#i prefer the term *illusional*

[fountainpenguin]

📂

Send “📂“ for a random yet completely useless headcanon I have

Warning for minor body horror (Mentions of players removing skins, which are like onesies in this 'fic universe + injury / dragon bites)

In my Pixels Imperfect universe, frustration that you're still holding onto manifests as a glowing scar. Specifically, a scar all the way down to your soul level, meaning it glows through any new skin you put on. This is called a soul wound.

Martyn's the poster child for soul wounds being visible, since this is his in-universe parallel of IRL Martyn's Eyes and Ears lore.

In this image I drew for Dog's Life Chapter 26, "Ignite," you can see Martyn's cheek and collarbone scars (paralleling 3rd Life and Double Life respectively).

In a lore video, Martyn and his audience agreed that Martyn has his Last Life mark on the back of his right shoulder to represent being backstabbed (iirc), and we know from his Limited Life finale that he was cured of his right hand mark. His Secret Life mark hasn't happened at this point in the timeline, and also I don't think I know where it is.

In Eyes and Ears canon, I believe his scars glow purple to reflect the Watchers. In Pixels Imperfect, they glow white.

Cleo also has a wound, which is a massive dragon bite in her side. My pencil drawings don't make it obvious, but it's why her shirt hooks up like this and/or why she often takes off her shirt- the bite wound chafes sometimes and it just feels better to take it off.

Cleo's wound isn't as exciting as it sounds: They were helping to build New Star Station in its starter base days, but strayed too close to the Slime Dragon's guppies and got bit. They're fine, but lost a chunk of vessel data. You can put your hand in it and there will be resistance, but if you push through it, it's empty.

Their body is kind of like a milk gallon in the sense that it's shaped different than a glass of milk. It still holds everything it needs to (i.e. their vessel holds their soul without leaking), but their soul now follows the shape of the "gallon," which has a gap in it (like a milk gallon does for a handle).

What this also means is that Cleo can pull their shirt down over the wound and the shirt will still respond to their body's shape, because the shirt still registers it as body even though it's white energy.

Scar's chronic glitch works the same way- He can still use his arm, leg, or any other body part that glows blue, but it strains him and causes soreness or pain until the glitch moves to a different part of his body. The limb is there and can function... but it hurts, is weaker than usual, and sometimes it's so hard to get it to function that the limb is effectively non-functional.

Cleo's wound doesn't shift like his glitch, but it's the same principle: it's a phantom zone that her body treats as if it's sort of there, but she's also not going to lie on that side long-term because it would get sore. It's like an open wound, so lying on the dirt risks dirt particles pushing through their wound and ending up inside their body. Most people would prefer that doesn't happen, but Cleo's okay because they're a zombie and have a thing for being buried alive.

BigB also got bitten by a dragon. However, he took damage in a sensitive area that makes it difficult to breathe. This is the reason why he modded from an illusioner into a moth hybrid, which breathes through spiracles down his sides instead of down the throat.

Impulse's scar was a brief point of tension in my one-shot "Like Newlyweds Do," when being soulmates gave Bdubs Impulse's soul wound:

And even in the twilight, with lanterns dim, he can see the little mark he's searching for in the proper place on his husband's arm, too. Bdubs stands before the mirror, craning his neck to see his reflected back. His fingers trace along his skin. Impulse watches from the bed, face half-buried in his folded arms. If his tail were out, it would be ticking back and forth, counting out the seconds before Bdubs asks him why he never fixed that scar behind his right shoulder. "I like it," Bdubs says, prodding the old gash with one finger. It's white, glowing faintly. "I've got a clock from you and you've got this from me." In that moment, Impulse wishes he could kill on green.

Pixels Bdubs is a very interesting character to me. He's loud, proud, and not easily shut down. He also denies his own issues all the time.

During Dog's Life, Bdubs gains a lip scar after he and Impulse have a huge fight about the Day 1 Crew alliance betrayal. Impulse cuts his lip with his sword; it's later revealed that Bdubs is confused as to why this scar is sticking, when he "doesn't think that fight was a big deal."

