[Nettime-bold] FLTR 6.0 <semi-automatic version>

[Curt Cloninger <curt@lab404.com>]

FLTR 6.0 <semi-automatic version>
[12.13.01]


Content:::::::::::::::::::::::::::

{offline exhibit}
1. web wizards: design museum london

{semi-automatic}
2. ROSE.DCR: yugo nakamura
3. ||b + ||c: josh davis
4. pagan poetry + hideaway: james patterson/ amit pitaru
5. bits and pieces: daniel brown

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1.

web wizards: design museum london
http://www.designmuseum.org/httpd/digital/digital.php?id=3&pt=1

This show is subtitled "designers who define the web."  It features 
all the artists featured in this issue of FLTR.  I haven't been to 
the physical gallery, so I can't review the show.  If you go, you can 
email me your assessment.  I merely mention the show since it is the 
catalyst for the rest of this issue.

The fact that this is a design exhibit is pertinent.  Although other 
net artists have exploited the network more cleverly, or have 
exploited interactivity more cleverly, or have exploited narrative 
more cleverly, these artists make pretty-looking stuff.  And it's not 
static pretty.  It's not painting on line, nor is it linear animation 
online.  It's reactive, although sometimes just minimally so.  Hence 
"semi-automatic."  Add a modicum of interactivity to beautiful 
abstract motion, and that's good enough for me.  Local mileage may 
vary.

Note that there's not much to say about these pieces.  They are what 
they are without allowing for or encouraging a whole bunch of 
conceptual or historical or contextual blah-blah.  Interesting art 
that spawns uninteresting criticism is still interesting art.  Great 
for the art patron; lousy for the art pundit.  As it should be?


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2.

ROSE.DCR: yugo nakamura
http://yugop.com/ver3/stuff/31/

Of all the pieces featured in this issue, ROSE.DCR may be the only 
piece that's also actually featured in the "web wizards" exhibit as 
well.  How the heck would I know?  It's a morphing metallic-looking 
conglomeration of melded planes that gradually changes when clicked 
to a morphing metallic-looking conglomeration of melded rods. 
Between the plane stage and the rod stage is a disconcerting 
half-and-half stage.  Mouse position rotates the blob.

The entire piece has a real cool, cheezy, early VR/ Tron vibe too it.  Enjoy.


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3.

||b + ||c: josh davis
http://www.praystation.com/2001/11-02-2001/
http://www.praystation.com/2001/11-03-2001/

joshua davis is a great big rock star web deisgner who needs no 
introduction.  You know him as the winner of prix ars electronica, 
hell.com alumni, and recent participant in Alex Galloway's 
"carnivore" project.  Ladies and gentlemen... joshua davis.

Here are a couple of "sweet, tight, sick, [insert admiring ds9r dood 
adjective here]" 3D interactive Flash experiments.  The interaction 
is minimal; the cursor position merely controls the rotation of the 
sharding blob.  These pieces may be seen as less interactive 
minimalistic bauhausian versions of yugo's above piece (although 
these pieces probably came first).

Pretty.


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4.

pagan poetry + hideaway: james patterson/ amit pitaru
http://www.showstudio.com/projects/031/031_interactive.html
http://www.mickjagger.com/momentum/ [click on the hideaway globe]

James Patterson runs presstube <http://www.presstube.com>; Amit 
Pitaru runs pitaru.com <http://www.pitaru.com>; and together they 
make insertsilence <http://www.insertsilence.com>.  Patterson started 
out using Flash as it was originally intended -- as an animation 
tool.  Nevermind that his animations look like cave paintings as 
viewed by a hallucinating Aztec medicine man hopped-up on peyote. 
Pitaru (evidently) provides the more advanced scripting that 
catapults patterson's mere animations into semi-automatic weapons.

Interestingly, both the pieces selected here are what you might call 
"web music videos."  Don't think lo-res thumbnail quicktime movies of 
linear MTV videos.  Think interactive, synesthetic, net art 
interpretations of pop songs, with the pop songs themselves providing 
the audio.  Pagan Poetry is a Bjork song; Hideaway is a Mick Jagger 
song.

How do you acquire the rights to use entire hi-fi versions of 
copyrighted pop songs in your work?  Get hired by the artists 
themselves to design their web sites.  Yep, that'd do it.


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5.

bits and pieces: daniel brown
http://www.noodlebox.com/bitsandpieces/main.htm

Daniel Brown has been making cool interactive director stuff at 
noodlebox <http://www.noodlebox.com> since the early days of the web. 
Noodlebox was always regarded more as a "shockwave site of the day" 
joint, simply because of its playful interface and lack of 
pretension.  But there are some gorgeous, well thought out pieces 
there.

bits and pieces is like a more mature, artsy version of noodlebox. 
The menu interface (which looks like a bunch of floating, overlapping 
picture frames) is a semi-automatic piece of work itself, and the 
pieces (and bits) linked therefrom are a lot more 
floating/lilting/ethereal (and consequently less slap-happy) than 
some of the original pieces at noodlebox 1.0.

Daniel's stuff is smaller, more minimalistic, less grandios than the 
work of his fellow "web wizards."  These pieces are more like studies 
and experiements (hence "bits and pieces").  A semi-automatic 
sketchbook if you will.  At any rate, it's nice to see noodlebox.com 
come out of the toy chest and into its own artistically.


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FLTR is filtered by Curt Cloninger <curt@lab404.com>.

FLTR is not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, 
organization, or institution; does not wish to engage in any 
controversy; neither endorses nor opposes any causes.  Our primary 
purpose is to stay creatively sober and help others to achieve 
creative sobriety.

Back issues of FLTR are archived at <http://www.lab404.com/fltr/>.

FLTR -- less sporadic; more emphatic.  singing the body electric 
since two thousand aught one).
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