Authors:

 Lichty, Patrick.

Title:

 The Next _little_ Thing: Small-platform electronic installations and PDA Art

Keywords:

 PDA Art, Palmtops, Microbots, net.art
click here to download the full paper

Abstract:

 Widening attention from the technological art world has been focused on
installations requiring increasingly larger computing and material
resources. Although many of the works created in virtual reality spaces
and in cutting-edge computer graphics studios offer stunning results, the
means and access required for the creation of the current wave of
technological installations eliminates all but a select band of
practitioners. With the proliferation of digital media and technology,
this gesture of 'scarcity' is contrary to the logic that with the plethora
of new 'programmable' electronic devices being created, technological
artists should have more opportunities than ever before.

Even though the price of desktop computers is plummeting, the author
suggests that the frontier for electronic creativity lies in smaller
platforms, such as the PDA or palmtop computer. This follows paradigms
such as the net.art artists, and the Redundant Systems Initiative, who seek
to push the lower end of technology. This presentation will attempt to
explore some of the cultural underpinnings of the move toward the
large-scale, technologically deterministic installations, and suggest
alternatives through examining the oft-overlooked palmtop computer (such as the Palm Pilot and Newton) , and look at new small-scale platforms, such as the lego Mindstorms Robotics System.

A/V requirements: Multimedia/Internet ready PC.
Patrick M. Lichty, voyd@raex.com Arion Institute for Media and Performance Studies
Patrick Lichty is a multi-media artist and visual designer who concerns himself with the issues of the aesthetics of technological media and the impact of technology on the self, society and culture. He has worked in a variety of technological media, including printmaking, kinetics, video,
generative music, and neon. Lichty also writes extensively on new media art and society, and is a frequent ISEA attendee.
His latest commission is entitled "Terrain and Metaphor: Metanarrative and New Media Art", and was created for the August 1999 Leonardo Electrnic Almanac.