The obvious question is : What is New Media?
It is a tough one to answer because it is one that can be answered in the following manner: "What do you want it to mean?"
The lecture starts with a look at how "media"; got "new" and travels from the artisitic salons of Paris in the early 1800's to a living room in Berlin in the late 1930's. It involves photographs and explains the concept of the juxtaposition of data over meaning.
In a rather important book- The Language of New Media- Lev Manovitch wrestles with what makes New Media so "New". He presents the following criteria for this determination:
Numerical Representation
Modularity
Automation
Variability
Transcoding
Having established the principals of new media we then look at the other side of Manovitch's principals to determine what New media is not. We will also explore the "Myth of the Digital" and the "Myth of Interactivity".
Assignment:
From your perspective which is the most important of the Five Principals? Use examples other than those used in the lecture to support your argument.
Length: 500 to 750 words
Due: Next class.
Contact:
Downloads:
Books and Links:
Lev Manovitch Interview with Lev Manovitch New media poetry and Lev Manovitch
Interview with peter Lunenfeld
Net Condition: An exploration of net art.