ARTBASE (2)
BIO
Jim Andrews does http://vispo.com . He is a poet-programmer and audio guy. His work explores the new media possibilities of poetry, and seeks to synthesize the poetical with other arts and media.
Re: Programming Survey
> 1.) What programming languages do you use?
Lingo, Javascript/VBScript/DHTML, Delphi/Pascal, Visual Basic
> 2.) Why did you choose the language(s) that you use,
> and how did you learn it/them?
I chose Director/Lingo to do interactive audio work on the Web. Learned it
on my own and via asking lots of questions on the Director lists. And
reading the documentation. And a few books. Trial and error, experimentation
etc. Javascript/VBScript/DHTML because the Web uses HTML. Got interested in
it in 1997; 'documents now have not only style and content, but behavior'
fascinated me. Very public and somewhat polyartistic language. Learned it
from online tutorials and documentation. I learned Pascal in University (my
first programming language). Delphi is super-duper RAD Pascal. Learned
Delphi from the Borland documentation and online tutorials and asking
questions on listserves. Actionscript I use now and then in swf I import
into Director. VB I learned a long time ago (mostly forgotten) to create
some of the early stuff at http://vispo.com/software
> 3.) Were you university-trained in programming or
> self-taught? What advantages and disadvantages do you
> see in this method of learning?
Both university-trained and self-taught: studied computer science 1989-91,
have been on my own since. School taught me much I would not have learned on
my own: data structures, analysis of algorithms, theory of language and
computation, intro to OOP, structured programming, OS fundamentals, etc. The
emphasis in computer science is on learning stuff that doesn't change very
quickly. The emphasis is on underlying and general principles of computing.
This provides the ability to pick up other material over a lifetime.
One goes to university to learn things you *don't already know*, and then
there is the unlearning process whereby you keep the best and chuck the
rest, come to your own 'voice'.
> 4.) How concerned are you with a language's political
> implications, i.e. with whether the language is open
> source or not? Why?
The issues of code survival, public service, and the quality of tools are
the three that come to mind to me here. I think the issues involve
tradeoffs. Director is proprietary (Macromedia). But it has been around
since 1987 and has always been in the service of artists, mainly, not like
DHTML, say, which is not so much primarily for artists but for supporting
commerce on the Web. Also, the Director engineers hang out on the Director
lists and there is a sense that the communication with the Director
engineers and managers is pretty good. Also, the community of Director
developers is impressive in its character and experience. There are
Cambridge-trained mathematicians and wooly self-trained California code
freaks. And the range of types of art people are involved in is quite broad.
Also, the quality of the Director tools is very high.
Director developers are always worried that Flash is going to murder
Director. The user-base of Flash is about ten times that of Director. Also,
while the relatively long history of Director is a plus in many ways, there
are issues in the architecture that suggest its end is in its beginnings.
But currently there just isn't another tool that lets me create the sort of
work for the Web I want to create. It's important to use the sort of tools
that are compatible with the form of your own creativity and artistic
aspirations (if such tools exist).
> 5.) Does your choice of programming lamguage effect
> the way you approach a problem you wish to solve with
> that language?
But of course. More importantly, it affects which problems you approach.
Which is why it's important to insist on your own issues, when it's worth
the struggle. It has been said of language that it draws a magic circle
round the realm of the thinkable. Cast many stones in the water.
> 6.) Did you come to New Media Art from Computer
> Science or from the Arts? Discuss the transition.
I did a degree in English and Math. Then produced a literary radio show for
six years, which is where i learned how to use tech creatively and publicly.
then went back to school and studied Computer Science and Math. During that
time produced a literary magazine, got into visual poetry, played drums in a
band, and then started a live poetry reading series. then went to work in
the dot com industry but worked on my site at night...so from the start it
has been *both* art and science for me. There was no transition. Though, in
the beginning, studying English and Math, there was very little
intersection. It came as a startling realization to realize that in
computing was an incredibly fertile zone of intersection of both of my
inclinations to art and math.
> 7.) What does programming add or subtract from an art
> object? Is the artist-programmer giving up control of
> the object by coding it, or introducing more control?
If it merely adds or subtracts, it isn't integrated into the whole gestalt
of the piece.
> 8.) Does each programming language imply an ontology?
