The French media theorist Jean Baudrillard left his life on this world yesterday. Philosopher and pioneer of the “media theory”, focused his research on the seduction of the media and on the role fo simulation into contemporary society. He died in Paris, he was 77.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Baudrillard
http://www.egs.edu/faculty/baudrillard.html
10 laws:
REDUCE ORGANIZE TIME LEARN DIFFERENCES
CONTEXT EMOTION TRUST FAILURE THEONE
John Maeda talked yesterday night at the Mediateca Santa Teresa in Milan, in a open conference organized by MGM digital communication for his series of meeting Meet the Media Guru.
As John Maeda started to talk he said that he considered himself a mediaguy rather than a mediaguru, and i felt myself immediately better. “The computer is nothing more than a pencil” said April Greinman 20 years ago, and Maeda said that if it’s a pencil, it’s one that broke his tip continously, again and again.
What is semplicity about? semplicity=simplistic? =trend? =more sales? =?
it’s a question with no answer….and we’re at the beginning. So he started to present to the audience how easy it’s possbile to see semplicity and beauty into everyday life, showing photos he did from the complexity of the Dome of Milan to the simplicity of a dead white butterfly on a black asphalt: “the world is a great museum to visit“, you’ve just to open your eyes.
“Capitalism utilize the machine not to further social welfare, but to increase private profit.” Lewis Mumford, Technics and Civilization, 1934
Design is about merging human sensibility and technological aspects, and the human desires are mutable, sometime you want more, sometime less, usually if it’s about pleasure you want more, if about work less.
He started then to present more deeply the book he just edited for MIT Press, called The Laws of Simplicity. And he said since the beginning he wont show all the principles, he did the book for the pourpose and there everything is clearly explained, so read it!!!
Then a quick talk about four laws, about this part was particularly interesting the “SHE’s alwasy right” paradigm, that present a metodology that is always good for design: Shrink, Hide, Embody. Some clear example of this attitude are the evolution of the interface of the I-pod and the shell phone design. So at the fourth law, Learn, he stopped talking about the laws of simplicity and it started the best part of the conference with Maeda seriously telling to the audience how important is to look with a curious eye to the world and to spend time in relational activities: “Friends are forever, spend life making friends, not money”.
At the beginning of the conference he clearly said he thought about 10 laws, but they can be 3, 2 or more, he don’t knows what can happen, but that are his laws about complexity for now and at the end he said what i think are the real laws of Maeda’s way of life:
“To live is learn to forget”
“Everything is already there, so don’t think too much, but keep on doing”
“Look for things that gives you hope, life is great”
then the questions, sincerely not so interesting but among them turned out this:
Q: Artists that inspired you?
A: Duchamp, Bruno Munari and Italo Calvino.
Q: is it really important to learn programming to make design today?
A: Programming is quite boring. 5 years ago i would said yes, now… i don’t know.
Programming is sharp, but life is about emotion, so i hope in the future programming can be softer.
Q: How do you see ther future?
A: I don’t the future i see, i can say the future i want: a future as a friendly place.
and i started clapping my hands….
http://lawsofsimplicity.com
At least one week to think about what Arthur Kroker said at the conference in Transmediale the 2th of february. Soon the book “Born against ideologies” will be pubblished, meanwhile some excerpts from that speech.
The canadian researcher point out that after the capitalism it was free to became global, it became an intensive capitalism with no barrier on his multiples trajectories.
But this complex world needs other answers: against the technology and his power structure rise the escatological society.
The escatological society born from the failure of reason. After 500 years dominated by the reason and the technology both the biosphere and the memesphere reacts to the promises not rewarded.
If 20th century was a struggle between the ideologic assolutism and the technological assolutism, the 21th century is about the research of the god killed in the century before. God never died thanx to the failures of reason and technology. Tecnocracy rivitalize faith, science is all about faith, and once it failed, it merged into religion.
The rise of a ideologic compromise between the privatization of religion and the collettivization of science. U.S.A. Represents a unique fusion of the language of technology and the speech of religion: the reason has failed so the technology needs a new light.
