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.
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.
[1]
Chris Sugrue. Csugrue.com/about/. 2016
[2] Correia,
Vanda. A Philosophical View on Digital
Media Design. May 1, 2011
[3]
Chris Sugrue.
Csugrue.com/delicateboundaries/. 2007
[4]
Maggie Burnette Stogner. The Immersive
Cultural Museum Experience – Creating Context and Story with New Media
Technology. April 1, 2011
[5]
Wiggle. Unsound.com/wiggle/band/index.html
[6]
See footnote 5
[7]
Wiggle. unsound.com/Wiggle/index.html
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