The Creative Animal Goes Online (Part A)

The Creative Animal Goes Online 1.0Mitch Goodwin

NM1102 New Media & the Creative EconomyJames Cook University | Townsville School of Creative Arts

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“A critical reassessment of the role of arts and culture within today's network societyseems necessary. Let's go beyond the "tactical" intentions of the players involved. Theartist-engineer, tinkering on alternative human-machine interfaces, social software ordigital aesthetics has effectively been operating in a self-imposed vacuum.

Science and business have successfully ignored the creative community. Worse still,artists have been actively sidelined in the name of "usability", pushed by a backlashmovement against web design led by the IT-guru Jakob Nielsen. The revolt againstusability is about to happen. Lawrence Lessig argues that Internet innovation is indanger.”

Gert Lovink & Florien Schneider, | A Virtual World is Possible : From Tactical Media to Digital Multitudes | Public Netbase: Non Stop Future, New Practices in Art and Media | Revolver | Berlin

Apollo 11 | NASA | 1969

“Planet Earth is blue …” (Space Oddity, David Bowie, 1969)

Screening RoomThe Celestial Animal

Sputnik 1 | USSR Space Agency | 1957

“They could build a platform in space and drop nuclear bombs on us!” (The Right Stuff, Kaufman, 1983)



The Birth of the NetworkA Blue Planet, Note Paper and Pop (Goes) Culture

New Tools for the Cyber AnimalPixels, Swarms, & Widgets

Nomadic InformationDatabases, Algorithms and Content Portals

ReferencesOrganisations, Events & Festivals

Impermanence | Goodwin | Gold Coast | 2000

The Web is Not the InternetHypertext & Interaction on the Digital Savannah

Sputnik 1, October 4, 1957

• The first object to be successfully deployed into the Earth’s orbit

• Used a modified Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (IBM) propulsion system

• Developed in secrecy, it dramatically escalated tensions between East and West

• Sparked the “Dawn of the Space Race” and effectively put the United States’ military on notice

Sputnik 1 | USSR Space Agency | 1957

The Birth of the Network A Blue Planet, Note Paper and Pop (Goes) Culture

The Creative Animal Goes OnlineMitch Goodwin 020509


Information Processing Office, 1958

• In response to Sputnik 1 and further launches which were to follow, Dwight Eisenhower kick started Information Processing Office (IPTO) in 1958.

• It’s brief was to develop a communications network which would withstand a nuclear attack and allow the US military to “coordinate a response”. (www.livinginternet.com)

• IPTO and its affiliate Defence organisation ARPA provided large amounts of funding to US research institutes to develop advanced computer and network technologies.




R7 Rocket | USSR Space Agency | 1957

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Information Processing Office, 1958

The institutions involved in this research :

• Carnegie-Mellon University • MIT • RAND Corporation • Stanford Research Institute • System Development Corporation • University of California at Berkeley, Santa Barbara,

and Los Angeles • University of South Carolina • University of Utah

These would eventually become the first “nodes” of what we call the ‘internet’ today.




MIT | Massachusetts, USA | 1953

The Universal Network, 1960

“It seems reasonable to envision, for a time 10 or 15 years hence, a'thinking center' that will incorporate the functions of present-daylibraries together with anticipated advances in information storageand retrieval.

The picture readily enlarges itself into a network of such centers,connected to one another by wide-band communication lines and toindividual users by leased-wire services. In such a system, the speedof the computers would be balanced, and the cost of the giganticmemories and the sophisticated programs would be divided by thenumber of users.” (www.livinginternet.com)




J.C.R. Licklider | IPTO Director | 1962






Packet Switching, 1964

• The telephone network in the 1960s was the same theanalogue system we use today.

• This system is a “fixed connection” between one user andanother user, this was referred to as an “always on” technology

• Packet switching on the other treated the network as aprocess of discontinuous digital systems that separatesinformation into small “packets” of data and releases themonto a network to be re-assembled at the other end.(Streeter, T (2004) www.uvm.edu.au)




Life Magazine | June 1950

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• This is known as a “distributed network” and had nocentralised control mechanism, therefore it was capable ofwithstanding any form of disruption – or attack.

• This was developed by Paul Barran at the RAND corporation asa part of a “survivable communication systems” researchproject funded by the US Air Force.

• The durability of the packet switching theory convinced the USMilitary to invest in the development of a network of digitalcomputers that would eventually become ARPAnet.





