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why > what is the meaning
behind it? after teaching technology art courses and making
art with digital technology for 3 years this
project has evolved as a meaningful object that
meets many of my goals of what technology should
do. technology is so exciting in art education
today; it is constantly changing and growing. new
ideas are always welcome, the stereotypes and
restrictions associated with traditional art media
don't exist with technology. to me, technology
should be a tool, an enhancement, a method for
taking a new look at what we already know about
ourselves. also family is a very interesting topic
to me. the unending questions that we have that are
both specific to our own families and universal to
every human who wonders about how they got where
they are in life. by using technology to construct
a historical family portrait i am attempting to
blend the past with the future; examining what came
before and in my own voice reinterpreting the
content for myself and others.
the nature of storytelling is about free
association, triggering memories, spontaneity,
brief moments of beauty, of insight, of
understanding what needs to be said or heard at a
given time. storytelling lends itself to being in a
format that is unrestrictive, that allows for
growth, for change, that is flexible and all
encompassing. a format that allows, encourages
listeners and teller to enter into freely at any
given time, to have a dialogue. in making this project in the form of a webpage,
i have chosen, from conception, a structure that is
non-linear. my vision has been to construct an
object, designed for the web, that makes sense to
the viewer if they step in at any given point. the
challenge has been to construct a body of work that
is not dependent on a sequential reading, that can
stand on its own and offer insight. i have had to
organize the written elements in such a way as to
make clear what the questions are that i am
attempting to address but not be redundant. also in
the written elements of the family history i have
had to present stories in such a way that tell
about the people in my family but are not
uninteresting to those outside the family or
redundant to those within the family. in the making of this project i am attempting to
synthesize science and art. computers and creative
processes. to find a way to use computers in my
creation of art that will not be restrictive to my
creativity but will help open my mind to new ideas,
new approaches. it is not my duty to be the
scientist. i am not a slave to the computer. i am
the artist and i make the computer listen to me.
the beauty of the web IS that it is not linear.
there are no rules to viewing this page. it is my
goal to make this project equally accessible from
any point. ultimately i have no control over the
path that the user chooses but that is the spirit
of the internet - that it is not linear. the
internet lends itself to spot reading, jumping from
point to point, click here, now click here, now
search here, now skim this, now you're done. i have kept this in mind when designing material
for this project. my users will not sit and view it
in its entirety from "beginning" to "end". nor will
they conduct a keyword search for specific
information. they will enter, i hope, with a open
mind, expecting only to find a story that will
interest them or picture they have never seen
before. to create their own path through my work as
their interests take them. my purpose is clear to
me. i have chosen this format over any other so
that i have the freedom to create, and my viewers
have the freedom to engage. because the web is new and different from a
book, it is a question of format that concerns us
all. from teaching technology art courses and
making this project i have learned that the web,
and computers in general are exciting. they are
experimental. by their nature they invite
experimentation. they are forever changing, and
(should) hold no strict stereotypical expectations
as perhaps other media do. ceramics for example may
not have the never before tried possibilities in
form and content that computers do, merely because
it is not new. because they are new and undefined,
computers offer endless creative possibilities. the
nature of the computer IS experimental. attempting
to use a computer as a glorified typewriter is not
taking full advantage of what the artist can make
the computer do. we cannot become slaves to the
computer. if we are not asking of it its true
experimental nature we will become its slave.
artists must decide what it is they want to make
and then push the computer to meet their vision.
(and it WILL meet it). |
