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Contextual Media Multimedia and Interpretation 1995 262 pages Complementary Texts Keywords Copyright © 2000-2007 Isabel Pedersen |
This collection of papers focuses on the social
construction of knowledge and the application of multimedia to everyday
cultural institutions. “Hiding the Head of Medusa: Objects and Desire in a Virtual Environment” Edward Barrett In this introductory paper, Barrett states the thesis for the entire collection: “The computer textualizes everything” (xi). Barrett uses the example of the Rodney King case to explore the meaning of context and then he proceeds to show how media, in this case video, textualizes the “actual” or “true events of the case through analysis. His language is poetic and his text reads somewhat like a song with repeating phrases and imagery that wind in and out of the text. However, through this style he manages to give a multilayered entrance to the collection and its common theme, contextuality. “Interactive Transformational Environments: Wheel of Life” Glorianna Davenport and Larry Friedlander This paper is really a case study of the creation of a large interactive environment exhibit. Focusing on the nature of collaboration, the participants built a environment in which participants could immerse themselves. The environment itself instructed them as to how to proceed and actually solve “puzzles”. Each area, Water, Air and Land had a computer kiosk operated by a visitor whose role was to guide the explorer in the space. They used software cues to make the environment behave in a certain manner and move the explorer to act. For example, if in the water area, a visitor stepped into the mouth of a giant whale, the whale began to sing a song from The Tempest. This project is a study in the formulation of artificial contexts. By using multimedia extensively to create alternative and transformational environments, the participants could study, among many things, the interactive nature of worlds. |