Here's Chapter 12 Bdubs (no lip scar) + Chapter 30 Bdubs:

It's subtle, but it's there.

Etho's eye scar is part of his skin design- It's not a soul wound. Etho has no backstory for his scar because it's just always been there on the skins he wears. It's blue and doesn't glow (Injuries lead to energy leakage, and the energy is white or blue in this universe depending on depth).

Here's the image that goes with "Canadian Idiot"-

And Joel's mark there was just "recent damage" because this was a Double Life 'fic about Etho's fox instincts and aggro kicking in through the soulbond when Joel takes damage, so Etho was lashing out at Joel and/or himself every time he got hurt.

I can't believe I wrote a huge 'fic centered around Etho repeatedly biting Joel's neck 2 months before we got the "neck kisses" gag. I'm so sorry, Joel... I was just writing about fox aggro and a fox's instinct involving teeth instead of a weapon, I swear... it wasn't supposed to have a double meaning...

In a one-shot titled "The Man He Sets His Spawn With," most of the cast stripped off their skins in the server hub's locker room / shower house and had Grian blast them with a power washer to rinse the Secret Life mod off. Bdubs was our POV character and we learned some interesting things:

He pushes forward. Souls blur together, blue and overlapping, and the glowing doesn't help with the identity stuff like at all. He can pick out Tango (facing away from him) by the enormous white gash scarred down his right shoulder. Not pointing fingers, but that one's a Bdubs original. You're welcome for helping you look so cool, you're turning heads. Martyn's got smaller scars - little diamonds - that glow in fragments here and there across his soul. There's an arrow wound in his belly, though that one's hard to see when he's wearing skins… or, y'know. Clothes. Can't take credit for that one, though, because that's all Scar from a particularly brutal perma-death back in 3rd Life that still leaves Martyn jumpy today (so Bdubs has self-observed). And Impulse has an arrow mark just like that behind his shoulder… but then, Impulse has scars and patched-up bits of code everywhere. That's nothing new. What's one more?

- Tango's got a soul wound from Bdubs betraying him in Last Life. He's totally buddy-buddy with Bdubs and they're friends, it's fine, but Tango hasn't quite let it go.

- Martyn has an arrow wound in his belly. This is a nod to Double Life. Shortly before Cleo drowned, taking their yellow life, Martyn saw Scar coming towards him, screamed, and took off as fast as he could, yelling "No, no, no!" and that he's "Not dying to you [Scar] again."

Interestingly enough, the only time Scar ever killed Martyn up to that point was when he perma-killed him in 3rd Life; Martyn's reaction seems to imply Character Martyn has trauma around that.

Bdubs doesn't seem to care that he's responsible for giving several of his friends soul wounds, which makes it funnier that he gets super annoyed in Dog's Life when he gets the lip scar.

Bdubs is the kind of person who'd see the scar and then spin around or walk backwards while slapping at his lip over and over, trying to wipe it off. He refuses to admit he has issues with it.

Bdubs actually has another scar, but it's somewhere on his back (and under his clothes) where he can't easily see it. The Phantom Dragon's whole thing is that she spreads her babies to all the server hubs by dropping them off and leaving, but little Bdubs refused to go, so he just clung to her the whole time until she finally did ditch him in Underdark Crossing, where he met Cleo.

If you ask him about it, he'll spin a story about how it was all his idea to go solo and that's what makes him a good captain. He has huge issues with it, though, because his mom totally dumped him and he's not over it.

Martyn's also a phantom, but he never went through that because he was adopted by hybrids as an egg. Bdubs gets very jealous when his friends talk about having a good relationship with their moms. Secretly, he likes how Etho's mom also picked him up by the scruff and dumped him in New Star. It's something they have in common, though Bdubs will never admit it.

