Category Archives: Research

Research Critique : JenniCam

Jennicam was started by Jennifer Kaye Ringley who was considered as someone who pioneered the idea of livecasting.  She was 19 years old when she did her first live show in 1996.

In 1996, many people had just started to broadcast things on their webcam. However, no one was in the footage . People would post things like the footage of a fish bowl.

Jennifer changed how webcams work with the internet when she

“begins uploading pictures of herself to the web. Refreshed every three minutes, JenniCam.org displays black-and-white images that track Ringley’s daily activities, which ranges from mundane tasks and chitchat to stripteases and sexual activity.” – , April 14, 1996: JenniCam Starts Lifecasting

The website would automatically update with an image of her dorm room every 15 minutes, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

This is, supposedly, the first image taken on Jennicam.  

“It was basically a programming challenge to myself to see if I could set up the script that would take the pictures, upload them to this site,” says Ringley. “Just to get that happening automatically, and I shared it with a couple of friends, kinda ‘look, I got this working.” – OUR SELF-AWARE TRUMAN SHOWS Jennicam And The Birth Of ‘Lifecasting’

People began to watch her stream and it slowly moved on to livecasting videos from her webcam. She basically ‘lived’ on the internet for 7 years after that.  It was interesting to note how she said that being live on the internet has changed her.

“Ringley talked to Alex Goldman and PJ Vogt from the Reply All podcast a few months ago about her trailblazing ‘90s digital presence, which got up to 7 million hits a day. “I had to develop a really thick skin, for both the good stuff and the bad stuff,” she explained, emphasizing how difficult the relentless, increasingly performative experiment could be as her fame grew.”- Kate Knibbs , Jennicam: Why the First Lifecaster Disappeared from the Internet

Jennifer did not feel like she was giving up her privacy as she said in her website that she feels like she is still alone in her room.

Q: Why are you giving up your privacy like this?
A: Because I don’t feel I’m giving up my privacy. Just because people can see me doesn’t mean it affects me – I’m still alone in my room, no matter what.

This is a very true observation as many people doing YouTube do claim that are talking to a camera and essentially is alone in their room.

However, the viewers have  a different experience from broadcasters. They feel that they really in with them in the space or have a relationship with them.

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It is interesting to note that Jennifer has faded into online obscurity. She has no Facebook, Instagram or Twitter account. What does that tell us?

 

The Shredder & Riot by Mark Napier

In this piece by Mark Napier, The Shredder is an alternative web browser that turns web pages into digital confetti in which it sort of “tears” the website and mixes the layers that we don’t usually see in a “well done” website.

It somehow mixes code with the usual website and presents a kind of abstract way of looking at websites. It visually presents a digital reaction between code, image and information.

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Although this was done is 1997, I feel that this was very advanced as a piece of art that critiques the internet. It raises up a new perspective for people as everything on the internet is essentially made up of codes.

The deconstruction and the rearranging of these elements: codes, images, brings forth a refreshing look at the internet. shredder_entry_box_detail_wired_3

On the other hand,the work “Riot” which was done in 1998, a later year, seems to be an upgrade from ” The Shredder”.

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It merges web pages together as users surf from site to site.blends web pages together as users surf from site to site.

“Visitors surfing with Riot see their own pages merged with pages from other users.” – Mark Napier

The concept of a multi-user browser still baffles me as I would view it as not functional which made me think of this quote that I read :

“I learned about myself in that moment – about my expectations and conceptions of how a videogame should work. The strange game seemed only to return me to my own perspectives and expectations around the medium that it was failing to be.” -Menkman, R. (2011) “Glitch Moment(um),” Institute of Network Cultures

This was definitely a reflection of how I already came with expectations for the browser, something that I have been using in a certain way since I could use the internet and when something comes along and disrupts the ‘order’ of things that I expect it to be, I would view it as it is dysfunctional.

This is a perfect example of what coders might consider as a glitch and it does definitely have,

“potential to interrogate conventions through crashes, bugs, errors and viruses” – Menkman, R. (2011) “Glitch Moment(um),” Institute of Network Cultures

as we start to question what are the expectations that we have for a functioning website?

Research Critique : Grand Theft Avatar by Second Front

Grand Theft Avatar is piece done by this group called Second Front.  Second front is a performance art group that was founded in 2006. They pioneered the art of performing on the online avatar-based VR world, Second Life.  The group consists of  8 members that includes Jeremy Owen Turner (Vancouver), Doug Jarvis (Victoria), Tanya Skuce (Vancouver), Gazira Babeli (Italy), Penny Leong Browne (Vancouver), Patrick Lichty (Chicago), Liz Solo (St. Johns) and Scott Kildall (San Francisco).

