| |
1. |
[Shneiderman
1998] |
| |
|
HCI
is an abbreviation of Human-Computer Interface
Human-computer interaction is a discipline concerned with the design, evaluation
and implementation of interactive computing systems for human use and with
the study of major phenomena surrounding them.
Human-computer interaction arose as a field in the early 1960s from intertwined
roots in computer graphics, operating systems, human factors, ergonomics,
industrial engineering, cognitive psychology, and the systems part of computer
science. Alongside information visualization, another predominant area of
study is the computer interface (GUI --Graphical User Interface) as experienced
in commercial software packages, information driven websites, various computer
operating systems, auto tellers, GUIs are present in any instance of interactive
screen based communication with a human user.
The ultimate
goal of HCI is to enable fluid or intuitive interactions with the particular
computer system in question. In this fluid state the participant would
not have to think about what menu to choose, or which mouse button to
click, but could naturally and fluently perform the necessary actions
to achieve their goals -- the interface would then become transparent.
|
| |
|
This ultimate
goal is broken down into eight golden rules of HCI:
1. Strive for consistency.
2. Provide shortcuts for experts.
3. Offer informative feedback.
4. Ensure closure of tasks.
5. Avoid user errors.
6. Provide easy reversal of actions.
7. Support user control.
8. Reduce memory load. 
|
 |
|
|
|
|
| |
41. |
"
A 'whole' human-computer activity can be described, using the broad definition
of a whole action, as having a beginning, middle, and end, and being composed
of incidents (one or more) that are parts of that whole. Thus playing a
computer game until it ends (or I end it) is a whole action, and a 'session'
with my word processor is a whole action (even if I don't finish the chapter
I'm writing)." [Laurel 1993; p.70] |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
2. |
Not
animation / but something else
|
| |
|
The website
vectorpark.com in relation to the fast action motion graphics as typified
by Gmunk, www.gmunk.com/2001_NYC_transit/FINN_QT.html
 or www.weworkforthem.com,
instils a sense of quiet or reflection. The vibrant and frenetic movement
of MTV's television advertisements heavily inspired much of the flash
animation circa 2001. I sought to utilise this sense of stillness (as
seen in vectorpark.com
) to
create an upfront uncommon dialogue with the participant to indicate that
this artwork requires reflection, exploration and committed engagement.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
11. |
For
an excellent online resource woodcuts from the 16th Century onwards, see
electronic text: http://special.lib.gla.ac.uk/exhibns/damnedart/index.html
Illustration
dated 1544. |
| |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
15. |
Layering
opposed to filmic |
| |
|
Filmic:
relating to, or characteristic of movies; cinematic.
When we think of the visual languages used in films, much of what we perceive
is bound up in the technologies used to produce the moving image, e.g. the
capabilities of the camera (e.g. zooming, panning) and the possibilities
in the editing / postproduction. The temporal nature of traditional filmic
or cinematic experience works by depicting single images in succession,
this allows for complex juxtaposition of the images to create narrative
tension, often using tropes such as the close-up and flashback. |
| |
|
This
time based approach naturally filtered into the production of Internet artworks,
however even then is was used differently. There was a return to using short
looping sequences (think QuickTime clips, defaulted Flash art) in lieu of
epic narratives with a dramatic ending. This return to the looping trope
(early films were loops) was heavily influenced by the limitations of new
media technology and the bandwidth available to the majority of Internet
users. |
| |
|
Though
still a significant aesthetic feature of Internet based moving image, filmic
conventions have become more associations or reference points to subvert
-- in that the artworks may use content from handheld digital cameras, web
cameras -- using live streams as content [a], or surveillance cameras, thus
are still formally directed and sequential in nature but are then often
looped [b], miniaturised or montaged into split or multi-screen [c] screen
compositions. |
| |
|
This last technique is the furthest departure from traditional cinematic
experience, as instead of sequence and single images, the participants experience
is of: co-existence, addition, simultaneity and multiplicity. As Manovich
points out -- "In spatial montage, nothing is potentially forgotten,
nothing is erased" [d; p.71]. This is a significant paradigm change
in how the participant reads the communication. |
| |
|
Layering
as a technique is much like multiple montaging. Instead of having clearly
demarcated screens [c], panels or windows, layering creates dual or multiple
images as elements are overlapped, obscured, or extended. This creates an
additional level of spatial relationships, since layers create depth hierarchies,
in which society associates with being "on top" as being best
or most relevant and being below or bottom as worse or insignificant. |
| |
|
Like
multi-screen, layering as a technique has become more prominent as a mediation
from the commercial tools that are used everyday by the artists -- layers
and thinking pictorially in layers are an intrinsic interface feature in
Photoshop, Illustrator, Aftereffects, Flash, and can also be programmed
into HTML pages using CSS [e]. |
| |
|
Conceptually,
layering can be used as a mixed metaphor -- to reveal hidden or disguised
articulations, to suggest complexity and impenetrability. For example layering
when used in excess can also mean illegibility of the communication. Layering
alongside the developments in spatial montage offers new ways to organize
and present narrative experience.
