BLOG

wk	website	description
3	http://www.koreawebart.org/2001/artist/Candy_Factory/index.html	This project goes inside a shut down candy factory. There is constant movement of focus which makes the user feel as if they are moving along with the images. It also requires user interaction and the direction of movement depends on the choices of the user. This offers and interesting look at virtual space and it's relationship to physical space. We look at the physical space of the candy factory but we are looking at a virtual image. I thought this was a creative way to observe this relationship of space.
4	http://potatoland.org/feed	Feed is a real time web digest that was created by Mark Napier. It is part of his website, www.potatoland.org. After the user selects a website, this project reduces web pages to a stream of text and pixels. the name of the program is a play on words. In one sense it is feeding on pictures and text. It is also using the text and pictures as information feed to feed the program. I thnk It's interesting to see the digital nature of webpages allows them to be reduced and broken down into basically streams of information. The artist seems to enjoy the use of programs such as this. This allows his artwork to be ever changing. In one report he said that he was frustrated with painting because of the static nature of the artwork. With his website and programs like this, his artwork is constantly changing and engaging the interaction of the user.
5	http://www.c404.tv/ascii_index.html	This site is called 'ASCII Rock' and was created by the C404 team. Basically music video clip streams have been broken down to ASCII code formations that replicate the shapes and movement of the music video. It's interesting how they use this to show that everything one sees on the computer screen is really just code.
6	http://www.homelandsecurityrules.net/	This site is called 'Homeland Security Rules' created by Richard A. Lou. It's an interesting political commentary about patriotism and fears that is related to homeland security. It is an interesting flash video that involves the user by letting them click on the images to more forward. What is revealed is the ironies of homeland security as the main character makes a plastic suit to protect himself from chemical warfare.
7	http://www.antiwargame.org/	This website is a flash interactive 'Anti-war' game that was created by the Futurefarmers Project. I thought that this was an interesting satire of American government and war. The interesting thing to me is the recognition of the role of media and how media has transformed modern warfare. Also, it reminds me of new video games that are now on the market. I feel it's a bit disturbing to see all these new video games that "encourage" patriotism in fighting wars. This does the opposite. In the end, there is no way to win the war and I think that is the message of the website. There is not way to win with war.
8	http://www.cumbernauld.nu	This project called 'Cumbernauld: Town for Tomorrow' was created by Gair Dunlop and Dan Norton. The website lets the user explore architectural space through maps and then actual images of the space. Once again, this is a website that involves the relationship between the pictures of physical space however, we are looking at them as virtual images. However, it is a bit frustrating because of the limitations of the virtual, we are not there in the physical space and we can't see every angle we want. The site thrives on user interaction. It is constantly changing.
9	http://infomix.plagiarist.org/corp/frameset.html	This site was created by Amy Alexander for her website, www.plagiarist.org. This internet project features the Travesty Corporate PR InfoMixer. This program is almost like a remix software that mesh the texts of PR releases. The user chooses from a list of Corporations and the program mixes PR information for those Corporations chosen. The result of this mix is very interesting because the texts incorporate the two companies and the text is very convincing. It is because Corporate PR releases are very similar in structure and are very impersonal and almost formulaic that the mixes work/mesh so well. This program was based on the Perl program "Travesty" which makes a strange parody of texts by rearranging it based on the frequency with which the words appear.
10	http://www.ambriente.com/	This site displays a mobile art project called, "Vagamundo". The project, created by Ricardo Miranda Zuniga, is intended to tell a migrant's tale. The artwork resembles a rolling ice cream cart and a video game (that reflects the life of new Latin American immigrants in New York City) and screen are installed inside the cart. By using this art medium, it invites pedestrians to play the video game in New York City in areas where there are immigrants that push ice cream carts on summer days. The project puts the viewer in the shoes of the immigrant worker and shows the hardships of immigrants. Also, it is an interesting project that uses public space as a part of the artwork. It engages the pedestrians who are walking by and allows them to observe the life of others. The website features the game which online users can now play.
11	http://www.typorganism.com/	This website is created by Sooyang Wang, Hojin Lee and Gicheol Lee. The website was started because of the belief by Gicheol Lee that "Type is an Organism". This interactive website uses the communal interactivity of the web environment. The ASCII-O-Matic is a web application that can convert an image to ASII art. The user can use the images in the library or upload their own. This reminds us of text as an image in the way that ASCII art imagery was printed in the early days of computer graphics. I think this site has engaged the user to interact with the website. We are able to choose what we want to see and break down images of our choice.
12	http://www.iconico.com/finger/	This website was created by Nico Westerdale. It allows you to download a screensaver called 'Dirty Fingerprints'. It reminds us of the layers of use our work computers endure from the touch of coworkers, bosses, etc and the fingerprints that can accumulate on the computer screen. This screensaver gathers mouse clicks from a variety of collaborating websites and renders them visible on the screen. It allows the user to be able to see what computer activities have been used. In a way it incorporates the virtual space and their interaction with the computer. By displaying "fingerprints" it is almost as if the user could physically touch the virtual components of the web.