“We will soon be living in an era in which we cannotguarantee survivability of any single point. However, wecan still design systems in which system destructionrequires the enemy to pay the price of destroying n of nstations. If n is made sufficiently large, it can be shown thathighly survivable system structures can be built...”

Paul Barran | On Distributed Communications | 1964




Sputnik Stamp | USSR | 1957




For hereAm I sitting in a tin canFar above the worldPlanet earth is blueAnd there's nothing I can do

Space Oddity | David Bowie | Mercury records | 1969

Apollo 11 Moon Landing

• Designed on paper and built from existing technology

• The 1st test of “a truly global network”

• The encoding and decoding of data into multiple signals

• Fails safe design to ensure continual transmission

• International network of “nodes”

• Mix of cable and satellite technologies


Lunar Surface Communications | Apollo 11 | 1969 Michael Collins | Apollo 11 | 1969


NASCOM | Apollo 11 | 1969


Apollo Television Links | Parkes, NSW, Australia | 1969

PMG microwave dishes | Parkes, Australia | 1969


TV Transmission Centre | Sydney, Australia | 1969 NASA Control Centre | Houston, USA | 1969




The (Collective) Cultural Explosion

Simultaneously a cultural revolution was taking place in North America and Europe (1967-1969):

• The push into space driven by the threat of nuclear conflict, escalated the 1950’s Cold War paranoia;

• The nostalgia for a “back to nature” existence (ie the birth of the environmental movement) was born out of the Apollo missions and a general mistrust of centralised government;

• The graphic television imagery of the war in Vietnam and the consequent political demonstrations in Paris and Washington were sound tracked by the music of Dylan, Hendrix, the Rolling Stones and the Beatles. UFO Coming : Liverpool Love Festival |

Liverpool, England | 1967

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Therefore the language and semiotics of space travel, music and psychoactive drugs were freely exchanged and often closely intertwined :

• An eruption of global cultural production - film, music and the contemporary visual arts - each of them radicalised by politics and ideology;

• Radio syndication and satellite television amplified the sense that the world was a finite space;

• The proliferation of LSD and marijuana and cultural texts which site their influence and detail their perceptive benefits, reinforced the notion of the “shared experience”;

• In western society at least, a global collective cultural identity was formed.

Vegetarian Vegetable from Campbell's Soup II | Andy Warhol | New York | 1969

The Web Is Not the InternetHypertext & Context on the Digital Savannah

Hypertext Mark-Up Language (html)Tim Berners-Lee

“If a CERN experiment were a static once-onlydevelopment, all the information could be written in a bigbook. As it is, CERN is constantly changing as new ideasare produced, as new technology becomes available, andin order to get around unforeseen technical problems.

When a change is necessary, it normally affects only asmall part of the organisation. A local reason arises forchanging a part of the experiment or detector.

At this point, one has to dig around to find out what otherparts and people will be affected. Keeping a book up todate becomes impractical, and the structure of the bookneeds to be constantly revised.” (Berners-Lee, 1989)



The Web is Not the InternetHypertext & Context on the Digital Savannah

Information Management : A Proposal Tim Berners-Lee | CERN | March 1989

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Hypertext Mark-Up Language (html)Tim Berners-Lee

“The sort of information we are discussing answers, for example, questions like -

• Where is this module used?• Who wrote this code? Where does he work?• What documents exist about that concept?• Which laboratories are included in that project?• Which systems depend on this device?• What documents refer to this one?

The problems of information loss may be particularlyacute at CERN, but in this case (as in certain others),CERN is a model in miniature of the rest of world in a fewyears time.” (Berners-Lee, 1989)





Information Management : A Proposal Tim Berners-Lee | CERN | March 1989


Scan of original document (with note on paper) | Tim Berners-Lee | CERN | March 1989


Darwin and Moore’s Law The Awakening of the Digital Creative

In March of this year, the world wide web turned 30 yearsold.

If it was a traditional media format technology (think CD,DVD, Blu Ray) it would be in only it’s 3rd possibly 4th life cycleand more than likely well on the road to extinction.

As a system it does not have a peer. The nearestcomparative example is the humble telephone book whichincidentally, the web still fails to comprehensively replace.

However the web is more than an index, it is a content provider, a venue, a tool.



The web has become the hunting ground, the gallery wall, the Sunday market and the communication backbone of the 21C.