. |
| |
(a) |
Thomson
& Craighead (2004) Template Cinema, electronic text. |
| |
(b) |
Owenns,
Jimmy (2001) Peau Nue, electronic text. |
| |
(c) |
Lialina,
Olia (1996) My boyfriend came back from the war!,electronic text |
| |
(d) |
[Manovich
2002] |
| |
(e) |
Cascading style sheets (CSS) address many of the problems of HTML. Some
of the older tags, especially the notorious <FONT>, clutter Web page
source code and make for inflexible sites. With CSS, style information can
be centralized. This centralization leads to increased power and flexibility.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
16. |
Michael
Nitsche argues that applying the cinematic three-act structure (from Aristotle)
in new interactive mediums is excluding the inherent qualities of the medium,
that it would imply "that interactive narrative is the product of gluing
together a narrative structure with an interactive method" that essentially
the user's ability to choose gets limited. Instead he proposes that the
three-act or act structures can be projected onto the user's experience,
that "his/her experience as the plot". [Nitsche 1998; p.69-73.]
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
17. |
Secret
Spaces |
| |
|
"With
the theme of drawers, chests, locks and wardrobes, we shall resume contact
with the unfathomable store of daydreams of intimacy. Wardrobes with their
shelves, desks with their drawers, and chests with their false bottoms are
veritable organs of the secret psychological life. Indeed, without these
'objects' and a few others in equally high favor, our intimate life would
lack a model of intimacy. They are hybrid objects, subject objects. Like
us, through us and for us, they have a quality of intimacy. Does there exist
a single dreamer of words who does not respond to the word wardrobe?"
[Bachelard 1969; p.78] |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
28. |
Copy
of original email sent out to the expert reader / participant group, (19/01/04):
Subject: Invite to be an Expert Participant
Dear ________________,
I am writing to ask whether you would be interested in becoming a 'participant/explorer'
of my new artwork. This piece of work was devised and created within a practise
based PhD framework. This work constitutes a significant portion of my final
thesis. Practise based /practise integrated PhDs in Art and Design are relatively
new here in the UK and as such I sit as the first candidate within Glasgow
School of Art's Visual Communication department to submit for such a degree.
I have selected
you as a potential participant for your interdisciplinary abilities, personal
voice and commitment to my research area; I respect you as being a valued
expert.
Your reading
and feedback will be used in conjunction with my own self-reflection to
critique the project. You would be cited and given credit for your comments
in my thesis and in any subsequent papers generated from my research.
My expectations
from you would be simply that within 2 weeks of receiving the project
you would spend a period of time to allow a rich, in-depth reading of
the work. The strategy, which you employ to achieve a reading, is completely
up to you. The only specific outcome that I would need is a typed and
emailed description of your experience. Without spoiling the surprise
of this project, I would like to say that it covers narrative structure,
visual interactive exploration, and onscreen aesthetics, and is my most
complex project to date.
If you feel
you would like more information before accepting or declining this position
please do not hesitate to ask,
Yours,
Donna Leishman
|
|
|
|
|
| |
27. |
Anon.
1877, p.123.
Sharpe 1884, p. 172.