Bdubs probably has a lot of deep-seeded resentment towards Martyn being adopted, because supposedly he's "told Martyn horror stories about the phantom nesting hub" and may or may not have played a role in poisoning Martyn's relationship with the Phantom Dragon.

Also, at the end of Dog's Life Chapter 32 ("Starve"), we learned that SnifferMyFeet has a huge X-shaped scar on his back from each shoulder to hip, crossing both his Grian and Joel halves. Still working through the good ol' body possession trauma.

Tango specializes in aesthetic mods and one of the things he does is help people make their scars more subtle. You can't scrap them forever - you have to let go of your frustration to do that - but you can lower their intensity.

As an allay hybrid / fey, Scott can gather your memories of what happened to cause a soul wound, but you'll never be able to work through the issues, so you'll be left with a scar and won't remember why it's there or how to get rid of it.

Hmm... Who do I know who has a backstory they want to forget and got confused when Scott referenced something from their past that they didn't have an answer for...?

Send “📂“ for a random yet completely useless headcanon I have

[parkerlyn]

May I ask a bit about magic, if it`s ok with you? So... 1. What are the limits of each type of magic? 2. What are the main pros and cons of each type? Maybe something like: 1)pathos (I call it mind magic, lol) affects your own emotions too, so it can become a mirror of some sort? 2) with illusion it`s a bit difficult to distinguish what is real? 3) elemental makes you a bit "wild" or more attuned to animals than humans (or mortalis in our case)? Side one: what type of magic do you like the most?

Of course! 🥰 And you’ve got a couple of the pros/cons, more clarification below 😄

This got a little (read: very) long so under a cut. ❤️ (And alpha-lore disclaimer haha, but most of this stuff should stay the same in the long term!)

1. So The Nameless and the world of Sanctin mainly sprouted from other RPG / D&D systems, so yes there are definite generic energy limits (read: mana/spell slots? haha) to each magic. So someone wouldn’t be able to just summon a singular fireball to wipe out a city willy nilly. As another example the Healer can heal with magic, but they still depend on poultices and salves as well because just constantly healing with magic for days on end would drain them completely. So their way of working is usually magically heal to stabilize and get rid of the worst of an injury/pain, then provide healing items for a person to slowly recover.

Sheevra have a slight edge on mortalis in that they can use energy from smaller deals to temporarily boost their magic power and skill a pretty significant amount.

There’s also a generic limitation that most mortalis/sheevra can do a little bit of any sort of magic since it’s inherent to the world, but there’s always a certain school or set of spells that each prefers or is more proficient at. Elementalists in particular also usually have a certain element that flows more naturally for them (fire/water/air/earth-favored).

2. 

a) Pathos - Pro: Useful in understanding others and their thoughts and also influencing them. Though specifically influencing for profit/political gain/to commit a crime - “Marionetting or ‘netting” - is illegal so you don’t see that side of pathos used nearly as much in public. 

Con: If trying to persuade someone or if trying to read a particularly guarded memory or emotion, it takes someone strongly pathos proficient to do this without the other person catching on either during or after being affected. (Oisein is generally able to do this without a trace, but that’s sometimes due to a boost in magic prowess after a deal). And yup, to an extent, pathos proficients can also experience an empathetic echo, where either the emotions of the person they’re reading or the emotions they’re pushing onto someone can ricochet back onto them if they’re not careful, and throw them into confusion about their own emotions and thoughts.

b) Illusion - Pro:  So it definitely is excellent for tricking, in both the good and bad ways. Whether, yes, manipulating, or creating a show, or trying to help someone (a lot of healers also try to up their proficiency in Illusion magic to help calm patients down in certain situations. In our Healer’s case, they happen to be illusion proficient). 

