Re: [-empyre-] ~~NMR

[Henry Warwick <henry.warwick@sbcglobal.net>]

The Voices in my Head tell me that on 1/14/04 12:27 AM, noah wardrip-fruin
at noah@queeg.com wrote:

> But an appropriate
> introduction, if one could be designed,

I think it would be fairly simple, actually.

> would help students better
> understand what underlies the work of others creating new media, help
> them collaborate more effectively with those trained in computer
> science, begin to open to them ways of working with code
> expressively, and so on.

I think this is especially true given the GUIs that are abounding that make
programming less "code like" and more "user-like", I'm thinking specifically
about MAX/MSP, Jitter, VisualBasic, Jade, Reaktor, etc. I think we're very
close to the point where the UI for programming will largely eliminate most
"Programming", esp. given OOP and more modular approaches to program
creation.


> While some might resist the creation and
> teaching of such an introduction, I think it's just as important as
> teaching new media students the history of new media and its
> predecessors in science and art rather than offering them only some
> general history of technology.


The only problem I see is that a lot of people involved with Artmaking see
(and fairly so) the computer as an expensive and not very reliable
electronic pencil. Many are interested in working in "New Media" but they
see the mechanical infrastructure of New Media as another, well,  expensive
and not very reliable electronic pencil. I would see the course that you
describe above as something that would come After the intro/general history
of art, science, and technology, so people could understand that computers
are more than just expensive and not very reliable electronic pencils.

Kind of like Physics for Poets 101 : You don't have to do tons of math to
understand Newton's Theory of Gravitation, Schroedinger's Cat, or the basics
of Relativity for that matter. But being informed of such should lead to
better informed poets, and hopefully, better and more informed poetry. So,
too, with students in New Media.

best to all,

HW