The ontology of most programming languages these days is OOP. While it is
'object-oriented', it also is relational. Particular languages differ in the
types of objects that can be created, and the types of relations between
objects (that are 'naturally' supported by the language).
> 9.) Have you ever dreamed in code?
Not that I can remember. But I have dreamt visual poetry before, which might
have had some code in it or been part of the dream within the dream.
> 10.) Can one code art objects that produce catharsis
> in the user?
Why not?
ja
http://vispo.com
Lingo, Javascript/VBScript/DHTML, Delphi/Pascal, Visual Basic
> 2.) Why did you choose the language(s) that you use,
> and how did you learn it/them?
I chose Director/Lingo to do interactive audio work on the Web. Learned it
on my own and via asking lots of questions on the Director lists. And
reading the documentation. And a few books. Trial and error, experimentation
etc. Javascript/VBScript/DHTML because the Web uses HTML. Got interested in
it in 1997; 'documents now have not only style and content, but behavior'
fascinated me. Very public and somewhat polyartistic language. Learned it
from online tutorials and documentation. I learned Pascal in University (my
first programming language). Delphi is super-duper RAD Pascal. Learned
Delphi from the Borland documentation and online tutorials and asking
questions on listserves. Actionscript I use now and then in swf I import
into Director. VB I learned a long time ago (mostly forgotten) to create
some of the early stuff at http://vispo.com/software
> 3.) Were you university-trained in programming or
> self-taught? What advantages and disadvantages do you
> see in this method of learning?
Both university-trained and self-taught: studied computer science 1989-91,
have been on my own since. School taught me much I would not have learned on
my own: data structures, analysis of algorithms, theory of language and
computation, intro to OOP, structured programming, OS fundamentals, etc. The
emphasis in computer science is on learning stuff that doesn't change very
quickly. The emphasis is on underlying and general principles of computing.
This provides the ability to pick up other material over a lifetime.
One goes to university to learn things you *don't already know*, and then
there is the unlearning process whereby you keep the best and chuck the
rest, come to your own 'voice'.
> 4.) How concerned are you with a language's political
> implications, i.e. with whether the language is open
> source or not? Why?
The issues of code survival, public service, and the quality of tools are
the three that come to mind to me here. I think the issues involve
tradeoffs. Director is proprietary (Macromedia). But it has been around
since 1987 and has always been in the service of artists, mainly, not like
DHTML, say, which is not so much primarily for artists but for supporting
commerce on the Web. Also, the Director engineers hang out on the Director
lists and there is a sense that the communication with the Director
engineers and managers is pretty good. Also, the community of Director
developers is impressive in its character and experience. There are
Cambridge-trained mathematicians and wooly self-trained California code
freaks. And the range of types of art people are involved in is quite broad.
Also, the quality of the Director tools is very high.
Director developers are always worried that Flash is going to murder
Director. The user-base of Flash is about ten times that of Director. Also,
while the relatively long history of Director is a plus in many ways, there
are issues in the architecture that suggest its end is in its beginnings.
But currently there just isn't another tool that lets me create the sort of
work for the Web I want to create. It's important to use the sort of tools
that are compatible with the form of your own creativity and artistic
aspirations (if such tools exist).
> 5.) Does your choice of programming lamguage effect
> the way you approach a problem you wish to solve with
> that language?
But of course. More importantly, it affects which problems you approach.
Which is why it's important to insist on your own issues, when it's worth
the struggle. It has been said of language that it draws a magic circle
round the realm of the thinkable. Cast many stones in the water.
> 6.) Did you come to New Media Art from Computer
> Science or from the Arts? Discuss the transition.
I did a degree in English and Math. Then produced a literary radio show for
six years, which is where i learned how to use tech creatively and publicly.
then went back to school and studied Computer Science and Math. During that
time produced a literary magazine, got into visual poetry, played drums in a
band, and then started a live poetry reading series. then went to work in
the dot com industry but worked on my site at night...so from the start it
has been *both* art and science for me. There was no transition. Though, in
the beginning, studying English and Math, there was very little
intersection. It came as a startling realization to realize that in
computing was an incredibly fertile zone of intersection of both of my
inclinations to art and math.
