[Nettime-bold] Interfaces

[Are Flagan <areflagan@mac.com>]

Afterimage seeks 10 contributions for a special issue on the Interface.
Common software packages are instrumental in shaping all aspects of the
new-media experience: they define data objects, producers and users alike.
But the interfaces of software, comprised of menus, windows and palettes;
their nomenclature, bringing such theatrical elements as stage, cast and
score to multimedia; and underlying actions, that render video and layer
digital images, together compose a realm that is heavily programmed. From
the iconic to the algorithmic level, regular upgrades also announce a host
of new and apparently indispensable features, but the question is if this
increased wealth of streamlined appearances and encoded commands gradually
serves to impoverish the new-media experience with subtle yet effective
biases. This special issue of Afterimage wishes to address the changing face
of the culturally determined interface by critically focusing on the design
and functions of software applications.

Contributions may cover some of the following ground:

1. A brief genealogy of the application in relation to historical techniques
and technologies, including a truncated history of its development (a few
highlights from the release notes).
2. A critical assessment of the graphical user interface, including its
structure and organization, the choice of words in menus and windows and the
icons used to render the desktop.
3. A critical treatment of the actions/algorithms performed by the
application, including the relations between available commands and the
structure of the new-media object and the role of automation in the useršs
formulation of this object.

The aim is to discuss software in relation to the appearance, production and
consumption of new media, a task that will implicitly also involve a
reassessment of histories, categories and practices associated with
photography, film and video, as well as, to take only one example, the role
of the archive in an age devoted to databases. Contributors should ideally
have an informed, working knowledge of the software they would like to cover
and excellent writing skills. The areas of interest have been divided into
10 categories (one or two applications will be selected from each grouping)
and they are forwarded with the disclaimer that numerical representation and
transcoding have arguably made them obsolete:

1. Operating systems
Mac OS X, Windows XP
2. Photography/Image
Photoshop 6.0, Photoshop Elements
3. Film/Video
Final Cut Pro 2.0, Adobe Premiere 6.0, Adobe After Effects 5.0, Media 100,
Maya 3.5 (for Mac OS X)
4. Network/Internet
Internet Explorer 5.0, Netscape Navigator 6.0
5. Archive/Database
Filemaker Pro 5.5, may include Server, Developer and Mobile versions of the
same
6. Print/Screen publication
Quark Xpress 4.1 (pending 5.0), Adobe InDesign 1.5 (pending 2.0), Adobe
Acrobat 5.0
7. Multimedia presentations (CD-ROM, Kiosk or Web delivery)
Macromedia Director 8.0 or 8.5, Macromedia Flash 5.0
8. Vector-based illustration
Adobe Illustrator 10, Macromedia Freehand 10
9. Word processing/Code authoring
Microsoft Word 2001 (or Office suite), Microsoft Word v.X (or Office suite),
BBEdit 6.5, CodeWarrior 7.0, RealBasic 3.5. WYSIWYG: Dreamweaver 4.0, GoLive
5.0
10. Sound
Macromedia SoundEdit 16, or similar (preferably aimed at soundtrack
authoring)

Note: Many 3D packages fall within the categories outlined above and they
may also be considered.

Please contact the editor, Are Flagan, areflagan@mac.com, with a choice, a
brief bio (attach writing samples) and a short proposal if you would like to
contribute. Other less Mac-friendly choices than the selection above will of
course be considered. We do not publish articles previously printed or
posted elsewhere. The special issue is due for publication in May 2002 and
the deadline for contributions is March 1 2002. Further information is
available upon request.

Thank you.

_______________________________________________
Nettime-bold mailing list
Nettime-bold@nettime.org
http://amsterdam.nettime.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nettime-bold