dm245 Richard Tucker

Communication in Digital Media

The world of digital media is broad and diverse. The uses to which technology can be applied to art are only limited by the imagination. From using a computer to draw, to actually embedding technology in a stylish piece of jewelry, to creating a laser light show, all these options and more fall under the umbrella of digital media. With so many options to choose from, trying to find a definition or concrete summary of what is involved in creating digital media can be hard. The broadest and most inclusive definition would be using any form of a digital medium to help create, augment or implement an artistic or functional idea.

This is seen in everyday life all the time. From Fitbits to cellphones, digital media surround us. The question many have about this is: is this really bringing people together or is it separating them more? This is a tough question and one that may not have a definitive answer, or at least not at this point in time, with the digital age still in its relative infancy. However, the problem of communication and understanding the differences between the convincing illusions offered by digital media and the real world is of upmost importance. The use of digital media in art can either help make this distinction or blur the boundary even more.

Chris Sugrue offers a very interesting take on how to apply and use digital technology to explore the way people communicate not only with each other but with the machines that have become an everyday part of life. She is not only an artist but a programmer and has been working and experimenting with different applications of technology throughout her career so far.[1] Her works have included eye-tracking software as well as attempts at representing what artificial life might look like. One of these attempts combines her expertise as a programmer with the flare of an artist.

This work is called delicate boundaries, and it first was exhibited in 2007. There is a computer screen with what appears to be a large colony of digital bugs made of light. The viewer can touch the screen and the bugs will swarm around the point of contact. If the viewer then keeps contact with the screen, the bugs will crawl and explore the viewer’s body. When several people touch each other these bugs will crawl around from person to person. This a very unique use for trying to communicate an idea and directly correlates back to Vanda Correia’s clam on how digital technology has led to changes in communication design.[2]

This work was done to represent the blurring of lines between the real and virtual worlds.[3] In the world, the virtual world has become a part of everyday life. With all of the apps and information that can be obtained and used to help ease the workings of everyday life, it is often easy to forget that all of these useful things are simply lines of code. And with the complexity of the code continuing to increase, it becomes even harder to separate the fake from the real. In fact, the only barrier in With this exhibit, this line is blurred even further. With well-placed cameras and lights, the feeling of the virtual bugs actually being able to come out and interact with us in the physical world is real. And in a darkened room, one could almost forget that it is simply a well-timed and choreographed illusion.

This illusion does however raise an important question: what will communication be like for the future? It is obvious that this work is trying to tell the viewer about what is and is not real. All of the fun and entertainment people derive from digital content is created for that purpose, and no matter how lifelike things can be at times, they are still fake. But people consuming them are often forgetting that these things are fake and have no substance. Because these digital creations help make a mundane world less boring, people accept the distraction of the digital, and treat it as if it were right there next to them. This interactive exhibit explores the idea of what would happen if the virtual really could be placed in the real. With this, people can not only use the virtual but can “hold” and “touch” it. Though, these descriptions are only used in the sense that the viewer sees these light bugs on and around them.

Without multi-sensory immersion, there is less of an emotional connection to the work and thus their impact is lessened.[4] This seems to be the biggest drawback to not only many forms of digital media, but communication through digital means: the lack of using all the senses. Unless the art is a 3D printed model, it becomes difficult to communicate with others all of the possible sensations that exist in real life. What is more, translating something from the virtual world, which in essence is simply electrical impulses and does not belong to the sensory realm at all is a challenge. How do people in real life interpret such electrical signals? That is a question that might never be answered. In short, this exhibit tries to show what it would be like to actually communicate with the virtual creations people make, rather than just using these creations to communicate with other people.

At a different end of the digital media spectrum, lies the band. The band Wiggle is composed of members who have with the exception of a few, never met in person. It started with Gil Kuno trying to contact the artist Simon, and realizing that the two lived half a world apart – but instead of not trying they found several other artists and collaborated across the internet.[5] This is an interesting idea, since the traditional concept of a band is a group of people who meet in the same place at the same time and perform music. With the internet this no longer has to be the case. Each member can do their own recording of their parts and send it to the others and the final products can be put together piece by piece. This is much like how the actual recording process takes place for regular bands, except they are all recording at the same time and place.

This group has gone on to be signed by a major record label in Japan and has even performed live shows, in which some members were their live and others joined via the internet.[6] This is taking the concept of digital media and communication and Appling it very well to the real world. Using a digital medium combined with a real life performance, this band can bring a fully immersive experience to all those who can see or appreciate their music. But they don’t only do these live performances, and like most other musicians in today’s age, they create music videos. Without the ease of all members being able to be present, they rely on animators to create the imagery for their videos. This adds another dimension to their art, which while remaining in the digital realm, helps bridge the gap of communication to their audience.

http://www.unsound.com/Wiggle/index.html

Perhaps the groups most interesting creation is their website itself. It has an interactive display, which allows for visitors to play around with sounds and rhythm. The site visitor can move around all of the links and even duplicate or remove them. Depending on the placement of these links, different sounds are played in different order and at different times.[7] This not only gives the viewer a chance to play and be entertained by the art of the band, but also allows the viewer to participate in creating along with the band. The viewer has complete control over how the website is perceived, which will be different from every other viewer.

This is a very unique take on communicating with other people through a digital medium. There could be several thousand people on the website all at once, and they will see the same exact information, but they will all experience it in different ways. This is the very core idea behind the band Wiggle. That each and every person involved can do their own thing, but the end result is shared among all the members. Now while the viewer of the website does not get to collaborate with anyone else, the sensation of being able to see and manipulate what another person had done to come up with something new is still exists.

With digital technology growing with no sign of slowing, being able to come up with ideas and communicate them to other people is paramount. Especially since the line between what is virtual and what is real seems to be thinning at a proportionate rate with the growth of technology. This is perhaps the very reason why it can be so hard at times to define what is digital media. The virtual and digital worlds are becoming larger and more inclusive in the everyday lives of people. The digital is not just a bunch of projected light bugs crawling over us, but rather a way of life which seems to span the glove and bring people of different countries together. With such far reaching implications, it is up to those who use these various mediums to come up with new and different ways for communication to stay clear and for all people not to get lost in the blurring line of virtual reality and reality.