Masters of Media

“44422435 to nowhere”

In response to last weeks admittance of their work “44422435 to nowhere” to the Rhizome ArtBase, Entter told me that finally it seems “we are artists and not fucking nerd losers”. Since 2002, Entter’s fields of research and development...

By Rosa Menkman on 09/10/07 Comments Off

Interactivity is Affectivity

(cross posted on whateverbutton.com/blog) Over the summer I wrote an essay called ‘Interactivity is Affectivity’ for the tutorial ‘Current themes in new media’. You may like to read the following teaser, or even click pdf for the pdf.

By Michael Stevenson on 09/09/07 2

Is Eboman v2.0?

The first thing that gets your attention on eboman.info is the list of well known web 2.0 logos. Next to it, Eboman coupled the logos to his own interpretation of what the service is about. YouTube for example lists...

By Erik Borra on 09/09/07 3

Olia Lialina’s Vernacular Web 2

Olia Lialina has put her new network theory talk online. Her research catalogs 'vintage' Web aesthetics (including, ahem, the glitter folder).

By Michael Stevenson on 09/07/07 3

Shift happens

Sometimes, one needs to let the youtube do the talking. Suffice to say, we’re in the thick of it.

By Pepijn Uitterhoeve on 08/28/07 Comments Off

Justice vs. Power; Chomsky vs Foucault

Through Chris Perkins’ blog I found these great videos of Chomsky and Foucault. Recorded for Dutch television in 1971, it shows the two discussing their theories, being mainly the concepts of justice and power in these fragments.

By Twan Eikelenboom on 08/18/07 4

Man and Computer: An exhibition from 1979

Translation of ‘Mens en Computer’ (1979 – Beeld en Geluid Hilversum) item The development from tangram to ruler to calculator all the way to the computer can be seen at the exhibition ‘Man and Computer’ in the Museum for...

By Twan Eikelenboom on 08/05/07 2

New Network Theory – Review

For three executive sunny days last week, the humanity studies faculty of the University of Amsterdam hosted the New Network Theory conference. This four party collaborative initiative – consisting of Amsterdam School of Cultural Analysis, Institute of Network cultures,...

By Roman Tol on 07/09/07 5

Piet Zwart Institute – Masters Graduation Expo

A new batch of Piet Zwart master students was released into the wild yesterday. Worm(Rotterdam) hosted the temporary “invasion”, as course director Florian Cramer jokingly refered to it. The work of about 9 students, I neglected to count them...

By Tijmen Schep on 07/08/07 Comments Off

New Network Theory- Parallel Sessions- ‘Network and Subjectivities’ – Ulises A. Mejias

Ulises A. Mejias offers us a network critique in the final talk of the parallel session ‘Network and Subjectivities.’ In his talk about ‘Hyperlocality and the tyranny of nodes’ he argues that we can see a shift in the...

By Anne Helmond on 07/05/07 1

New Network Theory – Parallel Sessions – ‘The Global and the Local’

The trouble with science is that it wants to find the truth that is valid in all cases. These speakers, it can be argued, believe that idea is not only useless, but damaging. Context is king: every culture has...

By Tijmen Schep on 07/01/07 2

Call for New Network Theory conference photos

We heard the rumor that some speakers and/or visitors would like to share their pictures with us. That would be absolutely great. So, if you have any photos you would like to share with us, please e-mail us at...

By Anne Helmond on 06/30/07 Comments Off

New Network Theory – Katy Börner

Katy Börner, with her presentation Global Brain Pressures: Towards Scholarly Marketplaces, asks what the relationship is between knowledge and the individual, and knowledge and networks. Over a long enough timeline, one sees increasing specialization, and thus a changing perception...

By Michael Stevenson on 06/29/07 Comments Off

New Network Theory – Parallel Sessions – ‘The Link’

The first round of parallel sessions is underway, and a crowd has gathered in a computer lab at the Media studies department to discuss ‘the link’.. A preview comes in the form of one participant’s notes, where I spotted...

By Michael Stevenson on 06/29/07 1

New Network Theory – Noshir Contractor

Noshir Contractor is the first speaker today, here to present MTML meets Web 2.0: Theorizing social processes in multidimensional networks. Noshir begins with a story of the social life of (technologically-enhanced) pets. Your smart-tagged dog can meet other dogs...

By Michael Stevenson on 06/29/07 Comments Off

New Network Theory – Florian Cramer

Today’s final speaker is Florian Cramer of the Piet Zwart Institute, who has a nicely low-key website. Florian’s work deals with text, code and aesthetics – one piece of his is the extended essay, Words Made Flesh: Code, Culture,...

By Michael Stevenson on 06/29/07 Comments Off

Photos New Network Theory Conference

View the whole New Network Theory set at Flickr (more to come the next two days).

By Anne Helmond on 06/29/07 Comments Off

New Network Theory – Rob Stuart

Rob Stuart is an activist based in Philadelphia. Here he gave an overview of some of his work, especially that which made use of new technologies. In this way he gave conference-goers some network practice to go along with...

By Michael Stevenson on 06/28/07 1

New Network Theory – Alan Liu

Can Network knowledge improve? The second New Network Theory session starts with this question from Alan Liu in his presentation Network Knowledge: Policing Web 2.0. Alan’s aim today is to present a draft proposal for a non-reactionary policy for...

By Michael Stevenson on 06/28/07 1

New Network Theory – Siva Vaidhyanathan

Siva Vaidhyanathan, author of The Anarchist in the Library: How the Clash between Freedom and Control is Hacking the Real World and Crashing the System and currently associate professor at NYU, is here to talk about the Googlization of...

By Michael Stevenson on 06/28/07 3

New Network Theory – Opening

The Masters of Media are at the New Network Theory Conference – organized by Network Cultures, ASCA and the Media Studies department at the University of Amsterdam (that’s us!). Geert Lovink introduced the program as an ambitious attempt to...

By Michael Stevenson on 06/28/07 Comments Off

Der Lauf der Remediation

Peter Fischli and David Weiss made a kinetic artwork in 1987, called Der Lauf der Dinge. My mother was very sensitive and would show this to me and my brother instead of Bambi. I still have...

By Rosa Menkman on 06/27/07 Comments Off

Facebook and MySpace class distinctions

danah boyd recently wrote an interesting article on “viewing American class divisions through Facebook and MySpace.” She points out that class divisions have emerged and are being played out through aesthetics in Facebook and MySpace. I think this is...

By Anne Helmond on 06/26/07 5

Essay: The Perceived Freshness Fetish

Why do I feel a need to blog daily? There seems to be some kind of consensus or norm in the blogosphere that blogs should be updated daily. Several blogs about blogging recommend posting daily and blog search engine...

By Anne Helmond on 06/22/07 1