Re: [Nettime-bold] Re: RHIZOME_RAW: GENERATION FLASH (3A / 3)

[z@apiece.net]

john,

i am not sure about the revolutionary aspect of flash---
the aesthetic sensibility revealed in flash, is an extended tradition from mtv
and commercials , not so new whatsoever, in fact that plastic look and feel plus
easy accessibility is very much in tandem with the philosophy of the late
capitalism's all encompassing consumerism / entertainment implication.

imagine every artist becomes a flash guru --- it sure is revolutionary, but then
it depends on what  do you mean by revolution.

the new art mantra may be: sit back, enjoy.

marcuse has long been castrated.



z







John Klima wrote:

> napier wrote:
> >
> > > > Lev Manovich wrote:
> > >Programming liberates art from being secondary to commercial media.
> >
> > As much as I'd like to believe this...
> >
> > Progamming may produce new forms outside of commercial media, but
> > programming puts the artist into new relationships with other existing
> > forms.  If I dabble in 3D rendering then my work could be competing with
> > Pixar, Toy Story, and Shrek.  Can I accomplish what teams of Silicon
> > Graphics programmers can pull off?  No, but that's not my role as an artist.
>
> it's impossible to attain the level of scale that a pixar team attain,
> but you sure as hell can try, and in my mind, one probably should. there
> was a time in the not so distant past that all software was created by
> only one or two individuals.  as the technology became more able, it
> required larger and larger groups of people to take advantage of the
> abilities. visi-calc, the first spreadsheet program, was coded by one
> guy. ms excel is a whole company in and of itself, more or less. but it
> all seems mostly a measure of scale. an independent artist can't create
> shrek, but they can create a scene from shrek. an independent artist
> cant create the sims, but they can invent a new gaming paradigm. this is
> in line with pat lichty's alpha-rev manifesto which makes a lot of sense
> for the individual artist. software art as prototype. in a sense, this
> describes netomat, starting as an individual's art project, it expanded
> to the point where it is now a viable company.
>
> the reason why flash is so compelling is that at this point in time, the
> best commercial flash actually lags behind the best non-commercial
> flash. and whats really interesting, is that the lag is both in function
> and in content.  non-com flash often exhibit the highest degree of tech
> sophistication available, in service to an intent far more compelling
> than a nike ad. its as if time were turned back and we are all coding
> for a 8086 processor again. one person can code wolfenstein in flash.
>
> last week i was out in LA and i had a long conversation with a student
> who was trying to produce a game with some of his friends. they naively
> thought it would be possible to design and build a fully functional top
> shelf game in a semester. well, i told them that it actually *is*
> possible if you chose your platform carefully.  i told them to build a
> game for the gameboy console. its basically the same challenge one faced
> when writing a game for an 8086. there's only so much you can do, so
> there is only so much you have to do. flash is sorta the same. it then
> becomes up to the individual artist to decide when they have exhausted
> the possibilities of their platform.  with the highest level
> environments like flash, this happens sooner. in C/C++ it never happens,
> or if it does, you have exhausted the possibilities of the medium
> itself. but thats not to say that flash tech will not someday be as
> utile as C/C++.
>
> i've been working with two guys from parsons on a semi-commercial game
> project. last year they created in flash, a functioning but simple game
> with a fairly complete back-story, so i invited them to assist on this
> project (and yes, i'm paying them for the trouble). we are using flash
> to create a series of animations as part of the demo/proposal to garner
> further funding for the project.  it is quite obvious that the game
> could never be built in flash, flash is slow as piss and games need to
> run fast. but its great as a rapid prototyping tool, it more than
> adequately describes the look and feel of the final game, and best
> thing, it allows us to quickly try out new things. though not the final
> product, flash is integral to the process. the guys i'm working with,
> though big fans of flash, want to get into deeper code, they see it as
> essential to the realization of their vision.
>
> so what i'm trying to say here is that flash is a really really really
> good entry point into the realm of programming, and in fact for some
> individuals it may be all they ever need. however i think most if not
> all the young people who are using flash now, will shortly discover that
> it wont work for "such and such" a project, and they will have to bite
> the bullet and "upgrade" their tech. that flash exists as an entry point
> is only a good a thing. that flash allows for more time spent on an
> aesthetic and less on a functionality is also a good thing. that a
> generation of people are ubiquitously involved in both an aesthetic and
> a functional investigation is a great thing, borderline revolutionary.
>
> best,
> j
>
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