So Jon - you consider yourself an artist and a computer scientist? Is this
correct?
You don't think
these two domains inform each other in a valuable way? Only science seeps
over and informs the kinds of artwork you do?
b
On Fri, 20 Apr 2001, Jon McCormack wrote:
>
>
> Bill:
>
> > In art it may be more interesting to explore systems that do not try to
> > have a single interpretation.
>
> Well, this is just about all communication then. If you completely understood
> everything I meant, then language would be a much _more_ amazing thing than the
> amazing thing it is. Human language is in its nature extremely imprecise. This is
> the basis of all the arguments about how language limits thought - does language
> put a limitation on what you can think? I don't think so, because if it did you
> would always understand exactly what I meant. ("There were times when words were
> not enough" as Paul Bowles said).
>
> > In terms of exploring new forms of communication, I certainly believe that
>
> >
> > the computer enables the creation of very different forms of communicative
> > systems -- we can play with sematics about communication -- but I wouldn't
> > be sending little pieces of code to Australia if this was not a new means
> > of communicating. (ok yopu say old / I say new...) The potential is for
> > artists to work together with
> > scientists to articulate a set of potentials. Where the artist potentially
> > has
>
> I think George's point was the difference between modes and forms. The bits of
> code I am getting down here from you are coming in a different form, but the mode
> of communication is essentially the same - halfway between a letter and a
> telephone conversation.
>
> >
> > different goals for the outcome of thier research to that of the
> > scientist, often systems can be created that can be pointed in terms of
> > functionality to both informational uses that might be useful to
> > scientists as well as pointed in the direction that Jon spoke of earlier
> > -- less "functional" uses... poetic uses -- yet both can arise out of the
> > potentials of computer-oriented research.The problem solving that
> > enables informational research can be very similar to the research that
> > enables poetic research.
> >
>
> Despite what I said earlier, I don't think art has much to offer science in such a
> direct collaborative mode. Call me old fashioned, but I think C.P. Snow had a lot
> of it right - there are vast cultural differences between the two and very few
> people have sufficient in-depth understanding to enable a "cultural translation"
> that might permit modes of engagement that offer genuine benefits for both
> disciplines.
>
> Jon.
>
> ===================================================================
> WEB SITE: http://pks.bu.edu/awbim
> POST MESSAGE: Send a message to artwithbraininmind-l@pks.bu.edu
> (UN)SUBSCRIBE: Send message to majordomo@pks.bu.edu with
> 'subscribe artwithbraininmind-l' in body to subscribe, or
> 'unsubscribe artwithbraininmind-l' in body to unsubscribe
>
===================================================================
WEB SITE: http://pks.bu.edu/awbim
POST MESSAGE: Send a message to artwithbraininmind-l@pks.bu.edu
(UN)SUBSCRIBE: Send message to majordomo@pks.bu.edu with
'subscribe artwithbraininmind-l' in body to subscribe, or
'unsubscribe artwithbraininmind-l' in body to unsubscribe
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Sat Sep 06 2008 - 04:03:09 EDT