But like you guessed, the Con is that many Illusioners have to walk a fine line of making sure they don’t fall into a trap of getting stuck in their own illusions, especially when that version of things may be preferable to whatever situation they’re in at the moment. If they do fall too deep into the Illusion, there’s also a risk they won’t be able to control it as much anymore, so the illusion may manifest randomly for a period of time (but will eventually fade if the illusioner becomes aware and fights it).

c) Elemental - Pro: Elementalists in this world are less wilderness tuned, but rather have a deeper understanding of the natural energy of the world in total. This magic is definitely a more handy day-to-day magic, but is by no means less powerful! Almost everyone uses some sort of very minor elemental magic everyday, from lighting candles or cooking, to lifting light objects through the air, etc. (The Magesmith is a form of elementalist, with a generic basic proficiency of all magic for enchanting purposes) But it takes a practiced elementalist to draw out the magic’s real power. 

The Con is that elemental magic is one of the more chaotic schools if a person were to push their limits too far, so it is extremely accident prone if not handled correctly or of someone were to branch too far into an element that's not as in tuned with them. Those who seek more education and practice to hone their elemental skills take much longer to master it, and almost always need a proper mentor/teacher (like our Sage, who’s the elemental expert of Renescen’s Archival Library. More about that in Chapter 3 ).

3. For your side question, I promise I’m not just saying this to avoid answering haha, but I actually don’t know that I have a favorite. There are some really clear scenes of each of the ROs and the MC using their proficient magic that I’m really excited to write, and they each have their own unique way of manifesting (especially with the sheevra markings!).

Thank you so much for your interest and the ask!! ❤️

[a-questionable-grimoire]

On The Topic of Deathlessness

“I must say, you were not the type of person I expected to breach my defenses. It’s rare that it happens at all, and even then it’s gold-seekers adorned in enough maladroit enchantments to make a Wizard sick.

“None, though, have made it so far as to reach my personal chambers without notice. I have three dozen wards set up to detect foreign magic within my stronghold. I have spike pits and pressure plates that spew fire, ballista traps and at least a hundred troops patrolling the hallways at all times. Tell me, how did you get through?

“You… I see. My tunnels. But… those are hidden with illusionism of density without peer in this lousy age. Mana Sight spells are counterintuitive by design, so how…? Well, it matters not. You have attempted to loot my abode, and the price you pay is capital punishment.

“You have come… for me? Haha, unlikely. None in the living world know of my residence. This claim shall be put to the test. *

“Ah… I see. I suppose I must be more careful of how information leaks out of this place. I suppose the book stealing was to garner my attention via ward activation, then? A rather reckless strategy, but I suppose it did work in your favor… *

“As you have come all this way to interview me, a rather flattering cause I must add, I suppose some questions can be answered. Be quick about it; I did not lock myself in a dank pit for centuries to wallow unproductively.

“Ahaha! A most mortal question to ask! It has been far too long since my own name has been spoken by any tongue. Phyrkec, I was known once. To you, ‘my lord’ or ‘eternal one’ will suffice. As for your second inquiry, yes. I find the term far too broad, though. Any ruler who extends their life a measly few decades could be classified as one of my ilk under such criteria. Next.

“Rather presumptuous, no? To assume a Wizard would so easily divulge their methods? I approve of your ambition, but you must temper it with caution. Not all ancient Wizard overlords are so kind. I see no harm in spoiling a guest, though.

“Many mortals rely on items to preserve their bodies. Amateurs, they are! To become imperishable while retaining one’s form is possible, but it is too much hassle for the sole purpose of retaining your mortal body. As you may have deducted, you gaze not upon the form I inhabited in life. I was in fact a dwarf many centuries ago! I must say this is preferable, ahaha.*

“I spent years crafting this body, imbuing this form with the finest enchantments of the age. It was painstaking labor, but in conjunction with my research I knew it would be worth the effort.

“Yes, I robbed graveyards for the parts. Irrelevant. The spell I used to transport my will and memories was of my own design: Transmigration. The only drawback I faced was needing to start over in terms of mana flow and reserve. Thankfully, I had already become a Wizard once and now I had all the time in the world.

