Semester View

I didn’t do a whole lot of making this week after the crits of last week’s class. I was happy with how the demonstration went and devoted my time primarily to the design document. I did download Twine, and I’ve started to unpack the learning curve a little bit there, but I have not invested much time there yet. So i’ll spend a few moments here thinking back over the trajectory of the semester.

I suppose what stands out to me the most, after having recently given the infrastructure readings some time, is how the technologies and media we have investigated present levels of layers. With coding, the process of refactoring gave me some insight into how software can be layered, or modularized. We’ve spoken often about what gets sedimented as we learn and become more skilled with technologies like code. I don’t know if I have satisfactory answers ready at hand, but I do think I’ve become more aware of how the layers of technologies present pretty mind-bogglingly complex systems. I mean, I knew this stuff was complex, but I think I have a different understanding of that complexity after wallowing in it throughout the semester.

The infrastructure layers we are ending with this week remind me of earlier conversations we’ve had as well. Kittler’s “all is hardware” approach, for example. While not directly connected, the process of making and implementing a Makey Makey project brought me back to the hardware of media; it brought forward the infrastructure of a simple computer and made it explicit. There’s a part of em that wants to explore projects that make visible network infrastructures in the way Makey Makey makes visible a device’s infrastructure. I’m not sure what that would look like, other than as a whole bunch of devices and wires set up as an installation in a large gallery at a museum or art house, but I’ll be dreaming of such a project tonight, no doubt. I suppose I’ll need to talk to Aden about Lombardi’s work, or perhaps just chat about Mr. Robot, which I love.