“Principles of New Media”

Usually, when you think of new media or at least when I think of new media I tend to just think about photoshop or media programs like adobe etc. When in reality “new” media dates back to the 1800’s starting with the Analytical Engine created by Charles Babbage. But what really caught my attention in this early era was on page 23, when Manovich speaks on the first motion picture was produced in 1893, in Edison’s “Black Maria”. The reason i found this interesting was just because I did not know Thomas Edison had anything to do within media and film, so to find out he actually laid down the platform for the production of the first 20-second motion picture was new information for me. This led to a short series created by Edison for the Kinetoscope, which is an invention that peaked my interest. It was really the first version or “prototype” of a projector and was only able to be seen by one person at a time.

Then, the next section of the reading i found interesting was when Manovich got into more recent technology and speaks about Transcoding. On page 47 Manovich writes “Comparing new media to print, photography, or television will never tell us the whole story. For although from one point of view new media is indeed another type of media, from another it is simply a particular type of computer data, something stored in databases, retrieved and sorted, run through algorithms and written to the output device.” This stood out to me because i take the viewpoint that believes new media is indeed another type of media, and it’s it’s own seperate type of art. I would not be able to see it the other way because it’s not as simple as just an input to recieve an output, there is a thought process and an idea behind the actual outcome.

Jerry Saltz: How to Be an Artist

In this article Jerry Saltz tries to break down being an artist into the simplest way possible by giving an outline of 33 lessons to help shape and really capture your artistry. It is an interesting read and one of the rules that stood out to me is lesson 6. This lesson is called “Start With a Pencil”, which sounds pretty simple but is deeper than just grabbing a pencil and drawing something. Personally, I think that I am a terrible artist but the way Saltz describes it makes it sound easy and it really is just that simple as grabbing a pencil and drawing something. All the stress of whether the outcome is good or not is internal stress. He says “Tell yourself you’re simply diagramming, playing, experimenting, seeing what looks like what…Get very quiet inside yourself and pay attention to everything you’re experiencing. Don’t think good or bad. Think useful, pleasurable, strange.” The main thing Saltz focuses on is really just feeling out the whole process, mentally cancelling opinion out and just moving freely on the surface making something new, not good or bad, drawing whatever comes to mind. He also speaks about physically being open to trying new things like switching hands, drawing on different surfaces, and draw inspiration from everywhere even things you dont see. I found this so interesting because I always said “I wish I could draw” but in reality there is really nothing stopping me. I have recently been looking for ways to channel more of my creative side and when Saltz breaks it down he makes it sound so easy and that’s because it really is as simple as starting with a pencil and a paper. I think this article can be useful to anyone not just people trying to become artists but anyone who is just looking for motivation to start something new or gain a new perspective.