"Who Moved My Media? Changes in Popular Media Formats":

The latest exhibit featured in the HBLL is oddly relevant and extremely timely for this class. I have stopped by and visited it several times, and each time I do I notice something new and interesting (aside from trying different tactics on Frogger). Especially fascinating to me was the manner in which new media's aesthetic has changed and developed, building on past appearances. The "play", "computer" and the "cinema" sections seem to all sort of blend together aesthetically, and it feels as if they have influenced one another. For example, the round shape of the film reel has translated to a small, flat DVD disk, as did Compact Disks and, eventually, game disks. The original games were boxy and thick, not unlike VHS tapes within that same generation. Some of the photography technology progressed in a similar fashion, going from purposely boxy to minimalistic. I suppose that overall, the "feel" of what is considered technological or new medial in whatever decade seems to reflect and project itself.

I also found it interesting that we try and recreate the old from the new, and enjoy aesthetic echoes. The racing games displayed, for example, look strikingly similar in structure, though the graphics are worlds different. The designs used, especially in new media, often feel recycled and built upon rather than reinvented entirely.

Both the aesthetics and the capabilities of the new media presented in the exhibit also beg the question of authorship. One informational plaque I noticed mentioned that the VHS tape battled hard to be America's choice of tape technology, and won. That means that whoever was the inventor and distributor of that technology played a major role in allowing us for the first time to enjoy our favorite movies at home in mass. Does that make those people partly authors of the content, since they had a legitimate hand in developing and mastering a manner for us to experience said movies? I thought of the same question when looking at the Blue-Ray disc, which is known for eliminating some of the limitations of past representations of film. The experience is greatly influenced by the technology itself, which is always developing from thousands of creative minds and authors in their own right.

Ultimately, visiting the exhibit was both inspiring creatively and productive to the class. I'm glad new media is a focus of the university generally, and hope the exhibit stays long enough to be enjoyed by future new media classes.

New Media Manifesto

New Media Manifesto by Barrett Burgin

Text of Essay:

People have always dreamt about the future. From biblical prophecies to modern day predictions, we’ve looked forward to what incredible advances the future will hold, to a day and age that improves upon the present. Whether or not we are continually moving in a positive direction is hard to say, but throughout recorded history there have certainly been some major improvements. With each passing generation, the world seemingly becomes more connected and aware of the challenges it has yet to overcome. The advent of the internet and new media have especially accelerated that process. What does the future look like for us? The modern age is advancing at an exponential rate, and although there is still much to overcome, history and current trends seem to suggest that we could use new media and technological advancements as the primary tool to solve the major problems of this century.

A major advancement that has come of the information age is globalization. People across the world are able to communicate far more freely, both as groups and as individuals, thanks to internet forums, online gaming, and social media sites such as Reddit or Facebook. This increased communication has made the world feel small. Greater communication has the capacity to build bridges across cultures and countries that would otherwise be impossible. An increase in communication can often prevent prevalent misunderstandings and misconceptions, such as the idea the people in other countries are radically different from one another. It can propel social change and awareness of social issues without being filtered by mainstream media PR machines. It can lead to greater unification, such as people changing facebook avatars and coming together online to “#PrayForParis” in response to the multiple terrorist attacks in 2015. Over the past several years, many discussions surrounding social issues have been propelled into public awareness and even pressed into public reform by being shared on social media. From LGBTQ rights to gun violence, people can immediately join the conversation and share information. Many voices that may not typically be heard can be shared through social media and step by step, globalization has the ability to lead toward greater unification. In these instances, public opinion is often able to shift and dominate and normalize issues that may have taken years to evolve otherwise.

Some of the issues born out of social media are complex and have not yet been peacefully resolved. Nevertheless, increased global awareness and open discussion can be considered a step forward, despite the occasional violent nature of the movement. For example, the unrest of Ferguson, MO in 2015 sparked a debate in the United States about the relationship between law enforcement and African Americans. This led to the #BlackLivesMatter movement and an increased exposure and exploration of the issue. A major component in the controversy surrounding Ferguson was its coverage. When people began to share their own accounts of what was really happening through social media, the world tuned in, and main media outlets began to change their rhetoric. New media has given other movements, such as those of the Arab Spring, the abilities and platforms to communicate, assemble, and revolt where they would not have been able to otherwise because of government control.

