Bolter and Grusin

132- 159

I thought this section was one of the most interesting that we have read so far. This is because I am very interested in art. In fact, I was almost an art major. Because of this and my experience within the field, I have witnessed first hand accounts of people negatively reacting to digital art. In my high school AP art class, my teacher thought it was important enough to make us take an outside photoshop class to encourage our digital, artistic literacy. I watched as many of my friends questioned the legitimacy of my digital works. I'd like to bring to mind the computer animation of movies such as Finding Nemo and many other Pixar animation films. It hard to deny that the people in charge of this are artists. The visual appeal is apparent, and they incorporate transparency into something as unrealistic as a talking turtle, so much so that kids and adults alike are equally ensnared by the animation. I think digital art is only another extension of the encompassing term that "art" has come to be. It is just another part in self-expression, creation, and remediation.

160-195

What struck me most about this section was its vast parallels to Baudrillard's essay on Simulations. For those of you who haven't read this essay, Baudrillard addresses how humans have come to make models or maps of actual places that are "realer than real." For example he contemplates the idea of Disney World and how even though it is a place of fantasy and non-reality, its existence and popularity have stapled it as one of the most "American" exhibits in the United states. This place, though incredible, has no essential basis in reality. This can be applied to many of our digital reality discussions that we have held in class. We, as a people, desire to escape to "real" places of "fantasy" i.e. second life, avatar-games, amusement parks, and shopping malls. For a moment our fantasies are tangible. What does this say about our society? Are we moving toward becoming a people living within our own minds? Escaping within places of "non-existence"? Interested only in being other than our physical, mental, or emotional selves? What do these implications have for us?

Another thing that I thought of when I read this was a book that I read called "The Last Book in the Universe." It deals with people who "plug-in" to daydreams and actually experience them first-hand within their minds. In the book, this is daydream is called a drug and people waste away, decay, and forget to eat because they do it all the time. Though this seems a little far-fetched I still see some similarities in its basis premise to the time period that I live within now. The book also talks about the end of books, and how no one writes anymore. I think this might be an interesting subject to discuss, as remediation hints at the end of written books.