Vediovis, 1982, p. 319 |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
4. |
"…interactivity
conflicts with the creation of a sustained narrative development, and consequently
with the experience of temporal immersion. Among the architectures described
above, the only one that places interactivity in the service of narrative
desire is the mystery story structure (no 6), because the participantparticipant's
actions discover, rather than create the object of this desire, and because
the story to be investigated is itself unilinear, determinate, and external
to the interactive machinery." [Ryan 2001;p.259] |
| In
the year 1696, the 11yr old daughter of John Shaw, the Laird of Balgarran,
fell victim to one of the most well remembered cases of "demonic possession"
in Scottish History. It resulted in a large number of locals being implicated
as her tormentors, concluding with three men and three women being put to
death on Paisley's Gallow Green on the 10th of June 1697. |
| The
girl's name was Christian. At the time of the proceedings she would have
been regarded as a living illustration of the mighty power of God. She,
an 11yr child, was able to sustain herself against and repel the devil from
her body. |
| Her
concerned family, with the advice of the Church, took Christian to a famous
medical authority, Dr. Brisbane, in Glasgow. Whilst in his surgery, she
spat out a coal cinder, which was said to be as big as a chestnut, and almost
too hot to handle. Dr Brisbane announced that her affliction was preternatural.
What followed were a series of investigations into the community, witch
trials and the subsequent execution of the six guilty people who were said
to have cursed and thus invoked Christian's demonic possession. As grisly
as the resolution of this case was, it seemed to bring to an end the hysteria
in Renfrewshire concerning witches and witchcraft. |
| Through
the passing years, and as society became more sceptical and atheist about
the likes of witches and demons, the character of Christian has come under
close scrutiny, in particular the possible motivations that drove her actions
and caused her "condition". In the early stages of her possession
she was said to have suffered bizarre and gruesome seizures. |
| Below
is a list of examples: |
| - |
Vomiting
items such as straw, pins, eggshells, orange pills, hair, excrement, and
bones. |
| - |
Presenting
violent pinch marks all over her body and wounds caused by some unknown
"invisible" person(s). |
| - |
Falling
into a trance whereby she could at times seem deaf, dumb, blind or dead. |
| - |
Citing
sophisticated theological points from the scriptures, concepts beyond her
artifice. |
| - |
Successfully
predicting the future. |
| - |
Her
body contorting and bending almost double upon herself. |
| - |
Eyes
sinking back into her head until they looked to disappear. |
| - |
Flying
unaided across her classroom. |
| - |
Picking
up her glove from the ground without the use of her hands. |
| |
The
years passed but the case would not be forgotten.
The first new reading of the events proposed that the 11-year-old Christian
was an impostor [27],
a wicked trickster who faked her ailments and enacted
hellish pranks on gullible audiences. She (perhaps aided by her father)
managed to manipulate both the Church and the Law, causing the deaths of
the local community members out of spite. |
| Another
contemporaneous reading is that Christian was in fact suffering from a then
undiagnosed mental illness resulting in her possible hysteria, her fits
and the "strange" physical feats. |
| |
"While
the story is bizarre, modern psychiatry could certainly explain Christian
Shaw's condition… she was suffering from dissociative disorder/conversion
disorder, trance and possession disorder; pica of infancy and childhood;
localisation-related (focal) (partial) idiopathic epilepsy…and acute
and transient psychotic disorder." [McDonald & Thom & Thom
1996] |
| But
most recently, using a feminist angle, scholars have investigated the first
hand documentation of the case [McLachlan & Swales 2002.]. These quasi-legal/narrative
documents detailed both the dramatic acts of Shaw's possession and the trial
itself. They uncovered a decisive fact, that these original documents were
written by an anonymous author. To cast further aspersions on the truth
of these historical artefacts -- the documents contained many striking resemblances,
in tone, and language, to the more famous Salem witchcraft outbreak in New
England in 1692 (four years earlier [Rosenthal 1993.]). Is it possible that
the anonymous author had access to and was inspired by the accounts of events
in Salem? |
| These
recent findings lead to many new questions: Was the narrative constructed
to verify the existence of the Devil and thus of God? What could have been
the motivation to leave the texts anonymous? Did anyone gain from this? |
| Whatever
the modus operandi of the author, the narrative has created a legacy (albeit
unknown outside Paisley and select Historians) whereby the prevailing belief
still remains that Christian was a bad, or even evil, manipulative child,
an embarrassment to Paisley history. The fact that as a woman Christian
became one of the earliest recorded Scottish female entrepreneurs (she was
