Precarious Flux

Mixing theory with applied perspectives this paper generates a series of questions and describes how contemporary social technologies have significantly changed our practical reality, a reality where human experience and technical artifacts have become closely intertwined. The paper's conclusion explores the ontological consequences of this change and the potential in establishing 'Precarious Design' practices and methods as a response

The challenge of visuality for electronic literature: Conference panel: The medium

Whilst there may be aesthetic tropes within digital media, there is no universally accepted authority within contemporary culture nor is there an easy mutual acceptance of what is “right and proper” or indeed legitimate outside the now virtue of being popular and well followed. Indeed the now bodily distanced and disinhibited digital citizen frequently demonstrates a palpable distain for the elite and pretentious. Considering this, any community with Literature in its name may have an identity problem; literariness still pertains to an elevated quality of artistic or intellectual merit and is thus counter to popular cultural production. In addition, mainstream culture has successfully commoditized many counter-cultural communities. Electronic Literature has arguably not been through such commodification processes, and the question of interest is why not? To that extent this paper seeks to explore possible answers. Investigating the broader shifts towards increased visuality within modern culture the paper will discuss and revisit the discourses on the power structures of the gaze, consider spectatorship’s dominance over readership and interaction and co-creation and the function of the image within contemporary narrative forms inside and outwith Electronic Literature. The paper will also consider the politics implied in the move to open access, the fluid distribution of often context-less “images”, how this relates to prior notions of literary publishing, and whether this manifests as an opportunity or a challenge to Electronic Literature’s dissemination. Lastly and toward a conclusion, the paper will propose that if we consider the tradition of literature as one that is driven by the expression of human experience, where in today’s context literary “traditions” are not longer built around specific commonalities of form (i.e. predominately verbal language) but rather subject matter, themes and worldviews then the questions of identity and of “literariness” can evaporate to make space for fuller participation in the ocular freedoms in contemporary culture

Narcissist reconfigured

Guy Debord proffered that the spectacle in late capitalism is a "social relationship between people that is mediated by images" (1994). In the context of reconfigured political, economic and social structures it comes as no surprise that our social identity has also undergone significant evolution to meet the new demands, uncertainties and opportunities as they have manifested over the new contiguous borders of online social media and mobile technologies. Within digital social communities we see the evolution to a normalized and celebrated surface screen representation of self, enabled by the best ‘apps’ for editing the Self. This paper/presentation will survey the emergent languages of social media/digital culture (The New Aesthetic/machine vision, Selfies, Snapchat’s augmented reality lens and filters etc.) and will proceed to explore the new power dynamics and impact of becoming a more spectral yet art directed or ‘illustrated’ self.Foucault’s notion of Panoptic Diffusion “He who is subjected to a field of visibility, and who knows it, assumes responsibility for the constraints of power“ (1977) will be used to explore the non-passive technological facilitation and social practice of self-objectification. The paper/presentation will proceed to document particular semiotics of online digital culture and its lexical representation – wherein specific gestures/body language or filters stand in for certain ideas and the practice of more conditional specific representation (Carroll, 2012) where some particular background knowledge is needed to understand it as a representation arguing that both modes of communication are highly utilized in contemporary Illustrative methods.The paper/presentation will conclude by proposing that the contemporary social appetite for not only augmenting but also significantly editing their photographic or ‘screen grabbed’ images combined with the emergent conditional specific language(s) within online culture arguably is making Illustrators of us all, in which circumstance the one must carefully consider the consequences of continued consumption of imitative images (Rothman & Vestige 2015)

Perceptual fail: Female power, mobile technologies and images of self

Like a biological species, images of self have descended and modified throughout their journey down the ages, interweaving and recharging their viability with the necessary interjections from culture, tools and technology. Part of this journey has seen images of self also become an intrinsic function within the narratives about female power; consider Helen of Troy “a face that launched a thousand ships” (Marlowe, 1604) or Kim Kardashian (KUWTK) who heralded in the mass mediated ‘selfie’ as a social practice. The interweaving process itself sees the image oscillate between naturalized ‘icon’ and idealized ‘symbol’ of what the person looked like and/or aspired to become. These public images can confirm or constitute beauty ideals as well as influence (via imitation) behaviour and mannerisms, and as such the viewers belief in the veracity of the representative image also becomes intrinsically political manipulating the associated narratives and fostering prejudice (Dobson 2015, Korsmeyer 2004, Pollock 2003). The selfie is arguably ‘a sui generis,’ whilst it is a mediated photographic image of self, it contains its own codes of communication and decorum that fostered the formation of numerous new digital communities and influenced new media aesthetics . For example the selfie is both of nature (it is still a time based piece of documentation) and known to be perceptually untrue (filtered, modified and full of artifice). The paper will seek to demonstrate how selfie culture is infused both by considerable levels of perceptual failings that are now central to contemporary celebrity culture and its’ notion of glamour which in turn is intrinsically linked (but not solely defined) by the province of feminine desire for reinvention, transformation or “self-sexualisation” (Hall, West and McIntyre, 2012). The subject, like the Kardashians or selfies, is divisive. In conclusion this paper will explore the paradox of the perceptual failings at play within selfie culture more broadly, like ‘Reality TV’ selfies are infamously fake yet seem to provide Debord’s (1967) illusory cultural opiate whilst fulfilling a cultural longing. Questions then emerge when considering the narrative impact of these trends on engendered power structures and the traditional status of illusion and narrative fiction

