When Hisham Bizri came and spoke to us, he made a comment relating to art and technology. Don't quote me on this but the gist of it was that to create a project you have to start with the basics, i.e. art, content or just the basic idea. It does not have to be solely based on technology. I have to admit that this was very refreshing and encouraging.
Throughout the semester in Michelle's class, she has been emphasizing, I guess in her own way, that the content has to be there before the technological aspects are added—the point of the design document. It seems to me that if a project is solely based on a one line idea and then immediately translated into a technologically based project, it would lack many aspects that make really enjoyable and successful pieces, and cause many stressful and sleepless nights (like tonight, but I am working on something else). These projects can definitely be pulled off and be completed to contain that extra oomph, but due to past experience, they suck to complete.
Okay new topic—the definition of new media is an interesting one. While working through some ideas and issues relating to Marsha's class, I came across the word intertextuality. I knew what the word meant, but just like the term interactivity, I couldn't give a clear and precise definition. Yet again, the wonders of the USC Resnet system came to my rescue and I got a definition.
Main Entry: in·ter·tex·tu·al·i·ty
Pronunciation: -"teks-ch&-'wa-l&-tE
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -ties
Etymology: French intertextualité, from inter- + textuel textual + -ité -ity
Date: 1975
: the complex interrelationship between a text and other texts taken as basic to the creation or interpretation of the text
- in·ter·tex·tu·al /-'teks-ch&-w&l/ adjective
- in·ter·tex·tu·al·ly adverb
Now this was all fine and good, but it was not really relative to say technology and new media. So then Google came to my rescue. After looking at several pages, I cam upon "Intertextuality Revisited: Dialogues and Negotiations in Media Studies" by Gunhild Agger from Aalborg University (http://www.uqtr.uquebec.ca/AE/vol_4/gunhild.htm). While it was more than I originally wanted to know, it was interesting nonetheless. It cleared up my confusion and not I can give a decent definition of intertextuality in both a literary and new media sense.
Another issue from tonight's activity was the issue of new media hybridity. The topic actually came up last Thursday in Marsha's class during group presentations. And the issue came back up tonight so I began to research.
My first stop was New Media Scan 2002 - New Media Arts "My brain hurts" by Ian Haig (http://www.realtimearts.net/rt51/haig.html). This was an interesting take on the subject of new media and I think he brought up several good points mainly a loose definition of new media art (which relates back to my first tangent about Hisham's comment). I continued to explore the site for some time and it opened up my eyes to a plethora of information and peaked my interest in things I never knew existed. I really recommend the site to everyone. http://www.realtimearts.net/
This is Stephanie signing off. Until next time (which won't be as long as it was this time).
The other day when I was asked what I would talk about in my personal blog, I quietly responded with interface design. To be honest with whomever is reading, I really had no idea what to say. I always knew what the word meant, but when asked to define it in the past, I would always beat around the bush for a while before getting an intelligible answer out. I understood the concept and was always ready to give examples of it, but I could not clearly define it.
So back to class. As I have said in the past, I am definitely interested in usable and nicely designed interfaces, but at this point all I am really comfortable talking about are screen-based interfaces (i.e. web sites and/or CD-ROM menus and designs). I have used several physical interfaces in the past (retro nintendo controllers, game boys, playstation controllers [which I must say confuse the hell out of me—way too many buttons], toy guns in the quake demonstration, the dials and barrels used in museum exhibits, etc.), but the thought of how they were created and how they work is a mystery to me (except of course the dials and barrels). Hopefully next semester's classes will clear away a wee bit of the fog.
Due to my graphic design background, I have only been exposed to what you see on the screen and how it looks in relation to the rules of how a good design should look. While in school and from just looking at random web sites and CD-ROMS, I have seen the entire spectrum from really kick-ass cool web sites and CD-ROMS (www.dogmatic.com, www.coolhomepages.com, The Decay of Fiction CD-ROM) to really horrible sites (http://www.azarted.org/), but overall my exposure has been very limited.
To combat this lack of knowledge, I took the initiative and looked up the word interface in a google search. To my surprise, I was presented with a large spectrum of examples. I found everything from interface suppliers to the graphical user interface timeline (http://toastytech.com/guis/guitimeline.html - just in case anyone was interested). All in all this was helpful, but also extremely overwhelming. One site that did peak my interest was the Human Interface Lab at the University of Washington (http://www.hitl.washington.edu/). I explored the site a bit and was fascinated by what I saw. I could not believe the spectrum that the word encompassed. Anyway, I continued to look at several of the other sites and absorbed all I could, but that still did not really clear up the concept up for me.
My next stop was the online Merriam-Webster Dictionary web site (www.m-w.com - and I must say, one of the most helpful when you are too lazy to actually open up the book, or if you have a word that was just not important enough to include in the College Three Pack [dictionary, thesaurus and the ever important words most often misspelled and mispronounced] from Costco ). Here I feel I got the best answer. Interface was defined as:
Main Entry: 1in·ter·face
Pronunciation: 'in-t&r-"fAs
Function: noun
Date: 1882
1 : a surface forming a common boundary of two bodies, spaces, or phases
2 a : the place at which independent and often unrelated systems meet and act on or communicate with each other
- in·ter·fa·cial /"in-t&r-'fA-sh&l/ adjective
This made a lot more sense to me than the ramblings going on in my head. Now I can clearly articulate the concept and define the term when people ask me what I am studying.
I guess my next step is to continue searching for that mysterious entity I like to call my thesis project idea. Hopefully soon, I will encounter it and use my magic powers of interfacing to capture it and wrangle it in.