DMCT Week 4

It seems as though human kind has always tried to craft new, virtual worlds. From the cave paintings in Lascaux, France to the hyper-realism of Chuck Close, art represents ways through which humans can craft alternate realities and attempt to immerse themselves within them. Since the rise of digital media, virtual realities (VR) present opportunities not only for immersion, but also for interactivity. However, the ideal of full interactivity still presents a variety of problems that I wish to briefly discuss here.

Ryan (1994) offers definitions of immersion and interactivity. In analyzing VR as a semiotic phenomenon, Ryan (1994) argues that Steuer's notion of "telepresence" offers us a way to look at the interactions between immersion and interactivity. However, in order to truly become immersive the computer itself must become transparent so the user can fully present in the mediated environment. This transparency is problematic for interactivity.

To be fully interactive would mean that the user could enter the code and reprogram how the system of the virtual reality functions. Ryan (1994) discusses a virtual golf game and says 'if the user ... hits a golf ball he wants it to land on the ground, and not to turn into a bird and disappear in the sky" (26). However, in a fully interactive game, the user could turn the golf ball into a bird or even a dinosaur. Full interactivity is in some ways the opposite of the Platonic cave. Plato talks about those chained to the wall, escaping and moving to the world outside the cave. A fully interactive game would have the user move from outside the cave to inside and manipulate the shadows on the wall. The user would become the force creating the shadows on the wall, while also totally immersed in what was being created.

So full interactivity presents an opportunity to become completely in control of the VR process. It also presents problems because to be in control of the VR, means that one cannot be totally immersed in the process. It also means that a serious knowledge of computers is required for the manipulation of the code. If the interface becomes invisible, only those who have a superior knowledge of how computers function could continue to manipulate it while those who have now knowledge would continue to be manipulated by the VR spectacle. The power relations between video game producer and high knowledge user would change, but those without specialized knowledge could not use the full interactivity. Instead they would become fully immersed in the VR spectacle without any authorial controls. They would continue to be manipulated without recognition of said manipulation. Knowledge (of computer processing) would become power.

The concept of a video game that is fully interactive has yet to come to fruition. However, if one were designed and the user were able to fully manipulate the code and structures of the game, the concept of fully interactivity may be presented and used. However, full interactivity does not just mean that the game is successful. Instead, it presents a whole new set of power relations that still derive from the commodity spectacle of the video game itself.

DMCT Assignment 3

While adventuring in cyberspace in Neuromancer, Case find himself talking to a young Brazillian boy on a beach who turns out to be the title character of the book. Neuromancer has created a virtual world for Case to convince him to stop his quest to merge Neuromancer and Wintermute, and live the rest of his (potentially immortal life) with his lady love on this beach. Case refuses, and returns to the real world to complete his quest. Neuromancer creates (in Baudrillard's terms) a simulacrum of the real world for Case. However, Case refuses Neuromancer's offer and returns to the real world to finish his mission.

Nevertheless, the image of a virtual world that is a simulacrum of our world has continued through other creative works (The Matrix, Tron, ExistenZ) and the role of virtuality in culture is a hotly debated topic. Grau (1999) argues that virtual reality has existed for thousands of years through artistic representations of reality. Berger (1990) argues that mythological oil paintings were expensive and desired by aristocrats, but were empty of true meaning. Instead the were references to idealized behavior—a mere simulacrum of the morals, emotions and heroics depicted. Although the drive of painting to represent reality changed with the development of the camera, virtual reality in our current sense began to take place.

However, Baudrillard's vision of the simulacrum is not the only conception of contemporary virtual reality. Baudrillard sees the virtual as a fake—a simulacrum of reality. There is no referent for cultural productions leaving the consumer as a passive agent. On the other hand, Pierre Lèvy argues that virtuality provides an argument for the benefits of virtuality. He does not see the competition of reality and virtuality that Baudrillard sees, and instead sees humanity as learning "to live, work, and play with the fluid, the open, the potential. In contrast to Buadrillard, Lèvy does not seem alarmed by this exponentiation of the virtual because he sees it as a productive acceleration of the feedback loop between the virtual and the actual rather than as a loss of territory for the real" (Ryan, 37). The virtual and the real are not a binary. When one gains ground, the other down not necessarily lose ground.