> 7.) What does programming add or subtract from an art
> object? Is the artist-programmer giving up control of
> the object by coding it, or introducing more control?
If it merely adds or subtracts, it isn't integrated into the whole gestalt
of the piece.
> 8.) Does each programming language imply an ontology?
The ontology of most programming languages these days is OOP. While it is
'object-oriented', it also is relational. Particular languages differ in the
types of objects that can be created, and the types of relations between
objects (that are 'naturally' supported by the language).
> 9.) Have you ever dreamed in code?
Not that I can remember. But I have dreamt visual poetry before, which might
have had some code in it or been part of the dream within the dream.
> 10.) Can one code art objects that produce catharsis
> in the user?
Why not?
ja
http://vispo.com
Noumena
NOUMENA
http://n9.em411.com/show/blog/2290/1/lots_of_old_n9_ohler_noumena_material.h
tml
(be sure to get the full url)
Free music by Noumena. "Noumena was Jacob Robinette, Rick Ochoa and Robb
Monn. We kind of stopped playing together a year ago."
I am particularly fond of the first track of 'Birds' Flights'.
ja
http://n9.em411.com/show/blog/2290/1/lots_of_old_n9_ohler_noumena_material.h
tml
(be sure to get the full url)
Free music by Noumena. "Noumena was Jacob Robinette, Rick Ochoa and Robb
Monn. We kind of stopped playing together a year ago."
I am particularly fond of the first track of 'Birds' Flights'.
ja
Re: owe us a living
> do they owe us a living?
> of course they do, of course they do
> do they owe us a living?
> of course they fucking do
>
> - Crass (1977)
>
> thanks jim
i used to think that matt's perspective is unrealistic. but, over time, it
has become more clear to me that (quoting from matt fair's audio cd's):
"economies now grow without requiring more labor. technical progress means
fewer jobs, not more. and the reserve army of the unemployed has been
replaced by a new class of redundant people..."
.
.
.
"in the high-tech society, there just aren't enough jobs to go around, and
there never will be."
.
.
.
"labor, business, and government have not really faced this."
.
.
.
"many of the traditional industries were collapsing...the one sector that
was growing, electronics and electronic communications was growing rapidly
and steadily eliminating jobs from its processes."
.
.
.
"even on farms, where you used to have ten people working a big farm, you
now have one or two, and there's so much food produced people are payed not
to produce."
employment is being eliminated by machines in most sectors of the economy.
so what happens to all these people? what happens to us? and where does the
money go for all the production being done by the machines? do we end up
with a feudal economy, one where there are relatively few rich and oh so
many poor people?
that's a recipe for complete social collapse.
matt fair looks at this situation and proposes the idea that we live in a
society of abundance, not scarcity. abundance of food. abundance of
materials to meet peoples' needs. abundance of computers and
telecommunications and so on. things would operate a lot better if there was
a more equitable distribution of the wealth.
and he backs up his arguments with twenty years of research and audio from
the great thinkers of the last fifty years and much reportage on the state
of society from cbc radio and other radio networks.
matt makes the best use of all that radio that i've ever heard. he turns
that radio into really a very concentrated and eloquent statement, not just
by him, but by so many people over the years.
a very impressive project, inspiring, really. to hear that radio material
put to such intelligent and socially significant use. and to listen to his
conscientous life's work and realize it has been worth it.
i've seen him work with this material for a long time. and it has changed
over time. his audio collages have gone from pretty loose things where the
quotes tended to be too long and the focus got lost and confused to
compositions that are both cogent and informative in their arguments--and
fascinating in their composition.
i have also seen the manuscripts he's put together over the years. he has
about ten book-length manuscripts on the themes of work and play and
philosophy. i'm a big fan of his work.
http://theworldowesyoualiving.org
> of course they do, of course they do
> do they owe us a living?
> of course they fucking do
>
> - Crass (1977)
>
> thanks jim
i used to think that matt's perspective is unrealistic. but, over time, it
has become more clear to me that (quoting from matt fair's audio cd's):
"economies now grow without requiring more labor. technical progress means
fewer jobs, not more. and the reserve army of the unemployed has been
replaced by a new class of redundant people..."
.
.
.
"in the high-tech society, there just aren't enough jobs to go around, and
there never will be."
.
.
.
"labor, business, and government have not really faced this."
