Our Class Wiki - So Far

In our Wiki page assignment I was assigned to be an editor of the page Art and New Media. I created this page and posted general contend to it. I also arranged several websites that are very useful in the art world and they provide up-to-date information about contemporary art scene in New York and internationally. I learned how to create the context, different pages, how embody external links and various images etc.

I worked on researching the artist that make and represent art through various aspects of new media as well as creating a summarized context and finding interesting video, images to embody on to the wiki.

Else than Art and New Media page I contributed to several other pages, such as New Media in Entertainment where I added additional sources. I also work on the Glossary as well on the outline of New Media page where I contributed new source image and introduction.

I find this process very interesting, but very time consuming. Through my research and screening through our Wiki I realized how much valuable information is contributed to these pages. This is defiantly a good source of information and I will continue to contribute and get informed through Baruch's Wiki.

The Nex New Thing

I think the next new thing will be virtual world! Not in the way of Second life but in the form of schooling. I think that in a decade or so technology will be able to advance so much that they will be able to create classrooms in which every student would have their own equipment for virtuosity and while a teacher would talk about history, geography, nature and other subjects that can be visualize these equipments will allow the kids to actually see, smell, touch, taste these topics right there in the classroom. They will be able to put on the virtual masks, gloves and similar equipment that will stimulate their senses and allow them to feel present in the given topic.

Of course this can be abused in a way that people would use it for pornography, violence or just personal cluster of social world. But if they would develop technology right, and program this equipment to function for only particular subjects-if not all in school it can defiantly advance education and motivate children to learn.

I could actually see this happening and I think we mentioned this is class throughout the semester. But it only makes me wonder what would be the next step…teletransportation into the actual space and time??? Awesome! J

About my term project

The main idea is to show how art ideas, media, techniques and their presentation changed over time and how they are complimenting new technology and new media in its structure.

By showing this transition chronologically I introduced the old art forms and the new revolutionary product-camera and photography that, in the arts, have brought us where we are today.

Chronologically I showed images and talk about topics that concern this.

I showed my point by introducing several artists and their work with new media and technology.

I started with Sam Taylor Woods who uses still video projection to capture the image of decaying rabbit that represents the beauty of life and the vision of how one life dies while the other one is being born.

The installation work of Marina Abramovic and her revolutionary involvement of people into arts, and a completely new perspective of looking and presenting art work.

Mariko Mori, the Japanese artist that uses light,video,sound, sculpture to develop the strikingly beautiful vision of cutting edge technology for the 21st century.

Olafur Eliasson's focus is on the light and the differences of preservations of colors. He uses mirrors, focused projections of light, and elements such as water, stone, and moss to shift the viewer's perception of place and self.

And finally the main artist that is completely involved in new media and our generation of technology is Cao Fei. She actually created an avatar on Second Life that serves to public and tells the story of the artist’s idea of life. . In here she projects her vision of the world and depicts Chinese architecture, landscape and images that echo tradition of China but also contrasts it to the dreamy world that second life can offer us.

This is the new form of art, a new vision of 21th century for which my main argument was that it needs to be accepted as art of new generations and that people need to shift from old traditional views of art to the new technological perceptions.

Privacy & Confidentiality

I would say that privacy and confidentiality is one of the major problems in social networking, internet and new media.

Privacy on the web is very unsafe, and everything and anything that we ever posted on line is available and permanently it is stored in the system. Therefore, as soon as we open a new profile, post or edit a line, or even if somebody else does that-mentioning our name on some webpage or anything of the similar manner we are exposed to the border public. Therefore our privacy gets lost and our identification can be seen across the world. In some ways it has a good meaning, because in our Western culture where technology, new media and advancement of communications are allowing us to progress and through this-on a business aspect we can easily be reached, and we can't hide anymore.

As of confidentiality, I think it is the same as with the privacy. Nothing can be safe and confident on internet, we shouldnt trust anything. There are many resorces but many of them can be and are wrong and people still trust them and get in trouble. For exemple the scams that we get through e-mail to invest money into certain things that will dobule after only a month or so. And people tend to be naive and trust these information. Also there is a enormus amont of scams through craigslist, when ever I would post somethig I would get different offers, that are composed very nicely, and seem very reliable but deep down I tend to get that gutts feeling through which I realise that this is wrong.

When ever we would send any kind of information via internet we should be careful because it can easily be exposed to everybody.

Advice to Baruch College

You are hired by Baruch College to use new media to improve the College. What are some suggestions you would make?

I think Baruch is pretty much well connected through faculty, students and resources that it has to offer. But of course there is always more to be done.

