Remix Semiosis as Ideology Critique: A Visual Semiotic Study of Critical Remix Video

Critical Remix Video (CRV) has become a potentially powerful and per­suasive alternative to mainstream commercial advertising. Many producers of such work seek to convince audiences that dominant media messages communicate inherently false ideological meanings by exposing contra­dictions and hypocrisies in these messages. However, CRVs themselves communicate equally contradictory ideological meanings in employing techniques of media manipulation, deception and censorship in their design. This study interrogates and deconstructs the visual signs in CRVs and ex­plores the role and influence of ideology in the construction of meanings communicated to online audiences by such work. The findings of this in­quiry should increase our understanding of how CRVs are constructed and why they are produced and enable future producers to improve the efficacy of subsequent iterations by revealing the inherent weaknesses in the current state of the art. A visual semiotic analysis of a representative sample of CRVs was carried out which found that in the process of unmasking the ideology in the subject of its critique, each CRV formulated a counter-ide­ology and made truth-claims that are equally susceptible to subsequent cri­tique. Inadvertently, CRVs enable us to see more clearly that claims to truth, whether received through mainstream or alternative channels, cannot be accepted at face value and must be critically evaluated and considered in relation to the relative positions of the senders and receivers of the mes­sages. Despite such dilemmas, CRVs represent an authentic opportunity for grassroots activist filmmakers to have their voices heard on a global stage, utilizing the full potential of digital networking and mobile technolo­gies as well as spreadable media content and online distribution platforms

Forking Paths in New Media Art Practices: Investigating Remix

This special issue of Media-N on contemporary approaches to remix was inspired by Jorge Luis Borges’s short story, “The Garden of Forking Paths,” a recurring point of reference in the development of media culture. Prior to terms such as new media, digital art, media art, and remix, Borges’s narrative exploration of bifurcation as a means of reflecting on the possibility of multiple simultaneous realities with no clear beginning or end has offered a literary and philosophical model for creative uses of emerging technology throughout the twentieth century. The essays included in this special issue provide a glimpse into the relation of Borgesian multiplicity and remix as an interdisciplinary methodology

The secret language of flowers: insights from an outdoor, arts-based intervention designed to connect primary school children to locally accessible nature.

This paper uses ethnography to explore an outdoor, arts-based intervention run by Urban Wilderness, in partnership with an English primary school. Urban Wilderness are a not-for-profit organisation which aims to connect children and young people from disadvantaged areas to locally accessible nature. Over the course of three afternoon workshops, Urban Wilderness facilitators, a professional artist and teaching staff explored a local park with ten 9–10-year-old children and co-created a sculpture which was exhibited in the park as part of a family festival. Analysis of audio recordings and photographs taken during the workshops explored the ways in which a youth led approach and arts-based methods (i) fostered a sense of connection to the park and (ii) deepened the children’s knowledge about the plants they observed. It is argued that arts-based methods created a sense of presence in nature which fostered close attention to the surrounding environment and reflection upon the children’s relationship with it. The creation of art also facilitated the development of multi-levelled understandings of nature which encompassed identification, folk law and symbolism. As such analysis highlighted the relevance of outdoor learning and a Froebelian approach for older primary school children who are traditionally taught in classroom environments.N/

Introducing the Digital Language Equality Metric: Technological Factors

This paper introduces the concept of Digital Language Equality (DLE) developed by the EU-funded European Language Equality (ELE) project, and describes the associated DLE Metric with a focus on its technological factors (TFs), which are complemented by situational contextual factors. This work aims at objectively describing the level of technological support of all European languages and lays the foundation to implement a large-scale EU-wide programme to ensure that these languages can continue to exist and prosper in the digital age, to serve the present and future needs of their speakers. The paper situates this ongoing work with a strong European focus in the broader context of related efforts, and explains how the DLE Metric can help track the progress towards DLE for all languages of Europe, focusing in particular on the role played by the TFs. These are derived from the European Language Grid (ELG) Catalogue, that provides the empirical basis to measure the level of digital readiness of all European languages. The DLE Metric scores can be consulted through an online interactive dashboard to show the level of technological support of each European language and track the overall progress toward DLE

Introducing the digital language equality metric: technological factors

This paper introduces the concept of Digital Language Equality (DLE) developed by the EU-funded European Language Equality (ELE) project, and describes the associated DLE Metric with a focus on its technological factors (TFs), which are complemented by situational contextual factors. This work aims at objectively describing the level of technological support of all European languages and lays the foundation to implement a large-scale EU-wide programme to ensure that these languages can continue to exist and prosper in the digital age, to serve the present and future needs of their speakers. The paper situates this ongoing work with a strong European focus in the broader context of related efforts, and explains how the DLE Metric can help track the progress towards DLE for all languages of Europe, focusing in particular on the role played by the TFs. These are derived from the European Language Grid (ELG) Catalogue, that provides the empirical basis to measure the level of digital readiness of all European languages. The DLE Metric scores can be consulted through an online interactive dashboard to show the level of technological support of each European language and track the overall progress toward DLE

Digital language equality: definition, metric, dashboard

This chapter presents the concept of Digital Language Equality (DLE) that was at the heart of the European Language Equality (ELE) initiative, and describes the DLE Metric, which includes technological factors (TFs) and contextual factors (CFs): the former concern the availability of Language Resources and Technologies (LRTs) for the languages of Europe, based on the data included in the European Language Grid (ELG) catalogue, while the latter reflect the broader socio-economic contexts and ecosystems of the languages, as these determine the potential for LRT development. The chapter discusses related work, presents the DLE definition and describes how it was implemented through the DLE Metric, explaining how the TFs and CFs were quantified. The resulting scores of the DLE Metric for Europe’s languages can be visualised and compared through the interactive DLE dashboard, to monitor the progress towards DLE in Europe