<title>torn at the seams: considering digital vernacular</title>
<title>torn at the seams: considering computational vernacular</title>
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<h1class="title">torn at the seams: considering digital vernacular</h1>
<h1class="title">torn at the seams: considering computational vernacular</h1>
<pclass="author">Michael Murtaugh</p>
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<blockquote>
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<p><imgsrc="images/dbn03.png"/></p>
<p>This valorization of “code” over picture is evident in the book spread where a digital image of a vase is presented along with its “code”: a sequence of “set” commands describing the image pixel by pixel. Though it’s possible that such an image might be produced in this way (discipline!) in practice such images are created by translating a digital photograph using one of a family of techniques known as “dithering” to produce a pixelated image with limited gray values. Here these tools and techniques are unmentioned, with expansive space given instead to the listing of numbers.</p>
<p>I remember sitting with a friend at his Commodore 64 in the 1980s typing lines and lines of “poke” commands with digital data from the pages of home computer magazines to reproduce simple games. These pages would typically use compact representations (like hexadecimal) and include things like “checksums” and bootstrap programs to help you correctly enter and verify the data you entered.</p>
<p>In the case of the DBN’s digital vase, the purpose does not seem to be for someone to actually type the numbers in, but rather to fill the pages of a book that seems destined for the coffee table rather than a desktop. Similar to the fields of 1s and 0s still popular as backgrounds of book sleeves and PowerPoint slides to suggest “all things digital”, the presentation is gratuitous and misleading in terms of actual practice. Like an observer unfamiliar with deaf culture confusing the hand gestures of finger spelling with the expressivity (and ambiguity) of actual sign language, the displays of 1s and 0s, or in this case of numeric coordinates and gray values, is a shorthand that refers digital practices without actually participating in them.</p>
<p>In the case of the DBN’s digital vase, the purpose does not seem to be for someone to actually type the numbers in, but rather to fill the pages of a book that seems destined for the coffee table rather than a desktop. Similar to the fields of 1s and 0s still popular as backgrounds of book sleeves and PowerPoint slides to suggest “all things digital”, the presentation is gratuitous and misleading in terms of actual practice. Like an observer unfamiliar with deaf culture confusing the hand gestures of finger spelling with the expressivity (and ambiguity) of actual sign language, the displays of 1s and 0s, or in this case of numeric coordinates and gray values, is a shorthand that refers computational practices without actually participating in them.</p>
<p>The above is just one example of DBN’s lack of historicity. The year is 1999, and for instance the Sony PlayStation and access to the World Wide Web are popular phenomena. Yet the text seems remarkably devoid of any reference to specific tools or practices. Even Maeda’s invocations of historical figures like the Bauhaus and Paul Rand are vague, evoking a sort of nostalgic <em>Mad Men</em> universe with the creative young men (those future forefathers) at their drawing boards and a sense of “timeless design values” like a devotion to discipline and order.</p>
<p>At the end of the book Maeda responds to a critique apparently made to him by one of the students doing some of the programming of the DBN system itself. Recounting how a visit to a “university-level Java class for designers […] teach[ing] the finer points of object-oriented programming and bit masking of 24-bit color values” made him feel “lost in all the gibberish”, he reasserts his pedagogical approach as an alignment with the “simplification” that is the “constant goal” of programming.<ahref="#fn5"class="footnote-ref"id="fnref5"role="doc-noteref"><sup>5</sup></a> Rather than trying to bridge the gulf between diverse practices, Maeda dismisses that which he doesn’t (care to) understand in the name of simplification.</p>
<h2id="processing">processing</h2>
@ -53,8 +53,8 @@
<p><imgsrc="images/pbook_inside.png"/></p>
<p>Despite the claim of leaving space for others to bring their own “visual language”, and thus an implicit proposition of its own aesthetics as “neutral”, Processing embodies a very particular set of values and assumptions. The framework valorizes smoothness and fluidity, that leads one to imagine interactivity as that which happens on the surface of a sketch, rather than say in the network, or among collaborators. The mechanism of the “draw loop” assumes that code runs in a negligible amount of time, that is less than the refresh rate (and the default 1/60th of a second). This particular, again implicit, relationship with time places the programmer in an adversarial relation with the processor of the viewer’s computer and makes it all too easy (certainly for novices) to produce code that makes the viewer’s computer struggle and lag.</p>
<p><imgsrc="images/psquare2.png"/></p>
<p>Unlike DBN, the processing book contains extensive interviews with artists working with digital tools, mostly using a variety of tools outside of processing like C++, PHP and Flash. Despite the “minimalism” of the examples, the book’s subtitle claims relevance to a broad audience of “visual designers and artists”. The link to Processing is often unclear.</p>
