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maybe this is interesting to folks ? ----- Forwarded message from "[iso-8859-1] seanheaLy?" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ----- From: "[iso-8859-1] seanheaLy?" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Thu, 06 Jun 2002 13:46:15 +1000 To: nettime <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: "[iso-8859-1] seanheaLy?" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: <nettime> Gameboy_ultraF_ukkers I'm about to squeeze the following interview into half it's size for a column but thought u might like the X-tended version? It's with Tom Corby/Gavin Bailly from http://www.reconnoitre.net/ whose work appeared recently at an X-hibition of computer game influenced pieces in Melbourne, Oz... http://www.gammaspace.com.au/trigger/ ciao bunni~! > Can u describe Gameboy_ultraF_uk? & What inspired you to mangle a gameboy? Firstly the project isn't a game at all. It�s a renderer of the type that you can download anywhere on the net to play old arcade games like asteroids. What we�ve done with this piece is re-write or modify an open-source gameboy emulator. So we haven't changed any of the games at all, we've just messed with the emulator that the games load into. The changes in the code mean that the rendering of the games is unpredictable. Game entities mutate into background and interface elements, or appear as fragments of the games binary code. Text begins to emerge as a jumble of characters, sprites and binary data. Scanline bytes are miscopied, transformed and duplicated. Memory is blitted into sections of the screen, as the inside of the game seeps to the outside. Variations in the rendering behaviour are triggered by user interactions implicit in the game play and are manipulated by a Cellular Automata 'metabolism' giving rise to inter-related rendering symptoms. We call this "bit rot". This obviously problematises the playing of the game as it deconstructs the interface, foregrounding the fact that the games are ultimately made up of code and that the interface is a site of language. In this sense it's fundamentally anti-immersive, as it denies the transparency of the interface (the supposed goal of "good" interface design). > What do you think drives the desire for 'digital dirt' ? To paraphrase filmmaker Robert Whitman " we just want to understand what we're being threaded through." We tend to work with and against conventions concerning interface, interactivity and productivity in order to highlight, how software/code hugely affects the way we access and exchange information and thus perceive a highly mediated world. Software code isn't neutral, it's socially formed, it's production is a ripe area for artists to colonise. > Moody Renderer, allows the user to be a software dj, mixing and matching software to make new hybrids. How far have you gone with that, and how the hell do you expect it to work? Moody Renderer (believe it or not) turned into the gameboy piece. When we talked about a "software dj" it was a metaphor to describe how we were trying to involve and overlap forms of language (in terms of semiotics, interface/image, interactivity etc) to form new artefacts. Also a big part of what we do involves the use of autonomous processes. Most of the work we do, makes use of basic AI (artificial intelligence) structures to inject wilful or disruptive tendencies into the operation of the software... the user interacts and manipulates the software but it (the software) also returns the favour... hence the title of the piece "Moody Renderer". > Youve made your own browser too. Why? The browser piece (Reconnoitre 1998) is what we're best known for. It's a 3D browser that performs a kind of "cut-up" technique to the web pages loaded into it. It was made to explore alternative metaphors for describing/navigating the Internet. In this sense it was offering an alternative to the normal flat page-like structure of the web that browsers such as Internet Explorer and Netscape navigator offer. Rather than present the web as a homogenised, corporate and over designed "McWeb", it re-purposes the information it finds to highlight the nets hidden structure, it's programming languages, links and other protocols... The web is an intricate ecology, a thing of beauty in its own right, we thought that should be celebrated. > What inspires u to play with code as an artist? The interesting thing about code (yes readers code can be interesting) is that by understanding it, and being able to use it, puts artists in a very powerful position. Being able to code means that you can work at a very deep level. This really opens-up the creative process and allows the generation of new artefacts/ideas/possibilities. It also means that you have much more control over what you are making because you are not reliant on other people...or programs for that matter... I'm going to upset some people here, but when we say code, we don't mean shockwave or flash. Pre-packaged authoring packages like these, can lead to pre-canned work. Flash/shockwave forces you to work within a narrow band of possibilities, i.e. those allowed by the designers of the program (even with lingo and actionscript). These programs are also proprietary which leads us nicely to your next question. > What attracts you to open source software? Our support of Open source software is predicated on the basis that old fashioned virtues of collaboration and participation are set against corporate obsessions with control and the implementation of closed proprietary systems (Flash/Shockwave). It's highly political, it's visionary and very exciting. Strictly speaking gameboy_ultraF_uk is "Free Software" and falls under"copyleft". Everyone has permission to run the program, or copy and, modify the code. They can distribute it in any manner that they like but do not have permission to add restric- tions of their own. In his way everyone benefits, as the code is freely available in all its versions. In regard the gameboy piece the code in this sense may be considered a 'readymade' into which an artistic intervention has been made. We're happy for people to modify it as long as they release it to the community. > Information wants to be free, but artists, musicians and coders want to be fed. How do you see the next generation of creatives being fed? For painters, film makers, musicians it's tough and getting tougher (especially in UK). Inevitably people find their own way to support what they do but very few artists actually make a living from their work. The new generation of artists who code, are in a unique position, in that they have transferable and highly lucrative skills......you really shouldn't have any trouble getting work to fund your practice. For everyone else I'm afraid it's the same old story of struggle and fitting in studio time around (generally) badly paid jobs....I guess we're lucky we can code. > Your advice for wannabe artist-coders? Don't disappear into the black hole of programming, read lots, go to exhibitions, take plenty of exercise and don't forget to get out to see your mates! article up shortly at http://www.octapod.org/jeanpoole # distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission # <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets # more info: [EMAIL PROTECTED] and "info nettime-l" in the msg body # archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
