Digital Environments elective was not my first choice I wanted to do the sound elective. From now completing the course I know my instinct to sound was right, Digital environments has not been good in terms of practicality for me but I stayed with it to try and make it work but it has not worked out at all. The course has been very informative and the sessions productive. Jonathan Kearny has been a really good lecturer and enthusiasm from him was picked up by everyone at some point. Opening up areas of information, making connections between areas of industry and interaction/use of technologies we use today.

I found that elective was irrelevant to my current studio work of two large format oil paintings, dealing with the subject of ‘mourning’. I thought that the emphasis was put on interactions, use, social aspects and theories regarding this. Where I thought we would have a one session at least looking at practical tools that we would use in our own practices. Such as programmes like photo shop and illustrator. Even looking at its use within areas such as publishing, film etc where I see relevance for some of us as discussion and debates went into areas of sociology, psychology etc. It was not all accessible. It would be good to have discussions on the industry use of these tools we use.

We had to write a blog and I am not a natural diary type writer, and tried to do this, but I feel it is unsuccessful. It was hard to keep it up regularly for my self. I have other responsibilities and do not use a computer often only to check emails and where appropriate for my own work. I also do not own a computer and therefore only use the ones at university when relevant essays etc. So when I am on site I am normally in the studio away from (digital) technology as I am studying painting I am not using this as an excuse but I feel this method of working was not for menthe blog does not have so much research on it as I have not been able to access it I think that I am also slightly anti computers as shown as a post it note in the video the technology is not affordable for everyone still and I am not a fan of sites such as MySpace and face book which I have avoided. I feel they are only necessary if you are in a band, have moved away from family and friends or work related etc.

 I am glad I have done it and may return to use this method of working in the future. I also think that the information and help Jonathan has given has been extremely valuable and we did get to do a project on the laser cutter which was great and practical. I feel that I will more likely reference the information at a future date when it is relevant to my practice at the moment my thoughts is in a different place and I will use the skills I learned to produce more work on the laser cutter.

1. Have a friend who is an illustrator and only works digitally from start to finish (photo shop). Ryan Thanksriskul www.isolei.net =Influence
2. looked at my works and key elements.
3. Idea= internet and use/normalisation of technology use growth, networks etc.
4. image= circles, ripple effect.
5. created using illustrator= by using the letter c and o.
6. Material=decided to use the metro as a physical representation of ‘digital technology’ effects with the intention to cut out over an advert for such a product= iPhone advert, full-page.
7. Saved file is taken to the workshop to be cut out by the laser cutter via another program and computer.
8. The image was succesful and the news paper didn’t ignite when cut which could have happened due to trapped air between pages.
9. Removed excess cut outs not needed and its finished.
10. Piece=my view of the growth of technology and the digital.

Trip to the V&A MUSEUM unfortunately i was unable to attend the session but will go to the exhibitions at a future date. This is some in fo from the V&A website:

Herbert W. Franke, Squares (Quadrate), screenprint, 1969/70. Given by the Computer Arts Society, supported by System Simulation Ltd, London. Museum no. E.113-2008

Unfortunately i could not bein for the session.

We looked at 5 views of the internet as outlined by Charles Leadbeater.

1. Just a tool

the importance of the internet is overblown
it’s the same as we have always done
- just quicker, bigger audience
eg. ebay is just a large and convenient flea market

2. big but becoming dull

dull = integrated into everyday life
big changes can lead to big gains but only after the technological changes have become integrated
but it’s a long time before we really see what impact the internet will have, if any

3. big but BAD

there are 3 reasons why some people see the internet as bad:

1. killing experts & professionals – mass amateurism
2. dependency on web – eroding independent thought – dumbing down
3. eroding privacy & identity

4. big and getting bigger FAST

for those holding this view, they see the internet as mainly good but there are different views as to why it is good:

a. more diversity, choice, frictionless markets, free stuff, choice, capitalist cornucopia, long tail
b. community & collaboration, commons production, peer to peer, non market, non hierarchical, open source, wikipedia, we think, communitarian utopia
c. different options for organising ourselves, get the things that matter done, innovation & knowledge sharing, collaboration, professionals & amateurs (but will all this social networking, new conversations, actually help in tackling major issues like environmental problems?)

5. big, good – could become bad

growth of the internet = pollution in the internet
spam, malware, surveillance, invasion of privacy, trivia
chaos, abuse of net = clogged up

this view see the current self-organisation as only a passing phase
it needs traditional control
someone to organise it – this leads to paid for access
the internet needs someone, business or maybe governments to regulate it, clean it up, build areas of easy quick access, free from spam, trivia etc
paid for access would of course mean that not everyone would have the same access

It is interesting that we talk about THE internet, one internet. It wasn’t always like that, for example Compuserve and AOL started as walled off parts of the world wide web.

Implications

It is important for you to be aware of these different views so that as you walk into this new and ever expanding world, you have your eyes wide open and are able to see the implications for your own creative practice.

Rupert Murdock????????????????????????????????

examples of machine, process a products on this link just click on watch video under the image :-  http://www.directindustry.com/prod/z-corporation/3d-color-printer-for-rapid-prototyping-19418-382312.html

This was really good and informative as this process could be used to create maquettes of sculpture and installation works where appropriate. Which i will look into taking design, quality of finish, material and the total cost of this but i feel it would be worth it.

The numbers of people participating in these social networks, sharing media, and creating “user generated content” are astonishing – at least from the perspective of early 2008. (It is likely that in 2012 or 2018 they will look trivial in comparison to what will be happening then). MySpace: 300,000,000 users.6 Cyworld, a Korean site similar to MySpace: 90 percent of South Koreans in their 20s, or 25 percent of the total population of South Korea.7 Hi4, a leading social media site Central America: 100,000,000 users.8 Facebook: 14,00,000 photo uploads daily.9 The number of new videos uploaded to YouTube every 24 hours (as of July 2006): 65,000.10.(Malovich, THE PRACTICE OF EVERYDAY (MEDIA) LIFE
<version: March 10, 2008>, From Mass Consumption to Mass <Cultural> Production)

The discussion is over my head and doent really interest me at this point in time. Maybe at a later date i will find myself coming back to it.

is           a line

is           a number from 0-9

is          a code 01010101010101 (binary)

is          a language for technologies (with microchips)

is          nothing without the ‘al‘ in our context, or you are just left  with the digit, a finger. (ironically,  how we created the digital)

is          now, then, progression, future.

is          applied to other technologies- a step forward, advanced, top the range, latest models

is           not tangible though we use it to produce and create a physical product. By using it as a tool, a medium, shaping our visions.

is            generalisation- used as a usp, and to give titles i.e digital arts.

is            interactive/illusion -(An element tat co-exists within the environment becoming everyday.)

is            is a non molecular structure that can be reduced into smaller and smaller pieces i.e pixles

is            automatic not manual for example Fine art- made up of practical mediums and methods, plaster, paint, metal work etc.  with a hand made quality= manual and on the other side Digital art- production of work with the aid of an electrical technology applied to practices used as a tool with accuracy= automatic.