.
.
.
"many of the traditional industries were collapsing...the one sector that
was growing, electronics and electronic communications was growing rapidly
and steadily eliminating jobs from its processes."
.
.
.
"even on farms, where you used to have ten people working a big farm, you
now have one or two, and there's so much food produced people are payed not
to produce."
employment is being eliminated by machines in most sectors of the economy.
so what happens to all these people? what happens to us? and where does the
money go for all the production being done by the machines? do we end up
with a feudal economy, one where there are relatively few rich and oh so
many poor people?
that's a recipe for complete social collapse.
matt fair looks at this situation and proposes the idea that we live in a
society of abundance, not scarcity. abundance of food. abundance of
materials to meet peoples' needs. abundance of computers and
telecommunications and so on. things would operate a lot better if there was
a more equitable distribution of the wealth.
and he backs up his arguments with twenty years of research and audio from
the great thinkers of the last fifty years and much reportage on the state
of society from cbc radio and other radio networks.
matt makes the best use of all that radio that i've ever heard. he turns
that radio into really a very concentrated and eloquent statement, not just
by him, but by so many people over the years.
a very impressive project, inspiring, really. to hear that radio material
put to such intelligent and socially significant use. and to listen to his
conscientous life's work and realize it has been worth it.
i've seen him work with this material for a long time. and it has changed
over time. his audio collages have gone from pretty loose things where the
quotes tended to be too long and the focus got lost and confused to
compositions that are both cogent and informative in their arguments--and
fascinating in their composition.
i have also seen the manuscripts he's put together over the years. he has
about ten book-length manuscripts on the themes of work and play and
philosophy. i'm a big fan of his work.
http://theworldowesyoualiving.org
Re: the world owes you a living
> http://theworldowesyoualiving.org/
great to see someone post a link to this site. it's by matt fair of canada,
who has been producing work related to this theme for about twenty years.
this site contains a portion of his life's work.
it also links to his audio collages, which are available on a 6 CD set. this
is, i would say, important work to listen to. he has been culling audio from
radio and other sources for twenty years, and his CD's represent twenty
years of continually composing this material.
the first CD has the following table of contents:
1. Advance of Technology
2. World of Unemployment
3. Decline of the Individual
4. What We're Doing to the Children
5. Hate, Murder and Social Ambition
6. Prisons
the basic observation he culls from the audio, made by many people, is that
employment is declining. this is not a temporary phenomenon. machines
continue to replace workers of many kinds. consequently, many people are
either unemployed or are forever marooned in low-level service employment.
this includes many well-educated people, not simply the relatively
uneducated.
so what is to be done in this situation where employment is decreasing but
the population is increasing?
matt fair has been thinking about this for twenty years. check him out.
ja
great to see someone post a link to this site. it's by matt fair of canada,
who has been producing work related to this theme for about twenty years.
this site contains a portion of his life's work.
it also links to his audio collages, which are available on a 6 CD set. this
is, i would say, important work to listen to. he has been culling audio from
radio and other sources for twenty years, and his CD's represent twenty
years of continually composing this material.
the first CD has the following table of contents:
1. Advance of Technology
2. World of Unemployment
3. Decline of the Individual
4. What We're Doing to the Children
5. Hate, Murder and Social Ambition
6. Prisons
the basic observation he culls from the audio, made by many people, is that
employment is declining. this is not a temporary phenomenon. machines
continue to replace workers of many kinds. consequently, many people are
either unemployed or are forever marooned in low-level service employment.
this includes many well-educated people, not simply the relatively
uneducated.
so what is to be done in this situation where employment is decreasing but
the population is increasing?
matt fair has been thinking about this for twenty years. check him out.
ja
Re: FW: Bush Using Drugs to Control Depression,Erratic Behavior
the more important story would seem to be the one you posted about that i do
find quite a bit of news about, the New Freedom
Commission on Mental Health (they just gotta get that word 'freedom' in
there). and yeah the bushies planning mental health is almost guaranteed to
be sick.
your post with the subject "RE: RHIZOME_RAW: FW: Bush to screen population
for mental illness" names names and presents facts that can be checked and
verified or debunked, whereas the other story is unverifiable, sloppy, and
just doesn't seem like credible journalism.
the interesting story you post says
"the Texas project sparked controversy when a Pennsylvania government
employee revealed state officials with influence over the plan had received
money and perks from drug companies who stand to gain from it.