Of course, it is important to note that for every Arab Spring there is an ISIS, and that the development of this technology has not done away with hate groups or prejudices; in many cases it has also given them a voice and a manner in which to grow. New media has also accompanied a time of polarization, particularly in the political arena of the United States of America. We certainly are not more united than we’ve ever been. However, the opportunity is there to move past these problems, as are the tools, and we are slowly and surely making headway. History shows us a progression overall, and we can look at the United States as a case study. Racism is not gone, but we no longer have legal and institutionalized slavery. Misogyny still exists, but women are able to vote. Even if we typically take two steps forward and one step back, these tools of new media can help us in the right direction in the long run. As we continue to face social injustice and division, the advances of technology and connectivity will help continue to be a key tool in battling them.

Another key component of the information age is the education that is readily available. Over time, it is possible that people will begin to care less about cultural conflict as access to information allows prejudices and narrow views to slip away. This doesn’t mean that going on facebook will suddenly make a racist somehow less of a racist. But it does mean that over time, generationally, these ideas will become weaker. For example, it is not uncommon for children to have different accents from their parents and ones that are similar to their peers. More and more young people are “plugged in”, interacting with their peers online, and this type of globalization can eradicate more than just accents. As new generations spend more time on digital media than ever before, creating, exploring, sharing, and interacting, it is possible they will simply lose interest in the cultural battles of the past. Ideas of race, gender, and identity generally have evolved far more quickly because of the information age, and younger people propel these ideas by accepting them as normal. Their immersion within their own communities drown out antiquated ideas and beliefs, such as opposition to interracial marriage or that women shouldn’t be educated. If we continue these kind of trends socially and technologically, we may one day only be asking what we can do with so much information and entertainment, rather than spending time and energy telling each other what to do.

Obviously, the possibilities provided by new media are able to improve the quality of life. Many of the abilities we have now are convenient and even leisurely, such as having communication, personal data, schedules, internet access, and games all in one device. As more people benefit from increased technology and become more interconnected, perhaps they will want to share those developments with the rest of the world, friends who they’ve connected with across the globe. Perhaps online gamers will take an interest in the political climate of teammates in the Middle East, or friends on a forum will find solutions to wage inequality. This interconnectivity can allow people to invest in one another, and take an activist role in quality of life everywhere, as it has with groups such as the Harry Potter Alliance, largely organized online. If globalization and unification could help quality of life improve, less unrest and frustration would grow out of inequality and poverty.

Perhaps new forms of media and technology can solve these problems. Perhaps they’ll be the tool that eradicates the biggest issues facing us. It’s not unlikely. But even if they don’t prove their potential, it’s important to focus on the future, to envision a day of peace and prosperity. We’ve invented the impossible, so as we continue to dream up incredible innovations, perhaps we can eventually dream ourselves into that perfect age.

Community Curation Creation

http://striplingstudios-blog.tumblr.com/

The process of creating this piece was more informative in some ways about how people using social media process posts and online information than anything else, so I suppose that in that way especially it was a great success. Thinking of the concept for the project started as somewhat challenging, but became became even more so when considering how people might respond or interpret my call for entries. When I posted, I received way fewer entries than I expected. Normally I see a decent amount of activity on questions I post using social media, but they are simpler and require less thought or energy. It would seem that while people want to express themselves within a social media community, they do not necessarily want to spend energy to think about how to do so, at least when seeing a post in passing. In order to get more participation, I had to ask friends and family members, with whom I had social capitol, to think about a response and post something. I realized maybe people were over-thinking it once they decided they were going to think about it at all. My wife and sister-in-law both spent considerable time trying to come up with the perfect piece of media to post and repeatedly asked me questions about it, even though they initially had several ideas in mind and I reiterated several times that the project is very open-ended. This would suggest that they were hesitant to make any sort of definitive representational post about themselves in the community, especially about something that inspired them, without wanting it to accurately and positively reflect on them.

Interestingly, other friends who said they would participate hardly ever post anything on facebook, and don't seem to care all that much about how they are presented on social media. Not only did they post immediately when I invited them to, but I don't think they even really read the prompt. One friend posted a quote his grandfather told him. I can't think of any way I can pitch that as being any sort of media, but I am glad he participated. Interestingly, however, these friends tended to engage more in the conversation, liking others' posts, perhaps more to support the person or idea than to represent themselves to the community. One friend shared his own artwork and creative inspiration, but contextualized that decision by telling me it was a hard one and asking the community not to think him arrogant by doing so. Even more interesting, it seemed that the more posts I got, the more eager people were to participate, even if I had already asked them. Perhaps the posting is exponential, in that if people see a mass gathering online to discuss something, they are far more prone to be part of the conversation.