responsible for establishing the Paisley fine thread industry), is little
remembered. What actually happened to the young Christian Shaw and why six
community members were put to death, is unfortunately anyone's guess. The
anonymity of the author has turned the narrative into a fictional space,
into which prevailing social imaginings can exist; the idea of a young educated
evil girl is certainly a seductive archetype... |
| My
personal response on hearing this tale was one of curiosity. Something rang
untrue about this 11yr old, daughter of a Laird, who mischievously conned
all these erudite adults. Then the visual aspects of the story -- the eyes
retracting into her head, her body bending double… seemed horrifically
ridiculous and impossible, but my overall intuition led me to feel that
our memory of Christian had been unjustly distorted. Deviant: The Possession
of Christian Shaw is my reconstruction to who I think Christian might
have been, a re-imagining of her world. |
Further
Reading on the wider context, available in electronic format:
http://www.arts.ed.ac.uk/witches/reading.html
 |
| |
What
follows are links to the traces of Christian Shaw's legacy as can be found
today:
Available in electronic format: |
http://www.magictorch.net/witchcraft.htm
(expanded context and detailed
descriptions of the events)
http://www.firstfoot.com/Great%20Scot/christianshaw.htm
(focusing on her professional
live)
http://www.oakleafcircle.org/Renfrew.htm
(lengthy description)
http://fp.ayrshireroots.plus.com/Genealogy/Historical/Bargarrans%20Daughter.htm
(local run website)
http://www.geocities.com/mjjodoin/paisley.htm
(perspective from a possible
relative)
|
Nearly
all of the participants felt that Deviant was in some way game like,
the 'like' suggesting that it was not completely akin to a game (e.g. Rau
 cites a comparison
to the adventure game genre but does not label Deviant an adventure
game). |
Most
acknowledged that another description might be needed to fit the work.
Frasca
uses the phrase "lab for discovery", Amerika
"moving visual
art", Koskimaa
speculates
that the project could be a "toy" and Simanowski
uses the analogies
of a "slideshow / detective story". Lawson
was the most
explicit in acknowledging Deviant as a new game format, seeing the
gaming rationale as being where the "subtleties motivate one to continue
without a clear goal, but knowing that there must be one". |
|
| This
confusion over whether Deviant should be understood as a game or
a narrative comes from the many levels in which it acts as a hybrid and
refutes conventionality. Two main opposing characteristics are that firstly
it works on a hiding / revealing and linked premise (a game quality), though
suggests a narrative telling by the structuring of the islands of linear
animation and by the thematically descriptive title. As well as these two
points, the project can also be seen to use repetition as a possible metaphor
e.g. the circular looping within the pop-in windows depicting Christian's
acts of possession. This looping sensibility can be said to be a feature
of Internet art [Manovich,
13]. The two main aspects share a similar
drive towards an end, narratively -- a conclusion, gaming-ly -- achieving
the goal. Interestingly, a discussion already exists as to whether quantifiable
outcomes, achieving the goal or endings are a prerequisite of being understood
as a game. Games designer Eric Zimmerman recently stated, "A game is
a system in which players engage in an artificial conflict, defined by rules,
that results in a quantifiable outcome." [49]
In contrast, Greg Costikyan (also a games designer who believes in open-ended
outcomes) defines a game as "a form of art in which participants, termed
players, make decisions in order to manage resources through game tokens
in the pursuit of a goal." [Costikyan 1984.] Sitting in the middle
is Jesper Juul with his "Classic Game Model" (a model for games
that were dominant from 3000 BC to approximately 1970 AD and during that
historical period proposes Juul, nearly all "games" had outcomes),
which states: "A game is a rule-based formal system with a variable
and quantifiable outcome, where different outcomes are assigned different
values, the player exerts effort in order to influence the outcome, the
player feels attached to the outcome, and the consequences of the activity
are optional and negotiable." Juul by using a demarcated timelines
suggests that contemporary rule-based systems can be something "other"
than the classic model [Juul 2003.]. |
| |
| Within
Deviant, the endpoint serves to reposition the participant back towards
confusion, as seen from a gaming viewpoint. The conclusion to the project
does not offer participants an understanding of their role, of what the
project's ultimate goals are. It does clarify its narrative source, explaining
what has been visually experienced. It does something "other"
than offer a narrative or gaming ending. |
|
This newness
or refusal to be categorised saw some of the participants attempt a general
description of the project: exploratory narrative (Fifield
), visual narrative
(Walker ),
interactive experiment in moving visual art (Amerika
), and interface/game/interactive
environment
(Lawson
).
