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Authors: |
Phillips, Mike. | |
Title: |
A Postcard from Tralfamadore: the Tyranny of the Image. | |
Keywords: |
Synchronous and Asynchronous Interaction, Complex Systems, Interactive Media, Visualisation. | |
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Abstract: |
To Paraphrase L. Moholy Nagy, the
industrial revolution opened up a new dimension, but saturated with old ideologies, we
approached it with obsolete practices and failed to translate our newly gained experiences
into cultural reality. In the information age more dimensions are being unveiled, and
still our preoccupation with 'obsolete practices' leaves us unable to articulate them.
This paper attempts to expose the 'image' as the primary reason for this cultural aphasia. "And Tralfmadorians don't see human beings as two-legged creatures, either. They see them as great millipedes- 'with babies' legs at one end and old people's legs at the other…". (Kurt Vonnegut, 1970). There was a time when the integrity of an image viewed through a lens was deemed illusory. The intervention of a glass between the eye and the subject corrupted the truth. And now our understanding of the material world is dependant on images viewed through technology, images of; the end of the Universe, faces on Mars, Earth, foetuses, bacteria, atoms, and even consciousness. In the search for the 'image' as truth the precarious and ominous assumptions of alchemists, phrenologists and eugenicists are being replayed, all negligent of the fact that the image is a symptom of a complex process. The digital shrinking of space and time generates new temporal and dynamic spaces, traces and processes, which challenge the hegemony of the image. "We cannot halt the flow of images for analytic observation; instead we have to appreciate the flow as an enhanced haptic sensation rather like a swimmer senses the flow of water through his skin." (Pallasmaa, 1996) This paper examines this 'flow' by exploring new combinations of synchronous and asynchronous interaction experienced through interactive satellite transmissions and online activities. These interactions form a new and complex place (where time and space are not limited by the flat present), a dynamic and generative 'Vision in Motion', a release from the image. Moholy-Nagy L, 1946, Vision in Motion, id Books, Institute of Design, p10. Pallasmaa J, 1996, The Eyes of the Skin, Polemics, Academy Group Ltd, p24. Vonnegut K, 1970, Slaughterhouse 5,Chapter 5, p63 |
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| Phillips, Mike.
mikep@hebe.soc.plym.ac.uk CaiiA-STAR, University of Plymouth, School of Computing
http://CAiiA-STAR.Newport.Plymouth.ac.uk/ leads the Interactive Media Subject Group @ STAR
in the School of Computing, University of Plymouth. After a BA (Hons) in Fine Art Phillips
received a scholarship to the University of Massachusetts, and then studied Experimental
Media at the Slade. Projects such as UKEAT88 and work with Donald Rodney (ICA, TSWA),
focused on collaborative art and technology interventions and the manufacture of
interactive electronic experiences through kinetics, A/V, networks and installations,
making a steady shift from the analogue to the digital realm. As a lecturer in 'New
Technology' he has worked across Fine Art '4D', Publishing, and Media. In 1992 he founded
BSc MediaLab Arts, an innovative interactive multimedia course, which has a fusion of
creative art and computing that is still unique. It has gained considerable industrial
recognition and sponsorship from BT, Sony, Macromedia and SGI. Phillips' research projects
explore a range of subjects including interactive satellite broadcasts, networking, CD-ROM
development, the psychology of interactivity, and autonomous robotics. Phillips is on the
Board of DA2 (Digital Arts Development Agency), Plymouth Arts Centre and the Editorial
Advisory Board of Digital Creativity. He regularly designs and produces Mediaspace, as a forum for artists exploring interactive digital media. More information can be found @: http://CaiiA-STAR.Newport.Plymouth.ac.uk |
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