First, I would make like an obligation "advancement courses" that every professor, that is to be hired or is already a part of faculty at Baruch, would have to take additionally to advance their subjects with communications through new media and technology. This will introduce new and advancing technology communication, and allow every professor to continuously be informed and given training with new media. This is very important, because if the student are expected to know, learn and advance from their professors in today's technological society than every professor should be up to date with technology and know how to use and teach their classes using these new media.

I would advice them to set up every class room with all advanced technology and make professors use visual data, internet etc. Visual perceiving advances students memory and keeps us engaged in the classroom and many professors, believe it or not, still just have plain lecturing classes!

Second, I have to mention that my PSY 1001 class this semester has been introduced to a new book that has been custom made for Baruch faculty and student and allows amassing learning techniques that of course involve internet. Our professor can now record his lectures and post them on line through a specially design program that allows students, that have purchased the book to stay connected on very level. Also this program offers online interactions with lectures, it has an uploaded eBook, and it has various quizzes and practice modes that allow student to interact and advance their study performance and most of all make them interesting. I would defiantly advice Baruch to take this aspect of learning and new technology into the consideration, because this not only that it competes with new media aspects but advances student's learning and makes it more interesting.

Third, one of the things that I feel is lacking is communication between students, so I would try to create different social networks to advance the communication among students that have similar interests.

My New Media Class - So Far

What kinds of technologies are part of the new media? How important is the Internet to the new media? Why and how are the new media replacing and / or enhancing the old media?

In my New Media class at Baruch College, I have been introduced to various aspects of communication, social networking, evolution of technology, etc. It has been an mind opening experience in every aspect of this subject. Even though I was and still am very actively involved into the technology usage of today's world, through this class I realized how much more can be done in a sense developing easier communication and enhancing our performance in every day life, and in the business aspect of our careers.

We gained knowledge by talking and examining the historical aspects of media and technology such as broadcast communication through television and radios that is still part of new media, but is in general rapidly being replaced by new visions of technology.

Internet plays a major role of new media, in such way that makes this world much smaller, and easily connected throughout the planet. For many, if not for all, aspects of new media including social networking sites, gaming, virtual world, UGC all these systems are considered new media and are drastically dependable on internet connection.

These technologies are developing so fast, that sometimes I have a feeling that as soon as i learn to use one application, a compliantly new and advance one comes around. This is a never ending cycle in which our participation is necessary to benefit, both, us and technology.

Modeling Reality with Virtual Worlds

In our class and from the readings we found out how entertaining, helpfull and interesting this new world of Virtual Life/Second Life is. But infact it is that second life mixes up with reality.

I defiantly do support this new world of communication, establishing friends on line, meeting people, staying in touch with your existing friend and family, getting over certain fears and so on.
Many companies know how to use this new technologies into their advantige and communicate with people through virtual world. Such as Gap creating a custum fitting room in the Virtual World so that the custumers can tryout new products, see exectly how it fits them and be able to immidialy purchase it over the web. This is a great benefit for Gap, because it allows comments from the custumers and it enchances sales over the internet. Alo different architeture firms can create and avatar to check out interaction of people in the project that they are designing. This is all great and I highly support it.
But the thing is that we only look at the positive side of this. I am sorry for ruining this illusion of ideal world in Virtual Life, but this is not real!! Yes, it is great to play with it, to enhance communication but if we were to look at the statistics-real statistic that show to how many people did this actually benefit it would probably be far less than what we are being introduce to.

People can easily get lost in this world, and loose perceptions in reality. Yes they might join in desire to loose free of social restrains and practice their interaction with people through this world, and it might help them. But imagine how many people get carried away, and just waste hours and hours trying to do so in this illusion, instead of going into the real world! Imagine how many frauds there might be, how much crime, maniacs and weird people is actually out there. This comes to be like a free lend for those freaks that are limited in the real world and are free to do what ever they like in their Second Life, don't you think this is bit dangerous?? Imagine naive teenagers, or just lonely people that are looking for any kind of attention..well imagine the trouble that they can get into.
I like the quote from the "I've been in that club, just not in real life" in which Clayton Patterson a photographer of Manhattan said: “It’s the complete denial of your space, a complete theft of what it was that you lived in for years.” referring to a virtually created world in one of the avatars, in Manhattan that holds neighborhood's trendy places.
I believe that real life, as dangerous and challenging as it is, should stay real and present, because it is hard enough to make our living in the real world and imagine what would it take to do a double job in Second Life and get carried away and loose perceptions of reality.