Anika’s Blog

of all of the topics brought up, i am most interested in the art/ad one.  i think it is a broad subject where we can narrow it down specifically as the semester progresses and we figure out what we want to do. i think overall today’s class went ok considering the instructor was absent and it was a our first meeting and it we went into it a little blindly. im sure the next few will run smoother as people finalize groups and topics.

So reading someone’s blog, i came across the term “glitch art.” i had never even heard the term before now so i did some research. i did a search for images. of course i have seen numerous of similar images, but never really it could be art before. There seems to be no confinement to the type or medium of art these days, which is really cool. here’s a link with some pretty cool images:  http://www.flickr.com/groups/glitches/po…

I had never given much thought whole idea of the writing process and editing and final product. In the old days like 4^th and 5^th grade, my teachers made me write out al drafts showing corrections and edits.  Nowadays I don’t even give it a single thought to continually resave a document I am working on.  Different drafts are especially helpful in poetry yet I do not utilize them to the extent that I should.  Last semester I took a poetry seminar and I am taking another this semester. We write one poem a week.  I cannot track my progress over the course of last semester because I always discarded or saved over old editions.  I know wish I had done so and the fact that someone brought it up in class today prompted me to commit to keeping track of edits this semester.  I too am guilty of the first draft paper.  The way one sees their own handwriting on a page versus on a computer screen or word print out is different.  Seeing things typed gives it an official, error free feel (for me anyways).  I am more prone to see mistakes when I manually write stuff out because I see it as human thus erred—not that I see computers as perfect beings, but that is my mindset when I am typing versus writing.  I also thought the comments on ADD and ADHD were interesting.  I wonder how many other “disorders” that exist today come directly from the pervasiveness of computers and technology and their effect on our lives.  Kids sit in front of computers or tvs instead of releasing their energy or getting exercise (obesity, lack of social skills, etc.) People communicate now more on computers (email, im, blogging) and phones (text) instead of face to face and it will only get less personal as time progresses.  People are able to be different people through these modes of communication as well as online sites such as facebook, myspace, etc.  Match.com and other similar sites are also bringing a whole new dimension to romantic relationships and marriage.  What are the ramifications of the future for people having non-face to face relationships but rather manipulating technology to network and socialize for them? Now that it has existed awhile and more people are participating, it doesn’t seem so odd.  But when it first surfaced, many people were like, WHAT! I know I did anyways. It goes back to what someone mentioned in class about the capability of humans to adapt. It is almost frightening but at the same time truly amazing. This stuff gets to intriguing yet complicated. I’d be interested to see what scholarly knowledge exists on these topics.

I think the most fascinating thing about this chapter was the idealism that these individuals had in the human potential to create something great. They had great ideas and had the optimism that they would one day exist and be implemented. Though Bush’s all of predictions have not come into existence yet, the fact that he was willing to envision them way back then is astounding and commendable. it is absolutely crazy to see how much improves every five years in the technological world. Why not dream up something crazy? It will no doubt/likely be reality in the future.

I thought last class was pretty interesting. I’m not sure what I expected from this class but I was still surprised as to topics of our class discussions. I like how the class is not rigidly structured and Dr. C lets the conversation develop instead of straight lecture.

That forking paths story was insane. As a die hard realist, I personally can’t really wrap my mind around it. Like I get it but completely deny its possibility and refuse to even imagine it due to its absurdity (my opinion).

One thing that struck me from the readings was Manovich’s claim: “The articles by Licklider, Sutherland, Nelson, and Engelbert from the 1960s…are the essential documents of our time; one day the historians of culture will rate them on the same scale of importance as texts by Marx, Freud, and Saussure.” …Wow.