It would seem that community plays a very large part in shaping what is created or received online, if differently for different people. I can't help but think of other social media sites, such as tumblr or reddit especially, where art and information and community are all blended into one with memes. Memes are a particularly interesting form of community media in that they typically reference an understood original source, they are self-perpetuating, they can be used to make points, reference current events, create satire, simply joke around, etc, and they are even considered an art form with no original author.



Community calls to action are a cool and synthetic way curate this sort of online sharing and connection, but I find it even more mind-boggling when these sort of things spontaneously occur. Perhaps there will be a way in the future to better study and track this sort of information, but as of now we are still working on it, and I think we are doing well. There is a beauty to the viral, spontaneous unanimity of online communities and expression, and I'm anxious to continue evaluating my own personal presentation in the virtual world.

Pedagogical Playlist

https://www.tes.com/lessons/CXMgctJoUfmYMw/space-exploration

For my Pedagogical Playlist, I chose the subject of space exploration, one that is technically considered a social issue but doesn't get a lot of attention or information shared because it isn't pressing. I'm aware that it may not be the most important issue at the time, but that is why I wanted to explore it - Space exploration typically takes a back burner and yet may become increasingly important in the future. For my playlist, I tried to create a logical progression of steps and resources. The first was to visit the Clark Planetarium in Salt Lake City and become familiar with space and space travel as a subject. Because so many people really don't know all that much about our history with space or the possibilities it holds, I felt that visiting a Planetarium and participating in at least three different modes of learning (IMAX Theater, Hansen Dome, Interactive Exhibits) would be enough to familiarize the participant with outer space. My second resource, The TED Talk "Why We Need to Go Back To Mars" by Joel Levine, builds on the knowledge of the first, as he lays out advantages and solutions for living on another planet. The participant is instructed to find the solutions that stand out to her and the possible setbacks. From there, the resources become more self-directed. The participant goes to ISideWith to explore the issue from his/her political perspective, and then attends a political meeting wherein he/she brings up the subject. The participant reads different explanations online from groups such as NASA or SpaceX as to why space travel is important and what scientific discoveries we've made because of it, and then he/she asks for an online poll of why friends and family think it's important. The participant identifies their top three livable planets from the Kepler discoveries, and picks one of seven online tools that allow him to contribute to Space Exploration. My hope is that by the time the participant is done with the playlist, he/she has learned about and tasted enough of this issue as to want to pursue it on their own. 
Creating this playlist sort of felt like an online, interactive "Magic School Bus." In the children's show, Mrs. Frizzle teaches students about various subjects by physically taking them there and showing them firsthand the subject matter. In the same vein, this sort of teaching in the digital age encourages the participant to be part of a conversation rather than lend a listening ear. Young adults can develop valuable political opinions and contributions through their own metaphorical "Magic School Bus"--the internet. Even creating the playlist helped me become more informed on the subject, and caused me to want to act rather than just understand. Teaching methods that require you to act are the first step toward activism. They allow you as the participant to have a voice, and one that you soon realize is able to be recognized. I really struggled with this assignment at first, as I was unsure of the direction I wanted to take it. But once I got going, my lesson plan sort of developed itself. It just felt natural for the subject to come full circle through physical trips, political interactions, and locating online tools. 

YouTube Sculpting

This assignment grew to be particularly meaningful for me, more so than I expected. For my YouTube Sculpture, I searched for terms relating to themes of Mormonism and Cinema and found some really interesting and unique stuff. My searches evolved from being related to film representations of Joseph Smith or Brigham Young to Mormons in Media to "Mormon Media"; there were all sorts of things out there. Far more than I expected. The assignment took a lot longer than I expected, and I found that while there were tons and tons of results, simply combing through them and finding the part of the clip I wanted that I could relate in my compilation of clips took time. After actually doing the project, I see some major advantages and disadvantages to this sort of appropriation art. An affordance is that it's really easy to find material. There is an abundance of it. It may be time consuming to shift through to find something you really like, but the content is all there at your fingertips. Unintended new meanings may be formed by combining related but different material. For example, the beginning clips of different versions of Joseph Smith happened to take on an "origin story" and even "militaristic" tone. This was unintentional, but when I noticed it in my clips, I rearranged them to give it that meaning. In fact, the same thing was true of my entire project. Although I had variation in my searches, I found that once I had all the clips I needed, I could rearrange them to give the piece more flow and meaning. 
A possible limitation to this sort of art is that, while surrounded by options, the artist is still limited to what's available. Perhaps this artistic approach is not as inherently limited as the artist's intent may be, depending on what the intent it. For example, if someone were to approach this assignment trying to envision or predetermine what they wanted their video to be like, they might run into some problems. You are dictated by what's available, and that may take a very different direction. Using someone else's art or content to create your own new artwork still puts you at the mercy of the original artist to some extent. Another limitation is the fact that one cannot do too much with the art or content of someone else. Sure, you can create it, you can copy it, you can even sample it, but once you start to use it in its copyrighted form, things get tricky. A great example of this is the famous "Hope" poster of President Obama from his first campaign. While the red and blue poster has become iconic, it is based off of a photograph of Obama that someone else took, and that person had major issues with their work being appropriated without permission being given. 