<p>There’s a strange disconnect where a diversity of visual and computation practices are shown, such as sequential images to make animations, or cellular automata, but the only real link to processing seems to be as a kind of universal “blank canvas” onto which all kinds of (digital) practices can be projected.</p>
<p>Unlike DBN, the processing book contains extensive interviews with artists working with computational tools, mostly using a variety of tools outside of processing like C++, PHP and Flash. Despite the “minimalism” of the examples, the book’s subtitle claims relevance to a broad audience of “visual designers and artists”. The link to Processing is often unclear.</p>
<p>There’s a strange disconnect where a diversity of visual and computation practices are shown, such as sequential images to make animations, or cellular automata, but the only real link to processing seems to be as a kind of universal “blank canvas” onto which all kinds of computational practices can be projected.</p>
<p>Another disconnect occurs when one crosses out of what the software makes simple. For example, while very easy to make a sketch respond to mouse clicks, responding to a mouse click on a specific shape, suddenly involves using Java classes and adding code “hooks” to your draw loop to make sure the pieces work together. While this kind of code is not itself so unusual, the transition is really abrupt because the core abstractions are so simplified, there is no bridge.</p>
<p>Still another disconnect involves processing sketches when published online. Web pages have structures for text layout and content flowing, and structural elements (like checkboxes and links) that inherently respond to mouse clicks. There is a a built-in standard mechanism (the so-called DOM or document object model), to further customize these behaviors. Processing sketches, even situated in a web page, don’t participate or give access to this model, nor does the framework offer using alternative graphical elements like SVG<ahref="#fn7"class="footnote-ref"id="fnref7"role="doc-noteref"><sup>7</sup></a>.</p>
<p>A concatenation of operations of misplaced concreteness thus allow the gaps, overlaps, and voids in the interrelated capacities of such systems to construct a more “accurate” account of its own operations.<ahref="#fn23"class="footnote-ref"id="fnref23"role="doc-noteref"><sup>23</sup></a></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Fuller’s recipe for critical media engagement feels like the basis of what might be termed a digital vernacular. A digital vernacular is about working withing the constraints of available resources, rather than living with a fantasy of negligible time or unlimited storage. A digital vernacular rejects the sense of disembodiment, rather if locates itself in interactions between many bodies. A digital vernacular finds itself in conversational forms that are open to happy accidents. A digital vernacular rejects the “false neutrality” of the seamless universal design solution, embracing instead the tips and tricks of specific tools, in specific contexts. A digital vernacular tears open its seams proudly displaying its glitches and gaps. A digital vernacular rejects the illusory construction of an isolated artist sitting at a blank canvas creating works from scratch. Instead the digital vernacular thrives on working with the contingencies of existing systems, and embraces working with boundary objects as a means of bridging diverse communities of practices.</p>
<p>Fuller’s recipe for critical media engagement feels like the basis of what might be termed a computational vernacular. A computational vernacular is about working withing the constraints of available resources, rather than living with a fantasy of negligible time or unlimited storage. A computational vernacular rejects the sense of disembodiment, rather if locates itself in interactions between many bodies. A computational vernacular finds itself in conversational forms that are open to happy accidents. A computational vernacular rejects the “false neutrality” of the seamless universal design solution, embracing instead the tips and tricks of specific tools, in specific contexts. A computational vernacular tears open its seams proudly displaying its glitches and gaps. A computational vernacular rejects the illusory construction of an isolated artist sitting at a blank canvas creating works from scratch. Instead the computational vernacular thrives on working with the contingencies of existing systems, and embraces working with boundary objects as a means of bridging diverse communities of practices.</p>
title: "torn at the seams: considering digital vernacular"
title: "torn at the seams: considering computational vernacular"
author: "Michael Murtaugh"
papersize: a4
@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ This valorization of "code" over picture is evident in the book spread where a d
I remember sitting with a friend at his Commodore 64 in the 1980s typing lines and lines of "poke" commands with digital data from the pages of home computer magazines to reproduce simple games. These pages would typically use compact representations (like hexadecimal) and include things like "checksums" and bootstrap programs to help you correctly enter and verify the data you entered.
