Monthly Archives: November 2013

Augh, how on earth am I supposed to decide on a topic for our final project for Writing and Digital Media? I’ve got two ideas, both of them equally exciting, that I have to choose between, and it’s a source of some real consternation. A brief overview of where I might be going with both:

1. Online Identity

My argument focuses on the idea that online and real-world identities are beginning to merge in unusual ways, and that managing both simultaneously is a complex task that grows ever more complicated with each new bit of personal information shared, voluntarily or not, online. I would shift the focus and content of the original essay to how the nature of the Tumblr community impacts the sort of information people share about themselves on it. Presenting an essay about a particular platform on the platform itself would be an interesting exploration of how it works in real-time. I would incorporate multimedia elements and feature links to relevant sources within the body of the blog.

or

2. Glitch Art

Some individuals are reluctant to classify glitch art as art, as its production involves much more in the way of trial and error and an eye for aesthetic than physically doing the kind of work or requiring the kind of technical talent needed to produce other types of art. Because glitch art is inherently random, its critics sometimes claim that there is no skill involved in its production and it is more of a novelty than a legitimate art form. I, however, would argue that glitch art is art in the same way that photography is art: while the machine you’re using is technically doing all the “work,” there can be just as much thought and effort that goes into composing, editing, and curating glitches as there might be in any other artistic medium.

I know, I know, better this than having no ideas at all — I guess I’ll just blog a bunch about whichever one I don’t use to compensate.

Here’s my finished website for our Interrogating the Interface assignment:  https://sites.google.com/a/vt.edu/interrogatingpaper/

While I can’t say I was a huge fan of our Ignite presentations (time limits that strict make me feel like I’m trying to defuse a bomb, even if I’ve practiced plenty) I actually enjoyed this part of the assignment. Google Sites aren’t particularly attractive platforms, but all pre-built clunkiness aside I am happy with the end result. I loved being able to integrate multimedia aspects into the body of this piece — because Paper, the app I focused on, was based on creating images, it was great to be able to demonstrate not only the inner workings of the program but also showcase pieces I’d made with it myself.

I’d used Paper for almost a full year before I wrote this essay about it, and while that certainly ensured that I had plenty of first-hand experience with it, in some ways experimenting with a completely unfamiliar app would have been really neat. I already knew many of Paper’s ins and outs and had adjusted to its quirks and learning curves, and thus approached the assignment a little differently than I would have if given a new program to dissect with a strictly analytic eye. I’m curious to see how many of my classmates will continue using the app or program they reviewed after this assignment is complete — while reviewing something less-than-helpful would have made for a fun, snarky essay, I am glad I got to work with something I genuinely enjoyed already. 

Inspired by this site, here’s how my setup works.

Who are you, and what do you do?

E. Lower, senior in STS. Science writer, amateur naturalist, and habitual tinkerer. Jack of all trades and master of none, but I’m pretty cool with that. I have an approximate knowledge of many things.

What hardware do you use?

An ancient and highly temperamental Toshiba laptop named Jimbo. An iPad adopted from the Learning Technologies department named Jensen. An old but functional 4 GB iPod Nano named Tony. A Samsung Intensity II dumbphone named Wheatley. An external webcam, a Wacom Bamboo tablet, and an infinite number of flashdrives. Several palm-sized marble composition books that are good for tucking in pockets to take notes on the go, a cheap cork-bound sketchbook, and even cheaper ballpoint pens that are better for sketching than any fancy felt-tip.

And what software?

I am the king of online programs and the 30-day free trial: I sketch and color artwork in Pixlr, remix songs in Abledon and make my own in MusicShake, and experiment with almost every platform that is both interesting and free across the web. Most  of my writing is drafted in Wordpad and finished in MS Word. Microsoft Outlook has been perpetually open on this laptop since I purchased it six years ago. My music is played through iTunes but very little was purchased there. I spend a lot of time on various blogging sites, though WordPress isn’t usually one of them.

What would be your dream setup?

I’ve always thought multi-screen computer setups were the height of cool. In the absence of futuristic technology that lets you play with holograms, I’d settle for a faster computer that doesn’t make noises like a drowning lawnmower when I’ve got too many programs running. Good speakers and a tablet connection for digital art are a must.

As far as the rest of this environment goes, I’d like a good studio space, preferably in the attic or basement of wherever I was living — I like being separate from the rest of my living quarters while I work. I’d like a big desk as a work surface, something that looks nice but is easy to clean up when I inevitably spill paint or ink or tea on it. Bookshelves are important, stocked with good reference material and interesting things to look at for inspiration. I’d have a huge cabinet filled with art and craft supplies and various tools I might need. I’d like to have my guitar and maybe a keyboard on hand too. A few final things: a leather recliner to sit in and read or do some sketching, an electric teakettle, and Christmas lights or little lanterns hung up everywhere.