As I previously stated, this project was meaningful for me because it dealt with and dabbled in Mormon Cinema, some of the ways it's been explored, represented, self-represented, etc. That's a very important issue to me. But I also know that the project was dictated by my findings on YouTube, and may not be the best representation of a cinematic movement within a religion as much as it's a representation of what people upload to YouTube when they think "Mormon Movie". I also know that I can't do too much with this art other than keep it on YouTube since the subject I picked in particular deals with other people's copyrighted content. Overall, I really enjoyed the assignment, and especially enjoyed the reactions and insights when I tested my video on different people, such as my wife or cousin. 

Twine Poetry

Artist's Statement:

Creating my twine poem game was an extremely new and challenging experience for me. I've never been the best at creating twine games in the first place, but adding the additional components of aesthetic elements and poetic themes made this assignment pretty pressing for a non-programmer. However, I feel like I was able to develop a game that accurately expresses the ideas behind the poem Do not go gentle into that goodnight and that it is an accurate reflection of the best of my abilities.
Because the poem is about resisting death and holding tight to life, the background is an electrocardiogram, indicating to the player that he/she is on the verge of death. The options the player is given throughout the game are evolving segments of the poem itself and poetic options that contradict fighting to stay alive. Any option that is not a part of the poem itself will lead the player to die, and the options are enticing, reminding the player of the pain it is to fight for survival and the peace that comes with death. Eventually, the player reaches the end of the first stanza of the poem, only to start over in an endless loop, again reminding the player that fighting against death is not an enjoyable or invigorating experience. Unlike, say, Super Mario Bros., where dying is frustrating, there is sort of a relief in death for this game.
There were several other components I wanted to include, such as sound, but after hours of research and trying to make it work, I ended up having to settle with what I was able to implement. I've come to the conclusion that while the idea was interesting, twine just isn't meant to be an immersive, aesthetic experience; it's not what the program is designed for. Trying to make those elements work with the programming felt like going against the grain. From this experience I realized that while new media is the blending of different elements to create new and innovative possibilities, it's also unproductive to try and force a square cog into a round hole. New media seems to have developed naturally, and David's point about VR being a gimmick has some real validity, especially if the technology doesn't end up being as entertaining or useful.
Ultimately, this was a great learning assignment for me, and I'm pleased with the game. I tested it on my wife, and found that she had a lot of thoughts based on the themes. In that way, I feel it was effective, and may be inspired to keep trying to develop more intricate games on twine.

GIF Cinema

Hill.

Artist's Statement:

As a writer and director who is used to the moving image, exploring this medium, specifically when the actors are completely still, was a new experience for me. In creating cinemagraphs, the actors needed to hold totally still while conveying an emotion, and those of us behind the camera needed to make sure whatever was moving was in a circular motion. This was new and interesting for both parties. With gifs, I am of the strong opinion that the motion within should not repeat itself unless it is an action that is designed to be circular, especially when it's within an a narrative. For example, someone running down the stairs over and over doesn't make sense within a narrative, but someone running in a circle using revolving doors might, especially if it plays into the story in a productive way. I tried to use those rules and limitations for my own cinemagraphs, and I think we were able to pull it off. 
Another insight I had while working within this medium was it's interpretive nature. There is a lot of room for looking at a narrative made from gifs and interpreting it in whatever way the audience cares to, be that emotionally or aesthetically or what have you. For example, someone can rush through the narrative or take their time. Someone could look at my story called "Hill" and pull any number of meanings from it. This flexibility was helpful in shooting the story when some of our elements weren't working. I decided to go a completely different direction, and because the photos we had taken thus far could be up for interpretation, they still fit with the new meaning I wanted to convey.
Overall, this approach to storytelling was very satisfying, and combined elements from multiple mediums. It's something I would be very interesting in exploring further, pulling in even more new media possibilities such as sound design or interactive options.