In the case of the DBN's digital vase, the purpose does not seem to be for someone to actually type the numbers in, but rather to fill the pages of a book that seems destined for the coffee table rather than a desktop. Similar to the fields of 1s and 0s still popular as backgrounds of book sleeves and PowerPoint slides to suggest "all things digital", the presentation is gratuitous and misleading in terms of actual practice. Like an observer unfamiliar with deaf culture confusing the hand gestures of finger spelling with the expressivity (and ambiguity) of actual sign language, the displays of 1s and 0s, or in this case of numeric coordinates and gray values, is a shorthand that refers digital practices without actually participating in them.
In the case of the DBN's digital vase, the purpose does not seem to be for someone to actually type the numbers in, but rather to fill the pages of a book that seems destined for the coffee table rather than a desktop. Similar to the fields of 1s and 0s still popular as backgrounds of book sleeves and PowerPoint slides to suggest "all things digital", the presentation is gratuitous and misleading in terms of actual practice. Like an observer unfamiliar with deaf culture confusing the hand gestures of finger spelling with the expressivity (and ambiguity) of actual sign language, the displays of 1s and 0s, or in this case of numeric coordinates and gray values, is a shorthand that refers computational practices without actually participating in them.
The above is just one example of DBN's lack of historicity. The year is 1999, and for instance the Sony PlayStation and access to the World Wide Web are popular phenomena. Yet the text seems remarkably devoid of any reference to specific tools or practices. Even Maeda's invocations of historical figures like the Bauhaus and Paul Rand are vague, evoking a sort of nostalgic *Mad Men* universe with the creative young men (those future forefathers) at their drawing boards and a sense of "timeless design values" like a devotion to discipline and order.
@ -64,9 +64,9 @@ Despite the claim of leaving space for others to bring their own "visual languag
Unlike DBN, the processing book contains extensive interviews with artists working with digital tools, mostly using a variety of tools outside of processing like C++, PHP and Flash. Despite the "minimalism" of the examples, the book's subtitle claims relevance to a broad audience of "visual designers and artists". The link to Processing is often unclear.
Unlike DBN, the processing book contains extensive interviews with artists working with computational tools, mostly using a variety of tools outside of processing like C++, PHP and Flash. Despite the "minimalism" of the examples, the book's subtitle claims relevance to a broad audience of "visual designers and artists". The link to Processing is often unclear.
There's a strange disconnect where a diversity of visual and computation practices are shown, such as sequential images to make animations, or cellular automata, but the only real link to processing seems to be as a kind of universal "blank canvas" onto which all kinds of (digital) practices can be projected.
There's a strange disconnect where a diversity of visual and computation practices are shown, such as sequential images to make animations, or cellular automata, but the only real link to processing seems to be as a kind of universal "blank canvas" onto which all kinds of computational practices can be projected.
Another disconnect occurs when one crosses out of what the software makes simple. For example, while very easy to make a sketch respond to mouse clicks, responding to a mouse click on a specific shape, suddenly involves using Java classes and adding code "hooks" to your draw loop to make sure the pieces work together. While this kind of code is not itself so unusual, the transition is really abrupt because the core abstractions are so simplified, there is no bridge.
@ -196,7 +196,7 @@ In contrast, I find as a pedagogic project, I find Processing actively uninteres
> A concatenation of operations of misplaced concreteness thus allow the gaps, overlaps, and voids in the interrelated capacities of such systems to construct a more "accurate" account of its own operations.[^fuller_p104]
Fuller's recipe for critical media engagement feels like the basis of what might be termed a digital vernacular. A digital vernacular is about working withing the constraints of available resources, rather than living with a fantasy of negligible time or unlimited storage. A digital vernacular rejects the sense of disembodiment, rather if locates itself in interactions between many bodies. A digital vernacular finds itself in conversational forms that are open to happy accidents. A digital vernacular rejects the "false neutrality" of the seamless universal design solution, embracing instead the tips and tricks of specific tools, in specific contexts. A digital vernacular tears open its seams proudly displaying its glitches and gaps. A digital vernacular rejects the illusory construction of an isolated artist sitting at a blank canvas creating works from scratch. Instead the digital vernacular thrives on working with the contingencies of existing systems, and embraces working with boundary objects as a means of bridging diverse communities of practices.