Sensory Modalities and Digital Media: The Aesthetic of Dissonance in 6amhoover.com

The practice Contemplating Flight (see below) was theoretically framed and discussed within the conference presentation titled: The Aesthetic of Dissonance in 6amhoover.com. The presentation elaborated on my research interest in disorder and dissonance in interaction

To Flummux

This text explores the politics of ‘precarious’ artistic interactions, the role of intentional bewilderment within gaming paradigms. To what end does one develop an intention to flummox? Within gaming and interaction design where do we place ourselves on the spectrum between complexity and clarity? How can this new paradigm assist the participant in achieving agency? For UPLAY is a themed day constituting of lectures /workshop and an academic panel for artists and researchers ‘involved in the development of Ludic strategies and interfaces for forms of social/participatory/political (inter-) action in urban space’. Prof. Margarete Jahrmann (Zurich University of the Arts

Without Sin: Freedom and Taboo in Digital Media

“Without Sin: Freedom and Taboo in Digital Media” is both the title of this special edition and the title of a panel that was held at ISEA 2011. The goal of the panel was to explore the disinhibited mind’s ability to exercise freedom, act on desires and explore the taboo whilst also surveying the boarder question of the moral economy of human activity and how this is translates (or not) within digital media. The original panelists (some of whom have contributed to the this edition) helped to further delineate additional issues surrounding identity, ethics, human socialization and the need to better capture/understand/perceive how we are being affected by our technologies (for good or bad)

Creating screen-based multiple state environments: investigating systems of confutation

The intentions of this practice-led thesis are to investigate the interplay between Internet based digital narrative, image and interaction, and ultimately develop new practice, which primarily within the experiencing of the artwork articulates a new contribution to the field of study. The dual literature and contemporary practice reviews highlighted this as desired output. The predominant research in the field is not focused on the production of new projects but uses various forms of literary and critical theory to search out new interpretations and structural understanding of the artefacts in question. Similarly the reviews revealed a strong set of visual hegemonies - namely the ascent of neo-minimalism and a preoccupation with the replication of reality. My practice sits between these poles as being a hybrid of detailed line art, handcrafting and popular imagery, and as such, functions with uniqueness. The interstitial paradigm is used to support the practice, as parallels are drawn not only in the aesthetics of the work but also the politic of the communication. The thesis is organised in three sections, Chapter 1 is theoretically orientated, aimed at defining the context for the practice. Chapter 2 is focussed on the artworks and in the main discusses the thinking behind, development and the production of two new projects -- The Bloody Chamber and Deviant: The Possession of Christian Shaw. Chapter 3 presents the discoveries rooted in the practice, concludes the thesis and finally offers some possible vistas for further research. The research questions were set-up to investigate the structural and aesthetic possibilities on offer to the practioner when aiming to create artworks that interstitially function on the premise of confutation and resistance whilst still attempting to create a sense of narrative immediacy. Through a combination of making practice, reflective evaluation and the appraisal of existing artworks I developed a new aesthetic in answer to the research questions. This aesthetic is termed as the "fragital". The fragital is an uncommon pairing of the digital experience -- that being the individualized remote onscreen touch, and the sense of a material and sensitive tangibility. This was used as a means to significantly and emotionally immerse the participant within the multiple state environment, whilst still in the structural accessing of the project, utilising the powers of confusion and disturbance as inherent in interstitial practice. The culmination of the research and an example of the fragital at work -- is located in the project Deviant: The Possession of Christian Shaw. The artwork is elucidated using critical insights from a group of twelve invited expert participants and an in-depth self-analysis. This group was invited on the basis of their interdisciplinary abilities, personal voice and commitment to my research area. The objective viewpoints of these participants was used not only to aid further understanding of the perception of the project but also to help me as the artist to extract extra arguments, complement my subjective understanding and gain additional contextual insights about my work. The different strands of the presented research work together to offer new insights into the production and concept of screen-based multiple state environments, and an original artefact Deviant: The Possession of Christian Shaw, which stands as a method to experience the core of research argument. The insights and discoveries as located in this thesis would be of use to other digital narrative practioners and those studying new media art

Interview: The Metamorphoses of Front as a Narrative Told through Social Media Interface: A Conversation with Donna Leishman

Front is an exciting departure for Donna Leishman. Best known for allegorical, often wordless, Flash-based narratives, in Front she tells a contemporary and text-based story. Front unfolds using a faux-Facebook page along with Twitter, SoundCloud, and other apps. Like many of her other works, Front continues a concern with female experience and agency as well as elements of fairy tale and myth but does so in a very different way. Through its pointed concern with our immersion and investment in social media, it speaks to the creation of virtual identities and personas as well as to concealed narratives of need, longing, or trauma. The work envisions narrative possibilities for these platforms