User:Tancre/readings/Poetic software

Roidl - Poetic Software

Software is becoming omnipresent in our daily life, but it is taken for granted. >> understanding software (scientific, cultural, political, social)
Gaps with art >> How can artistic methods be used to elicit critical reflection on software as a cultural object beyond the interface? Current perception VS original culture, hacking

Software >> code(well researched) / compilation / execution (most abstract part) / manifestation (visible part)
During the execution, machine code turns into physical current > act of poetic expression, in-between state with defined rhytmic, beyond human perception. Moment of transition, dependencies.

Poetic software >> non-neutral and imaginative character of software used for artistic engagement. non-functional attributes + metaphors of software. Different layers of interpretation for an open interpretation. New artistic software beyond the interface and the expected mode of operation or depiction of software. Not needed to function but call for statements about issues of software.

1 Reading

A close reading of Kittler's There is no software + becoming aware of the software being used:

• explosion-implosion > compression-energy / expansion of digital-cables, buildings
• dependencies > interrelation (loop) software-culture, shaping-being shaped
• language maze > framework-interface / diversity of languages
• enclosure of the code > user-consumer / open, reusable / technical knowledge
• abstractions & metaphors > SaaS / Manual - software as a tool, learn how to use software
• conceptual software > mental execution (cultural, political) VS only hardware (materialistic) / blurry boundary and tension between software-hardware
• user interface > GUI hides processes, functions, source code, possibilities and the decisions taken / Needs for a human approach to software + humanization of software (skeumorphism) use of metaphors from the physical world to communicate complexities of the digital
• non-functionality, error > misplacement or malfunction for knowledge / inconsistency & noise VS ideal perfection / processing & LeWitt
• narratives > antropomorphization of computers (the media equation theory) / black-box for imagination / ELIZA, Clippy / make technology more understandable but misconceptions / fear of singularity after machine learning / narrative outside the software (software art)
• noise > reintroduce noise, small glitches in software VS ideal perfection

2 Writing

Adorno & Horkneimer - The culture industry (Dialectic of Enlightenment) > culture as part of mass production and standardization for profit. Commercial marketing of culture robs people's imagination and takes over their thinking (telephone > radio). >> Art as a product, not critical and autonomous.

In Software Studies > software as a cultural object

commercial marketing of software contributes to the misunderstanding of software
Users as consumers, and software industry guide people's thinking limiting imagination (software as simple & generic + dependencies).
Artists are limited by the limited software + produce culture distributing art. (UI - artistic practices stuck in the interface layer - focus on the output + dependencies & framework)

artistic methods (software art) as counteracts and a new perspective on the issue
Software art as counteract describes the 'artistic preoccupation with software production'. Software itself and code as material: cultural concepts of software. Importance of the creation process of software. Software in terms of performance. Not finished product but opens up discussions and new ideas. (ex. john simon - every icon)
Only questioning or acknowledge the creation of artworks can free creativity from dependencies. A new way of working with software + different perspectives on software.
>> Art to evoke critical insight into software
The difficulty of a structured analysis of software because of the complexity, but art allows exploration and experimentation enriching the culture around software.
Brenda Laurel - computer as a theatre > runtime, interaction, and space.
>> software as a performance creates emotions that art can elicit connecting the cultural to the scientific.
Rediscovery Software Art for a new engagement with software in the art, to educate users to be critical about their usage of the software.

>>>> Artistic methods for:

• encourage a way of thinking that reflects on the inner functions of software
• new balance between artistic expression and usage and production of software
• pedagogic and emotional, game approach
• genuine engagement VS commercial and thoughtless software usage
• glitch(error), narrative(imaginative software), noise