“There are other methods. Metallic bodies with preservation enchantments, full disembodiment, pacts with greater beings. Immortality is quite possible, dear, as long as you know the ways to do it. Now hold still. *

“Worry not. This is simply a… precaution. What I’ve cast on you is a geas. As long as you accept the pact, you’re free to go. Because you’re endearing. The terms are simple: You cannot communicate my existence, location or the contents of our conversations to anyone via speaking, writing, visual or magical media. If you do not accept, you die.

“You’ve made the smart choice.* Now go, scholar, through the passages once more as to not get impaled by my guards. And do bring refreshments next time, I ran out of coffee beans last decade.”

- Phyrkec, Lich. Illusionism and Alteration-Focused Wizard.

* She extended a hand and a translucent orange field encompassed the room. I felt a slight tingle on my skin but no other effect. I would later learn this spell is known as Truthdredge.

* Don’t judge me. I thought the mage who owned this dungeon was long dead.

* Phyrkec is a Dylusian, or rather her body is. The opinions of the interviewee are not shared by the interviewer.

* She pressed a finger to my head and presumably casted either Minor Geas or Major Geas, though I assume the former due to her skill.

* My condition seems to have aided me in this circumstance. The moment she took her finger away, I could feel the Geas dissipate and knew there were no limits on my ability to communicate.

Author’s Note: Though not stated in this interview, I utilize the pronoun she in the footnotes because Phyrkec made explicit her gender on later excursions to the dungeon.

I will not expose the location of her abode, as I quite enjoy our chats over coffee.

[k00233706]

https://assets.moma.org/documents/moma_catalogue_295_300325661.pdf

Although I have not yet visually incorporated what I have learned from looking at Jasper Johns work I found that the pdf article which explores his work gave many valuable insights for understanding my own process and hope to return to his work in order to help me progress with my own. I find his work visually appealing and his approach is very down to earth and has an authentic quality that is also attractive.

Jasper Johns incorporates themes intrinsic to printmaking — reflection, reversal, and transfer additions, subtractions.  This is a very integrated way to work. By using the basic elements of printmaking the artist already has a visual language from which to work. From this basic language a narrative can be built to speak about other themes.

The proofing process allows him to record the stages of an image's development. I have found that the process of developing a print is where the most significant and exciting things happen. Over the years I have lost most of my work.  This feels like memory gaps and I begin to understand my work as autobiographical and also begin to value the process. In terms of psychological development  this keeps me grounded in the present experience as opposed to striving towards a future goal. One way of doing this is to use better quality paper for the documentary process. It does not have to be high end but acid free and of relative archival quality. 

Overdrawing with chalk, ink, paint, crayon, or pencil, re-evaluating images without reworking the stone or plate. Quite often established artists give me permission to do things that I might not otherwise do. I feel this is the most valuable aspect of getting to know artists work. Very often I feel I am drawn to artists because the are speaking in a language that I understand but do not use. I speak Irish and French and do not get the opportunity to use them and as such there is a sense of something valuable that is not being nourished. Similarly the visual language I have acquired consciously and unconsciously remains dormant until I find artists who are speaking it and this allows me to speak back through my own work. Significant in this respect is Joan Miro, Matisse and David Hockney particularly in relation to the use of primary colors.  

"Printmaking encourages ideas because of the lapse of time involved. The medium itself suggests things changed or left out." This is something I discovered through my own process in particular with woodblock and lino relief. Not just in terms of how the image might be manipulated or developed but also the possibility of returning to the image as a response to certain emotional or psychological states. 

Repetition of images in changing contexts. Again building a store of image blocks and etchings is similar to developing ones own alphabet , words and phrases which can be reused in different contexts.

Johns's long-held fascination with visual memory and the evolutionary process of image making. Again this refers to how I perceive my process as visual autobiography which marks and expresses and records moment in time, psychological and emotional states.

