Pictorial and other visual forms of language afford a layering of communication that verbal/textual language strips away. As an artist, it is this visual imagery language system that I rely on to communicate the unknown, personally and socially.

Developing visual systems that act as links between virtual and actual spaces seems crucial. With locative media, the information becomes spatialised in a way that blurs definition of external and internal and scale, which, I think, are layers of traditional (written/text) communication forms that have been largely stripped away by the communication environments and protocol. Prior to the development of mass advertising, media, etc., language held a very different status. Now living through the media environments that we interact in, being able to ‘hyperlink’ our actual environments into informatic space through ideas such as locative media and Web 3D is crucial.

As we progress through new forms of media, language systems develop new layers of dimensionality. While up until the last century, transcribed/ visual communications were largely two dimensional, existing only in X,Y axis and largely asynchronous. With the advent of electricity, we saw a time-base dimension adapted, thus allowing for synchronous communications to develop, i.e. telegram, fax, email, IM. Today, we are witnessing the development of complex dimensionality that thru the Internet and the Web is transcoding written/visual communications into a “hyperreal” that allows us to integrate into our communications. It seems only ‘natural’, that in this progression we develop forms of enhanced visual imagery semiotics that can provide for increased accessibility, or entry, into communications.

The idea of locative media acting as a multidimensional spatialised glyph system is not far away. We see current locative art projects, like the clunky, rudimentary Britglyph project, as a precursor to developing global communication systems that work to bring about new dialogues, and methods of communication, existing in physical, cyber, and global dimensions.

Coming back to this concept of mapping out new forms of visual communication, I’m interested to see how we adapt the information, that often seems removed from the personal, cloaked in cyber-anonimity, back into realworld perspective. Re-introducing location, developing communications that incorporate both physical and cyber spaces. Is it as simple as introducing or transcoding the constructs developed in computing, new media, and telecommunications environments to our physical spaces; like giving preference functions, drop down menus, tag clouds , and recognition devices to our transport, private, or public spaces? Or will it be much more complex, allowing for the development of new forms of communication that exist on the foundations of technologically developed cyber communications systems, like an imagery based telepathic network based on AI engines. With Web 3.0 and intuitive computing systems this seems like it’s not too far off.

How can these new forms allow for new experiences of information? How do new experiences of the world around us, transcribed/abstracted into ‘information’ adapt us, or change the way we live with the world (environments/cultures)? How are artists developing these forms, and why?

See the only problem is, there just aren’t enough guns lying around in this country. Because if there ever is a evil virus or ridiculously spooky chain of events that causes people to turn into mindless flesh eating zombies, we cant really shoot at them. And throwing phones only works if your an actor. and even then its effectiveness may be questionable.

Perhaps this has already been thought about in the war room and mapped out on the ‘big board’? hmmm

Sarcastic satire of satire would be interesting. But would that just cancel itself out?

Info Zombies post:
I think a symbolic form of some sort that is present on every posting with short ironic statements is punchier than comic style irony that references many other cultural styles. I guess it is relates to some of the ideas that interest me but I think the words that are used by politicians and social commentators, when exposed in a different context, are silly or worrying enough to create humour.

The personal body as information design post:

Colours are so powerful, we only need to look at the orange colour worn by the supporters of the political party in one of the Eastern European elections and currently green being worn by the opponents of Ahmedinijad in Iraq. In Indonesia each political party has a colour that supporters wear during elections. Is this now seen as a non violent form of protest?

The Suburbia section particularly interested me as I am inundated with info re ‘Over 55 secure residential estates’, which represent developments rather like caravan parks, where little built boxes are butted up close to one another. However, this ‘concentration’ isn’t reflected in the price of each box. Someone is making a not insubstantial fortune. (So now I’m renting a non-secure unit, which is butted up and surrounded by other little boxes!)

The Personal Body was innovative as far as I’m concerned - probably because I’ve never been on the fashion treadmill. It still strikes me as fashionable uniformity. I always remember working at C.I.T. in Melbourne (now Monash, Caulfield) where my boss (Dean of Applied Science) was horrified at the thought of office staff wearing a uniform and couldn’t understand my disinterest either way!