DMCT Week 2

            The rise of the cyberpunk aesthetic in the 1980’s often is seen as foreshadowing the development of digital media in the age of the Internet. Specifically, William Gibson’s Neuromancer describes in vivid detail a world in which people can jack into cyberspace and access mountains of information at the click of a button. Cavallaro argues “in cyberculture, we encounter an eminently postmodern culturescape wherein tecnoscience challenges the western tendency to conceive of the real as fixed and of scene as the means of quantifying and representing it” (Cavallaro, p. 36). The cyberpunk aesthetic focuses on the hyper-reality and constant reproductions of simulacra that is often described as part of the postmodern world-view. Furthermore, Cavallaro relates the movement to both Lacan’s psychoanalytic parable of the mirror stage. He also brings in Althusser’s concept of interpellation through which ideologies hail subjects into existence and requires us to adopt mythological and archetypal identities. The cyberpunk aesthetic and virtuality interpellate their subjects through fiction and fantasies. Thus, we see Neuromancer as a point where the postmodern ideology engaging with modern society through fictive and fantastic storytelling to provide a larger view of the rise of the digital age.

Digital Media and Critical Theory

This class is of upmost importance for my studies. Currently, I am working on a graduate certificate in Critical Theory and my dissertation will focus on new media and the role of information distribution in the digital age. I was a little worried that the readings in the class would not be strenuous because it is a hybrid with an undergraduate element, but as Dr. Winokur stressed, the readings will be difficult. Looking through the syllabus I already see some authors I am familiar with (Adorno, Barthes, Bakhtin) and some who I have been meaning to get better acquainted with (Foucault, Lacan, Zizek). I am also planning on taking the Linguistics class, Language and New Media with Dr. Kira Hall (assuming I get off the waitlist). I think that these two classes will mesh quite well and create a beneficial pairing. Overall, having seen the syllabus, I am very excited for this class and how it will inform my dissertation work.

14: South Park and Muhammad

During the last two weeks, South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker have been pushing some boundaries and provoking outrage among the Muslim community. Known for their willingness to make fun of and and all sacred cows, Stone and Parker's two most recent episode continues this trend by bringing back some story lines from earlier episodes (such as Mecha Streisand, Tom Cruise, and Scott Tenorman). They also attempted to depict the prophet Muhammad, but due to the Islamic communities problem with the image of Muhammad, were forced to censor his image or hide him in a bear suit. After the first episode in the two part series, the website revolutionmuslim.com posted this thinly veiled threat on its website:

"We have to warn Matt and Trey that what is they are doing is stupid and they will probably end up like Theo Van Gogh for airing this show. This is not a threat, but the warning of a reality of what will likely happen to them."

This has created a wellspring of internet talk regarding the limits and importance of the freedom of speech. The creator of revolutionmuslim.com claims that Stone and Parker may end up with a fate similar to that of Theo Van Gogh, the Dutch film maker who was killed after doing a documentary about Islam. Parker and Stone were not deterred and turned the second episode in the series in, complete with images of Muhammad, which were then censored by Comedy Central as a response to the above statement.

So the question is whether Comedy Central acted responsibly by editing the show? Or should they have let the show air as Stone and Parker intended it to? What does this censorship say about the state of the freedome of speech in our country at the moment?

Dali and Disney Collaboration

13: PIXAR YAY!

Pixar has a relatively small output over the last 15 years but each of their films is as good as the last. Many get noticed for awards and earn them with their strong sense of ethics and entertainment that they lace each of their films with. In terms of contemporary animated film studios Pixar is the one that continues to put out great films that do not rely on typical genre motifs and break animation codes.

Remember Toy Story? That was awesome. The story of Buzz and Woody getting to know each other and learning more about themselves, becoming self aware is a theme that accentuates what Pixar is known for: creating stories that interest and educate the viewers.

Toy Story 2? The greatness continued as we see Buzz and Woody's relationship blossom overcome adversity. Pixar continues to produce films with these brilliant analyses of the human condition, such as Wall-E, Up and Monsters Inc. They probe the minds of the post modern audience.