But typical of Johns, every mark of illusionism is countered by its denial. I do not understand this statement in relation to jasper Johns work but feel it is an important thing to understand. I have found though that I am resistant to forming any clear statement in my work especially in regard to the use of text.  I find that in poster making for example there is often a didactic tone to text use which is really dislike. As a storyteller and poet I prefer open ended systems of meaning. It is probably the post modern tendency to resist ultimate truths. In this regard I tend to use symbols or glyphs or near language forms that refer to languages as opposed to ideas and politics. In this regard the Dadaist use of text appeals to me.

The dialogue between positive and negative areas continues in later proofs. This balance is something I have been conscious of as perhaps the overarching philosophical approach to printmaking. The Yin Yang or balance that is the defining quality of the good life. Perhaps it appears as accidental in some of my work since I am not yet skilled at consciously working this balance into my work any more than I am skilled at maintaining this balance in my life. I am hoping in 2021 that developing balance becomes a key feature. Coherency will be the outcome and perhaps at this stage my work remains incoherent as a result of life long existence in no mans island where what I say has been irrelevant or incomprehensible.  I came to art college to be part of a community and through interaction with other students, guidance from tutors and getting to know established artists i hope to find a place where my song line interweaves and connects with those of other people and I no longer feel like a marginal outcast.

Color subtly invades the back ground. Presently my work is dominated by primary colors and always has been. I have been aware of the need to move into more subtle colors. This is not to say that I would discard the energies of primaries but perhaps in the development of coherence colors will also develop a coherency that is not based on contrast and the fight for dominance that is reflected in binary psychological and political experiences.

[olmopress]

Man-ia-vich

week 9: Vincent Miller, “Key Elements of Digital Media” / Lev Manovich, “The Language of New Media”, Prologue: Vertov’s Dataset, Introduction - Mapping New Media: The Method, Ch. 1: What Is New Media?

We’ve had a week’s pause and it looks like cinema is going to play a big role in this second half of the course, so well, yeah, I decided it was a good idea to bless you with a still of one of the greatest shots in film history. Ten points to anybody who makes the rights guess on the name of the film.

OFF TO THE READINGS

Our first reading wasn’t thaaat relevant. I mean, yeah, it provided you with a sort of bird’s eye view of the status of research on this topic (i.e. digital media) but nothing too transcendental. You read about Mark Poster and his silly idyllic idea of the ‘internet model’ that generates active critical subjects and promotes a postmodern unstable identity, about Lister et al. who focus on (back then) supermega catchy phrases like hypertext, interactivity, scotomization, dispersion and bla bla bla bla bla.

BORING AF

(though I have to say Poster has a point in talking about the blurring of the distinction between producer and consumer on the internet. We, the people of the future, all are prosumers. Sadly).

The saucy stuff in Miller is all about Manovich, of course. But you know, we had to read him first hand, so maybe I better switch to the guy straight away, right?

You OK with that Miller?

Thanks a lot, Kaz.

So. Lev Manovich. Let me first spend a few words in general about the guy. I sense Imma love this man’s scriptures. I’ll tell you why:

1:

He’s RUSSIAN.

Which means badass intellectualistic and sophisticated and at times almost obscure, but you gotta love him because he has inheritend the gifts of FORMALISM.

2:

He defines himself as a DIGITAL MATERIALIST. And we all know who he is hinting at, don’t we?

It’s daddy! Yay!

3:

He’s a full-fledged philosopher who isn’t scared at all to theorize per bene and also make use of:



Yeah that is an anime representation of the young Karl Marx. Course he’s handsome as fuck.

BUT TO THE TEXT

Actually, there isn’t so much to discuss about. The Prologue is quite fascinating, but it is essentially a collection of stills from Dziga Vertov’s Man With a Movie Camera coupled with out-of-context quotes from the book. As I said, it is fascinating, stimulating, and frankly quite artistic, but it is hard to actually make something out of it if you aren’t already familiar with Manovich’s theory.

SO HERE’S ANOTHER OUT OF CONTEXT SET OF QUOTES

INTERTWINED WITH RANDOM SHOTS FROM FILMS

“A flower was offered to me, Such a flower as May never bore; But I said 'I've a pretty rose tree,' And I passed the sweet flower o'er.”

