Choose ONE of the following questions:
1) ‘The supposedly distinct characteristics of new media: digital convergence; many-to-many communication; interactivity; globalisation; virtuality are arguably, with the possible exception of the specifically technical, not new at all’ (Silverstone, 1999: 11). Critically examine the problems in defining “new media”.
2) ‘ . . . The personal and social consequences of any medium- that is, of any extension of ourselves- results from the new scale that is introduced into our affairs by each extension of ourselves, or by any new technology.’ (McLuhan, 1964: 7). Using examples of “new” and “old” media, elucidate and analyse the theory of media technology known as technological determinism.
3) ‘Any particular technology is then as it were a by-product of a social process that is otherwise determined. It only acquires effective status when it is used for purposes which are already contained in this known social process’ (Williams, 1974: 6). Using examples of “new” and “old” media elucidate and analyse the theory of media technology that focuses on the social shaping of technology.
4) Kranzberg’s first law of technology states that “Technology is neither good nor bad; nor is it neutral.” Discuss this law in relation to any of the theories you have looked at in this module.
5) With the advent of digital technology ‘Sound becomes a series of partial objects for engineering, rather than an object of admiration for heavenly metaphorics.’ (Mackay in Ansell, 1997: 253). Critically examine how digital technology has changed the relationship of producers and consumers to media content.
6) Critically examine Manovich’s view that interactivity as a unique aspect of new media is a “myth” (2001: 55).
7) Examine the validity of Gordon Graham’s statement that an online or virtual community ‘is a second-rate form of community’ (1999: 145).
8) ‘It is not just that the tools and issues brought to the fore by internet art are current, and therefore relevant to how we live now. Internet art is part of a continuum within art history that includes strategies such as instructions, appropriation, dematerialisation, networks and information.’ (Greene, Rachel, Internet Art, 2004) Does New Media offer artists anything new?
The DEADLINE for Assignment One will be at the end of Week 8, on Friday 23 November at 12pm. Essays should be handed it to the Student Advice Centre.