The language of will became the fire for the technological research and development. Technology and religion intersects eachother as terrorists and “civilized world” do.
In the era of speed of light the quantic phisycs describe the contemporary politics: oppositions are “galactic singularities” that lives at the same time in the same place. The capitalism became global and the terrorists find a parassistic way of integrating into it.
Are we born again ideology?
this is the story of a bunch of funny and brave people who do their thing in belarus. they are involved with indymedia and report mostly from demonstrations, but do some real funny videos, too. they started with a newspaper they had to stop publishing in 2003, due to charges for insulting the belarus president. thinking of the political landscape in this young democracy, they do a very dangerous job. its good to see that the indymedia spirit continous in baltic countries, since in countries like austria people do not pay too much attention to it anymore. tactical media as a concept sounds good to me, if the content is funny and well edited, like navinki home videos’, watching gives you a political correct feeling and is a lot of fun…
check indymedia belarus
der vortrag von arthur kroker beschreibt den gegenwärtigen zustand unserer welt, die er als post humanistisch beschreibt. diesen eindruck verstärkt er mit der beschreibung von den ‘clashes of absolut idiologies’, die sich mit religion untermauern. diese politik der “born again ideology” manifestiert sich nicht nur in der legislative sondern auch in den medien, militär und wirtschaft. religiöse überzeugung stellt sich an die stelle von ‘wirklichen’ ideologien, und verhindert eine konsensuale entwicklung von den diversen konflikten. verbunden mit dem historischen projekt der technologisierung der welt führt dies zu lebensverneinendem verhalten …
ein film von oliver ressler. der österreichische filmemacher hat sich in seinem film ‘the fittest survive’ einer nicht alltäglichen thematik angenommen. in dem 23min video dokumentiert er einen survival kurs, der von ehemaligen elitesoldaten für manager abgehalten wird, um sie auf businessreisen in den irak vorzubereiten.
sehr sachlich und ohne aufs auge zu drücken, führt er den betrachter in die thematik ein, und zeigt wie lebensfeindlich ein gefechtsfeld sein kann. die kursteilnehmer erleben eine chaotische situation nach der anderen, und erkennen sehr schnell, dass sie in realistischen kriegssituationen von einem augenblick auf den anderen sterben können.
solcherart vorbereitet können sie dann auf wirtschaftliche selbstmordeinsätze geschickt werden, um im immer schneller werdenden wettbewerb auch die gefährlichen geschäftsabschlüsse an land ziehen zu können. im untergehenden turbokapitalismus scheint ja die arbeit an krisenherden immer lukrativer zu werden…
Now, just arrived at Transmediale and, like last year, it’s quit hard to choose what to see and what not…There are the Studio, the StudioII, the Salon, the exhibition and about four or even more outside locations…!
Plus: You always meet interesting people you want to spent a lot of time with. If you are in media art, this place feels like after a bath and all the foam is finally melting (just before is going down the drain ;)
Anyway, sometimes after many talks and meet and greetz, surprisingly, I had the chance to attend a performance. In this case by The Austrian Institute for Media Archaeology, who were presenting themselves with four different performances.
Here are some impressions of them:
turntable improvisation
von ushi reiter
live-visuals: julia starsky
ein kleiner ueberblick von einem echtem pro, mister dj alive:
“also des programm is musikalisch ned übermässig, aber ein paar gustostückelr sind natürlich immer dabei….
dieser mesterhazy spielt super electronica/experimental sets .. da is wahrscheinlich der abend recht nett obwohli niemanden sonst kenn.
der abend wo noze spielt, der aber sicher der langweiligste act an dem abend sein wird schaut echt gut aus … vor alllem feadz und der jay haze mitseinem neuen fuckpony projekt … lecker – wenn man drauf steht.
und natürlich rechenzentrum(magichnichtso) und pole!!!! band … wenn das ser deutsche pole is dann isses super elktronischer minimal dub .. und der tip des programms.
ich hoff ich hab alle klarheiten beseitigt”
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