“I am not a man who approves of definitions. Labels belong on luggage as far as I’m concerned; they don’t mean anything in art.”

“the computer fulfills the promise of cinema as a visual Esperanto.”

“The demand for perfection is always a sign of a misunderstanding of the ends of art.”

“all you negative muthafuckas should look at me as inspiration. im 23 fucking years old and built a fucking monster and im not ever gonna fucking land. stop being scary and neagtive and start believing in yourself and stop living for all these other fucking idiots.”

“The cameraman, whom Benjamin compares to a surgeon, “penetrates deeply into its [reality’s] web”; his camera zooms in order to “pry an object from its shell.” Due to its new mobility, glorified in such films as Man With a Movie Camera, the camera can be anywhere, and with its superhuman vision it can obtain a close-up of any object…”

“I don't know where i'm going from here, but I promise it won't be boring”

Ten points to anybody who can detect the two Manovich quotes. Come on kids it is way too easy.

Of course the Introduction is a little bit more dense with stuff. But it is still and introduction: it essentially presents us the architecture and the basic assumptions of the book. Manovich tells us he uses film history and theory to look at digital media, he introduces the deductive concept of “digital materialism,” he mentions briefly his “Principles of New Media” – which are, by the way, numerical representation, modularity, automation, variability, and cultural transcoding – and then he specifies a little about some of his terminology.

LET’S REVIEW THIS QUICKLY

language: my man Manovich says he was scared to solicit associations with the structuralist motherfuckers theorists (my man Man, y u hate semiotics?), but then using “aesthetics” or “poetics” would have been even worse so he got stuck with language.

I can see why you wouldn’t use  a e s t h e t i c s, Man.

object: he prefers it over product, artwork, interactive media, or other stuff. Doing so he wants to activate connotations that span from software lingo to 1920 Russian avant-garde and laboratory experimentation. I mean, quite an ambitious project.


BUT WE LIKE HIM THIS WAY

The only thing I am doubtful about is why not using “product” if you’re theory is infused with Marxism.

You should know better, Man.

representation: OK this is hella complicated but I’ll try. So far as Manovich says that new media objects are cultural objects (and thus participate in the construction of reality just like any other cultural artifact) I’m fine. But then he lists six different ways of connotating the word representation, and I don’t know about you, but I got kind lost there. These oppositions are:

Representation-simulation Representation-control Representation-action Representation-communication No taxation without representation Visual illusionism-simulation Representation-information

BOH

I guess I’m gonna have to read through the book.

The last few pages of the reading are very nice and come from the first chapter. Manovich bestows on us the knowledge of the fact that he’s writing approaching new media NOT in terms of consumption – as any other idiotic person who is not him in the world used to do – but primarily in terms of production.

CONGRATULATIONS! YOUR MARXISM LEVEL HAS JUST REACHED 100

So yeah, this is the big thing. Together with his historical disamina, in which he basically says that cinema and the computer aren’t that different after all. After all, they have a history in common, after all. After all.

I’ll spare you names and date. Learn from my wonderfully detailed and perfect sketch:

So computer, Manovich tells us, is fundametally a visual media. It is a machine that processes media through mathematics.

EXCITING

BUT ALSO ENOUGH FOR TODAY

SO

CULTURE

I like the fact that Manovich seems to be taking all these new approaches and be a sort of ventata d’aria fresca in the theoretical discourse. This makes me think of this song. Listen to it.

As for our painting… there is a surprise. So essentially I am so excited about this centrality of cinema in Manovich that i am giving you MORE CINEMA. So take a look at this excerpt from Luis Bunuel’s Un chien andalou, because I think it may have to do a lot with what we are talking about here.

さようなら!

Image Sources: PopMatters, vermelho.org, TeePublic, PBS, Jet d’Encre, Slant Magazine, Film School Rejects, Medium, Variety, The New Lens International, Imgur