|
|
|
|
|
| 1. |
"I
simply could make no sense of the work. That was frustrating in two ways:
I could not fathom what was the work all about (what was the story, or was
there a story at all), and I could not make sense how did it all function."
Koskimaa
"googled" (used the common search engine google.com
) using the
keywords "Christian Shaw" from the project title. From the search
engine results, he managed to attain some extra information on the subject
resulting in a better narrative clarity. "What I got then, was a perspective
on the case of Christian Shaw, which was somehow filtered through a child's
mind, and (visually) set in contemporary era." |
| 2. |
Wardrip-Fruin
chose to observe
the onscreen reactions to his interactions in an orderly way.
"I moused over every element on the screen without finding an active
one".
He goes on to question whether the interactive objects (such as the flora
and the fauna) have any structural functionality e.g. does his interaction
with them change anything within the project or whether he was "…altering
the world model, or just creating an aesthetic moment?" This mechanical
exploration did not make the project any clearer for Wardrip-Fruin. He remained
confused for the duration of his readings. |
| 3. |
Montfort
seemed to focus
on anachronism and his initial gender confusion based around the lead character.
Montfort 's confusion seemed to be particularly focused on revealing a narrative
understanding. He believes the lack of a clear participant position will
result in a lack of participant motivation.
"If my actions are supposed to have repercussions and be "right"
or "wrong" (e.g., "don't touch the flowers and make them
change" or "explore and manipulate everything") I don't know
about it. This isn't a problem, but it makes me less likely to try to get
to the bottom of the mysteries of this piece, and less likely to think that
there is a bottom." |
| 4. |
Walker's
confusion (in the
same manner but more so than Montfort's) was caused by the gender misnomer
of the name Christian. This created a tainted reading of the narrative up
to the point of accessing the epilogue text.
"I was confused though, when the main character of the story was a
little girl - knowing only men named Christian I assumed that the Christian
who was possessed was a man. So I kept wondering which of the male characters
was Christian Shaw. The priest? The fatherly man who takes the little girl
to the doctor's office? I wondered whether the little girl was somehow causing
a Possession of someone else, and as that became less and less likely, I
became more confused." |
| 5. |
Simanowski
was doubly confused
with the lack of conventional links, notably in comparison to my earlier
RedRidingHood
project (the window links
in question are both functional and decorative in my previous work and within
Deviant they are fully decorative) and by the vague visuals in relation
to a narrative meaning. Unlike others in this group Simanowski failed to
make any rewarding (for him) conceptual sense of the presented material.
He could not understand the material in a meaningful way. However I would
like to note that he did only traverse less than half of the linked content.
"…on some windows of the houses makes those turning red and invites
to click but there is no link (!?). This is surprising and suggests coming
back…The click on one of these copies evokes a surface again filled
with the girl, which provides additional rather vague, unclear information
about the girl." |
| |
| To
generalise, everyone in this group apart from Koskimaa
continued to be
confused up to and past the epilogue. Montfort
ran out of time
within his exploration (he had other professional commitments) and Wardrip-Fruin
required some help to finish his. When he had a complete or "full"
reading he believed that the project needed to articulate its stance on
the narrative in a clearer manner. Simanowski had the most extreme reaction
to the project whereby he thought that it failed to convey any conceptual
meaning. Koskimaa however managed to formulate and vocalise some resolution:
"So, maybe Deviant is a toy, with deadly serious meaning attached to
it. The fun comes out of never-ending new details, the repetition with some
surprising variations, but suddenly the play gives way to sinister consequences."
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|