Chapter 7 called into question how we view the world and the
internet. Are we looking at it from an individual point of view, completely
divorced from society? Or, do we view the world through a kaleidoscope of
social constructs and ideologies? Personally, I don’t think I know a single
person who can view cyberspace without bringing society into the picture. I
know I can’t divorce my thinking from society. Our culture has a huge impact on
us, even though we might try to argue that it doesn’t.
Chapter 8 discusses how the SIGGRAPH was designed. I can’t
believe how thought went into the design of the space, and where different
exhibits were placed! I am not a big fan of museums, but this I would have
loved.
Chapter 9 includes many different examples of other pieces
of digital work. I looked up a few and the GFP Bunny really stuck out.
Such a simple concept; make a picture or an albino rabbit
glow and make up a back story about genetic modification. Then watch as the
dialogue about it explodes! One of my favorite things is to watch how people
respond to things on the internet. It’s like the anonymity of the net gives
people cart-blanche to be rude, judgmental, close-minded, or unbending. Some people
will have such explosive and passionate reactions to different things. It makes you wonder if people would have the
same reactions if they heard it first hand from the person who wrote it,
instead of reading it online.
And, finally, the colophon, which happens to be a new word
for me! Colophon as described in the Encarta Dictionary: the details of the
title, printer, publisher, and publication date given at the end of a book. The book however describes it as “…typically
a brief list at the end of a book of production-related facts, such as: the
designer, typeface, compositor, stock, printer, and binder” (pg 164). I don’t recall ever reading one before! One thing I found really interesting was how
the splash pages utilized Excretia text, but they are snapshots of this text
because it is a morphing typeface. This site I think gives us the best example
of what it looks like. Though, we still lose out on the biomorphic
aspect as we ourselves are not hooked up to a biofeedback device, so the
typeface cannot respond to our stimuli as it should.
I wish I was better with computers because I think it would
be so much fun to develop my own morphing typeface. It would not be biomorphic as people cannot
use that in their own homes. At least not yet. Maybe some day we would be able to hook ourselves up to our computer and use biomorphic text at home.
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