“”



Certain technological developments, moments of genius andlateral thinking have determined this new landscape:

• The invincibility of Barren’s (re)distributed network;

• The “free” and “open” ethos of Berners-Lee’s groundbreaking design;

• The swift adoption of malleable language protocols ;

• Academic and corporate interest in the protection andpromotion of these principles thus enabling a relativeexplosion of development and innovation.



Interface Image Processor (IMP) | Leonard Kleinrock | ARPAnet | August 1969



The web as a medium has expanded at an exponential ratedue to profound technological developments but alsocritical cultural conditions :

• The desire for perceptive clarity (ie advancements inresolution of digital imaging tools);

• The “viral architecture” of content (video), comment(blogs) and rhythm (mp3);

• The interpretation of graphical interfaces (operatingsystems, flash controllers and browser iconography).

• Combined with a remarkable rate of personaladoption and social acceptance.



Web 2DNA Art Project | baekdal.com | 2008


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New Tools for the Cyber AnimalPixels, Swarms & Widgets

ConvergenceDevices | Delivery Methods | Storage | Global Ethics




The Digital (NM) ArtistThe facilitation of artistic practice through convergent technologies








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"Creative Commons provides free tools that let authors, scientists, artists, and educators easilymark their creative work with the freedoms they want it to carry. You can use CC to change yourcopyright terms from "All Rights Reserved" to "Some Rights Reserved."

We're a non-profit organization. Everything we do — including the software we create — is free.“

Lawrence Lessig | Founder | Creative Commons






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“Media literacy merges with science and creativity to generate athird networked culture which places special value on designthinking, laboratories as working spaces, the idea of process ratherthan instrument, the blurring of boundaries between professionaland amateur (the concept of pro-am), innovation as a driving forcefor knowledge and the commons as a research tool.”

Pedro Jimenez | ZEMOS98 | Gestión Creativo Cultural





AccessOpen (the) Source | P2P | The Wiki | Take the “Gallery” to the Street




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End of Part OneThe Creative Animal Goes Online

Part Two (Next Time) :

Nomadic InformationDatabases, Algorithms and Content Portals

ReferencesOrganisations, Events & Festivals

Art Versus CommodityThe Politics of P2P & the Value of Public Media

• Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Bebo and the like all offer the culturalvultures and social stalkers the venue to co-opt language, means-testtheir personality and appropriate other people’s ideas.

• In many ways, social networking sites are the toilet doors and phoneboxes of the contemporary web experience.

• Falsifying emotion and twisting perspectives they are the junkyards of abourgeoning social construct.

• They restrict innovation, dictate a sanitised sense of visual style, andpush a conservative bias which leaves little room for individuality, selfexpression and certainly - creativity.

• Web 2.0 – or 2nd generation web applications – are in their infancy, andlike all circus attractions (see reality television) we have been absorbedinto the car wreck of their naive exuberance.

• But for the moment, all of us it would appear, are along for the ride.


• Obviously they are mechanisms for self promotion, and many artistsuse them as devices to sell their work or promote an event.

• So where do the practitioner’s reside?

• What web sites offer a wider audience the opportunity to be informed,feel the force of creative intellect and explore the power of an idea?

• Artists, designers, musicians, film makers, poets, photographers andwriters have all created compelling content – where is it?

• They may be in the form of an online folio, a discreet piece oftechnology which uses the web to propagate art or in the form of acollective who work under an agreed manifesto.

• They may be a part of a content portal, connected by geography, ordiscipline, or language or politics ….

• But they have one thing in common, they work, display and share theircreativity online.


Internet Universe | San Diego Supercomputer Centre | 2008

• In groups of four use the web to find a web (of artists).

• Perhaps each group member can start in a different discipline.

• Don’t rely on conventional portals such as YouTube or Flickr.

• What do these artists do, what are they saying?

• Who is commenting on the present or reflecting on our collectiveexperience via digital tools?

• Are there artists or technologists who are using the tools of digital mediato create new art forms or extend on the practices of what has gonebefore?

• You will be given 30 minutes to make a short list of URLs.

• Then you will be required to make a short 5 minute presentation ofthese URLs to the rest of the class.


TV Art for tyhe Digital Generation | MoMA | New York| 2009

The Creative Animal Goes Online (Part A)

Education

Transcript of The Creative Animal Goes Online (Part A)