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It is very interesting to take note that the people that took part in ” Grand Theft Avatar” were not from the same country but were people from different parts of the world, from different time zones.

“We essentially inhabit a swath of networked space, no longer constrained to the singularity of a single moment or place.” – Packer R. “The Third Space,” (2014) in Reportage from the Aesthetic Edge

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This piece was a great exploration of what the artist could do with the internet and technology. By using “Second Life” as a medium which they could carry out their performance of robbing a bank and making it live with conversations being carried out and the multiple camera angles really changed the rules of the narrative.

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“Second Front creates theatres of the absurd that challenge notions of virtual embodiment, online performance and the formation of virtual narrative.”  – Second Front

I think the internet also gives a sense that we can do crazy things without suffering consequences. Taking for example the part in the video which they jumped out of the helicopter without a parachute and sitting in top of a rocket. These are stunts that we can never pull in real life without killing ourselves. Therefore, I feel that this piece was very successful in showing the what collaborative effort on the net can produce.

Research critique: BOLD3RRR… Realtime: Reflections and Render-times by Jon Cates (2012)

The purpose of this art piece was to show and explore what one can do by performing/streaming directly from the desktop. This work demonstrates the new possibilities of performances for the artists of the new media. The rise of the internet culture and technological advancements allowed for real-performances to happen.  It was also great that the work was unedited and raw.

In 2012, when Jon Cates did the piece, it showed how video and time can come together to present a different type of work to audiences.

And till now I still feel that the below quotes is very true of the internet culture now.

“the media arts have not fully embraced this potentiality, despite the progressive nature of the field.” – Catlow, R., Garrett M., Packer R., “The NetArtizens Project,” (2015)

In the more mainstream internet, the idea of live performances/ broadcast is still a relatively new idea as Facebook only started to have a livestreaming function in Aug 2015. However, this function is only for celebrities, which is in contrast to BOLD3RRR which is a artist doing livestreaming raw, in front of his computer.

The Rock doing a livestream from his phone
The Rock doing a livestream from his phone, 2015
Jon Cates, BoldRRR, streamed from his computer
Jon Cates, BoldRRR, streamed from his computer, 2012

The availability to stream live from phones may pave a path in the future for more to do mobile live streaming that could perhaps show a more raw side to the video footages that we see on popular social media sites – or not.

This also raises the questions of “why is live streaming on the mainstream media for “celebrities” only?” , “Why is live streaming not democratised”  and it also raises the ultimate question of, ” Does big players on the internet such as Facebook and Youtube sort of sets the rules of the internet?”

 

Ps. For me, so far videos like this is the best live streaming videos on YouTube

The Collective Narrative

 

I think that this piece of performance art had suggested issues about power and the shift in the power from the artist to the audience and how these lines are blurred. In addition, the audience somehow also become the performer, changing result of the performance.

What particularly stuck out to me was the last guy in the video who took his time during his turn to cut off her top. I felt that it was distasteful and I was also upset about it. It also revealed the mindset of that person and it added an additional layer to the performance.

In addition, on the topic of exquisite corpse, I do agree that

“One of the best known examples would be the Surrealist game: exquisite corpse (exquisite cadaver), in which a group of artists would compose words or images collectively using pre-determined rules to construct a composited work that is the summation of each artist’s individual contribution.”- Randall Packer (2015). “Collective Narrative“.

I had the opportunity to make a video with the idea of exquisite corpse last year and it produces some very interesting results.

 

For this project, we asked people in NTU to help us contribute words for our story.They do not know the whole story, just the words before theirs.

How might the open source system of sharing and collective narrative be a creative inspiration and approach for artists?

It is definitely exciting to be living in the age of the internet, where we can make a bigger impact and also reach out to a bigger audience than we ever could.  I really love the idea of the open source being  a “mode of technological production that is collectively authored or manufactured and distributed without profit, or limited profit-sharing according to specific guidelines, such as those laid out by the Open Source Initiative” .

Personally I love the idea of sharing and it is amazing what people of the internet can do together. I think it’s great as a source of inspiration (and FUN!) for a lot of people.  I am currently learning Arduino now and I am SO THANKFUL that it is OPEN SOURCED!

This was something that we did with a code that was freely shared on the internet. I don’t think that I will be able to do this without open source.

Coding fun. Thanks @wind_style listen to the sound of awesomeness hahaha

A video posted by Angel C. (@revivalblessings) on

If video is not working, it can be accessed here “https://instagram.com/p/6h12AnJePf/?taken-by=revivalblessings”

Then of course I do understand that there are copyright laws on the internet and that not everyone wants to share their work with one another in a way that is “open sourced” . But I am definitely glad that there are still people who see the benefits of open source and see how all of us are part of a bigger picture.