Allen Jones, an employee of the Pennsylvania Office of the Inspector General
says in his whistleblower report the "political/pharmaceutical alliance"
that developed the Texas project, which promotes the use of newer, more
expensive antidepressants and antipsychotic drugs, was behind the
recommendations of the New Freedom Commission, which were "poised to
consolidate the TMAP effort into a comprehensive national policy to treat
mental illness with expensive, patented medications of questionable benefit
and deadly side effects, and to force private insurers to pick up more of
the tab."
Jones points out, according to the British Medical Journal, companies that
helped start the Texas project are major contributors to Bush's election
funds. Also, some members of the New Freedom Commission have served on
advisory boards for these same companies, while others have direct ties to
TMAP.
Eli Lilly, manufacturer of olanzapine, one of the drugs recommended in the
plan, has multiple ties to the Bush administration, BMJ says. The elder
President Bush was a member of Lilly's board of directors and President Bush
appointed Lilly's chief executive officer, Sidney Taurel, to the Homeland
Security Council.
Of Lilly's $1.6 million in political contributions in 2000, 82 percent went
to Bush and the Republican Party.
Another critic, Robert Whitaker, journalist and author of "Mad in America,"
told the British Medical Journal that while increased screening "may seem
defensible," it could also be seen as "fishing for customers.""
I have read about the bushies having given out about 100 million dollars in
government services contracts to christian organizations. not only does this
sort of thing undermine the separation of church and state that your country
has an enviable tradition in (and it has nurtured both religion in the usa
and the state) but the bushies are partisan in giving this sort of money,
apparently, almost exclusively to christian organizations, not other
religious groups.
so for them to be planning 'mental health' in such a way as to make their
friends richer seems perfectly in keeping with their past actions.
ja
find quite a bit of news about, the New Freedom
Commission on Mental Health (they just gotta get that word 'freedom' in
there). and yeah the bushies planning mental health is almost guaranteed to
be sick.
your post with the subject "RE: RHIZOME_RAW: FW: Bush to screen population
for mental illness" names names and presents facts that can be checked and
verified or debunked, whereas the other story is unverifiable, sloppy, and
just doesn't seem like credible journalism.
the interesting story you post says
"the Texas project sparked controversy when a Pennsylvania government
employee revealed state officials with influence over the plan had received
money and perks from drug companies who stand to gain from it.
Allen Jones, an employee of the Pennsylvania Office of the Inspector General
says in his whistleblower report the "political/pharmaceutical alliance"
that developed the Texas project, which promotes the use of newer, more
expensive antidepressants and antipsychotic drugs, was behind the
recommendations of the New Freedom Commission, which were "poised to
consolidate the TMAP effort into a comprehensive national policy to treat
mental illness with expensive, patented medications of questionable benefit
and deadly side effects, and to force private insurers to pick up more of
the tab."
Jones points out, according to the British Medical Journal, companies that
helped start the Texas project are major contributors to Bush's election
funds. Also, some members of the New Freedom Commission have served on
advisory boards for these same companies, while others have direct ties to
TMAP.
Eli Lilly, manufacturer of olanzapine, one of the drugs recommended in the
plan, has multiple ties to the Bush administration, BMJ says. The elder
President Bush was a member of Lilly's board of directors and President Bush
appointed Lilly's chief executive officer, Sidney Taurel, to the Homeland
Security Council.
Of Lilly's $1.6 million in political contributions in 2000, 82 percent went
to Bush and the Republican Party.
Another critic, Robert Whitaker, journalist and author of "Mad in America,"
told the British Medical Journal that while increased screening "may seem
defensible," it could also be seen as "fishing for customers.""
I have read about the bushies having given out about 100 million dollars in
government services contracts to christian organizations. not only does this
sort of thing undermine the separation of church and state that your country
has an enviable tradition in (and it has nurtured both religion in the usa
and the state) but the bushies are partisan in giving this sort of money,
apparently, almost exclusively to christian organizations, not other
religious groups.
so for them to be planning 'mental health' in such a way as to make their
friends richer seems perfectly in keeping with their past actions.
ja