Fuller's recipe for critical media engagement feels like the basis of what might be termed a computational vernacular. A computational vernacular is about working withing the constraints of available resources, rather than living with a fantasy of negligible time or unlimited storage. A computational vernacular rejects the sense of disembodiment, rather if locates itself in interactions between many bodies. A computational vernacular finds itself in conversational forms that are open to happy accidents. A computational vernacular rejects the "false neutrality" of the seamless universal design solution, embracing instead the tips and tricks of specific tools, in specific contexts. A computational vernacular tears open its seams proudly displaying its glitches and gaps. A computational vernacular rejects the illusory construction of an isolated artist sitting at a blank canvas creating works from scratch. Instead the computational vernacular thrives on working with the contingencies of existing systems, and embraces working with boundary objects as a means of bridging diverse communities of practices.
title: "torn at the seams: considering digital vernacular"
title: "torn at the seams: considering computational vernacular"
author: "Michael Murtaugh"
papersize: a4
@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ This valorization of "code" over picture is evident in the book spread where a d
I remember sitting with a friend at his Commodore 64 in the 1980s typing lines and lines of "poke" commands with digital data from the pages of home computer magazines to reproduce simple games. These pages would typically use compact representations (like hexadecimal) and include things like "checksums" and bootstrap programs to help you correctly enter and verify the data you entered.
In the case of the DBN's digital vase, the purpose does not seem to be for someone to actually type the numbers in, but rather to fill the pages of a book that seems destined for the coffee table rather than a desktop. Similar to the fields of 1s and 0s still popular as backgrounds of book sleeves and PowerPoint slides to suggest "all things digital", the presentation is gratuitous and misleading in terms of actual practice. Like an observer unfamiliar with deaf culture confusing the hand gestures of finger spelling with the expressivity (and ambiguity) of actual sign language, the displays of 1s and 0s, or in this case of numeric coordinates and gray values, is a shorthand that refers digital practices without actually participating in them.
In the case of the DBN's digital vase, the purpose does not seem to be for someone to actually type the numbers in, but rather to fill the pages of a book that seems destined for the coffee table rather than a desktop. Similar to the fields of 1s and 0s still popular as backgrounds of book sleeves and PowerPoint slides to suggest "all things digital", the presentation is gratuitous and misleading in terms of actual practice. Like an observer unfamiliar with deaf culture confusing the hand gestures of finger spelling with the expressivity (and ambiguity) of actual sign language, the displays of 1s and 0s, or in this case of numeric coordinates and gray values, is a shorthand that refers computation practices without actually participating in them.
The above is just one example of DBN's lack of historicity. The year is 1999, and for instance the Sony PlayStation and access to the World Wide Web are popular phenomena. Yet the text seems remarkably devoid of any reference to specific tools or practices. Even Maeda's invocations of historical figures like the Bauhaus and Paul Rand are vague, evoking a sort of nostalgic *Mad Men* universe with the creative young men (those future forefathers) at their drawing boards and a sense of "timeless design values" like a devotion to discipline and order.
@ -196,7 +196,7 @@ In contrast, I find as a pedagogic project, I find Processing actively uninteres
> A concatenation of operations of misplaced concreteness thus allow the gaps, overlaps, and voids in the interrelated capacities of such systems to construct a more "accurate" account of its own operations.[^fuller_p104]
Fuller's recipe for critical media engagement feels like the basis of what might be termed a digital vernacular. A digital vernacular is about working withing the constraints of available resources, rather than living with a fantasy of negligible time or unlimited storage. A digital vernacular rejects the sense of disembodiment, rather if locates itself in interactions between many bodies. A digital vernacular finds itself in conversational forms that are open to happy accidents. A digital vernacular rejects the "false neutrality" of the seamless universal design solution, embracing instead the tips and tricks of specific tools, in specific contexts. A digital vernacular tears open its seams proudly displaying its glitches and gaps. A digital vernacular rejects the illusory construction of an isolated artist sitting at a blank canvas creating works from scratch. Instead the digital vernacular thrives on working with the contingencies of existing systems, and embraces working with boundary objects as a means of bridging diverse communities of practices.
Fuller's recipe for critical media engagement feels like the basis of what might be termed a computational vernacular. A computational vernacular is about working withing the constraints of available resources, rather than living with a fantasy of negligible time or unlimited storage. A computational vernacular rejects the sense of disembodiment, rather if locates itself in interactions between many bodies. A computational vernacular finds itself in conversational forms that are open to happy accidents. A computational vernacular rejects the "false neutrality" of the seamless universal design solution, embracing instead the tips and tricks of specific tools, in specific contexts. A computational vernacular tears open its seams proudly displaying its glitches and gaps. A computational vernacular rejects the illusory construction of an isolated artist sitting at a blank canvas creating works from scratch. Instead the computational vernacular thrives on working with the contingencies of existing systems, and embraces working with boundary objects as a means of bridging diverse communities of practices.
