media because the hierarchy advertises these products to us, making us feel as if this product is unique and just for the consumer. The participant can choose whether or not it meets his needs or interests, usually tricking us into purchasing it.

2-What is the relationship between rampant consumerism and cultural/ecological collapse?

– We all see commercials and advertisements selling their products everyday. In order to be a part of our society, we are told that we need to shop. Our country has the understanding that we need to consume in order to succeed. However, this is just a scheme to make the richer richer, and the poorer poorer. When we buy up these goods, do we really know where they came from and the story behind which it was made? It may seem like we were in an economical growth, but the pattern turned elsewhere. More and more people are getting excluded and getting forced into lives with a greater desperation. Forest systems are collapsing, coral reef systems are getting destroyed and rivers are being polluted greatly. Nature is slowing being destroyed to they point that soon it could be gone forever and will not be able to provide the resources we truly need.


How Occupy Wall Street Changes Everything, Sarah Van Gelder

1-What is changed by the Occupy movement?

– The Occupy Movement changes the way everyone is thinking. It has exposed the truth about how the 1% are getting richer and richer while making the 99% become poorer and poorer. Since nothing is happening about this situation, we the people have to fix this ourselves.

 

 

2-How is the occupy movement practicing the use of horizontal power? How does this frustrate the status quo power structures? Is the “People’s Mic” broadcast or network (ie new) media?

– The occupy movement community is respectful, supportive, and inclusive. They look out for each other because they are all supporting the same thing and standing up for what they feel is right. This frustrates power structures because they are being exposed for who they really are and there is nothing they can do about it! After all, which side would the normal every day citizen choose? Cooperate or the people? Definitely the people after realizing what people in power are capable of. The People’s Mic is a form of broadcasting because it is one person broadcasting information among a crowd of people and the crowd can individually decide his or her opinion based off the announcement.


The World Needs See With Fresh Eyes, Eli Pariser

1-“Professor Anne O’Dwyer taught me about cognitive dissonance – the psychological discomfort which occurs when you’re confronted with a set of facts suggesting that what you’re doing or believing is irrational or stupid. You pay $10 to go to a movie, and the movie is pretty bad. But rather than admit that you wasted $10, there’s a tendency to say it isn’t wasn’t really so bad: the acting was impressive, the special effects looked really realistic – whatever you need to tell yourself to convince yourself that you got your money’s worth. You want to feel like you’re not a sucker. We paper over the cognitive dissonance in much of what we do – the fact that this clearly isn’t the best way to be ordering a society, to be living a life – because we’ve got an awful lot invested in the route we’ve been pursuing. To admit that it’s flawed would be too much dissonance to handle.” Pick an issue which you believe the media has “papered over”. Describe how you figured out you were not getting the whole truth. What was the more complex truth & why was it hidden (or more important who benefits from the partial truth & who loses? )What is the cost to you and what can you do about it?

 

2011.A.5.O Tobacco Free Campus The use of tobacco and all smoking products is not permitted on any university-owned property, which includes but is not limited to, buildings, university grounds, parking areas, walkways, recreational and sporting facilities and university-owned vehicles.

Tobacco use by definition includes the possession of any lighted tobacco products, or the use of any type of smokeless tobacco.

 

– The new smoking policy on campus has been “papered over”. I believe there is a further reason to why they made this policy and they are just not telling us. A lot of student and faculty members smoke. Faculty members do not have long enough breaks to go off campus for a cigarette, and neither do students who have fifteen minutes in between classes. As a smoker, a student, and a resident of UMO, this is a big issue for me. Why should people that do not even live on campus have a say in this whatsoever? Better yet, how does the University have the power to ban something completely legal on government grounds and a place where a pay a lot of money to live, eat, and attend class. Also, if you get caught smoking a cigarette on campus, you get a lovely fine and get referred to student affairs for Drugs and Alcohol. Is it fair they treat smokers like criminals? Isn’t smoking legal? It was when I applied and got accepted here. I think our campus is doing this to make them look better, just like the green campus initiative.

 

 

2-In what way have you been encouraged to “sit back, relax, and enjoy the show” and how can you “grab the steering wheel before we go over the edge”?

 

– With the new policy in effect, we are encouraged to sit back and take it. When I returned from break, I noticed they cut down all of the branches on a pine tree where smokers would go to smoke. We use to be hidden and not disturbing people because we were out of the way. Apparently they found the need to chop off all the branches exposing whoever tries to light a cigarette. However, I dug into this a little deeper and found out there is a huge issue with destroying or modifying things like trees on campus. This must have been a huge process with a lot of people agreeing to execute this discussion. For having a green campus, I did not know destroying trees to keep smokers away was green thinking.


What is New Media? -Vin Crosbie

1-What are the three transportation media? What is the difference between a transport medium and a transport vehicle?

– The three transportation media are land, water and air. The difference between a transport medium and a transport vehicle is that a transport medium is a way to travel. For example it can be by land, water and air. A transport vehicle is how you travel.

 

2-What are the three communication media? Give examples of communication media vs. communication vehicles. Email uses which communication medium?

– One to one. –  Postal letter, telephone call, and electronic mail.

– One to many – A speech, newspapers, and radio.

– Many to many – Internet, blogs and facebook.

 

3-What are the advantages/disadvantages of interpersonal communication? of broadcast communication?

– The advantages of interpersonal communication are each participant in it has equal and mutual control of the subject matter conveyed. That content can be individualized to each participant’s unique needs and interests. The disadvantage is more people participating in a conversation, the less control each has over its content and how well that content matches the participant’s individual needs and interests.

– The advantages of broadcast communication is that exactly the same content goes to all recipients and the one who sends it has complete control over the content. The disadvantage is its content can’t be individualized to each person’s unique needs and interests and the recipients have no control over that content.

 

4-What are the characteristics of the New Medium? Is a many-to-many communication possible without the new technology of laptop, iphone and internet?

– The characteristics of the New Medium are that its uniquely individualized information can simultaneously be delivered or displayed to a potentially infinite number of people and each of the people are involved. I do not believe it is possible to have this medium without the help of technology.