An Author By Any Other Name

How has new media changed authorship?
New media is the collaboration between the author and other groups or individuals:

Collaboration between user & author
Authorship as selection from a menu
Collaboration between company and users
Collaboration between software and author
Remixing
Sampling

Collaboration Between Author and Users
Interactive media suggests that there is a common goal between the collaborators and the users. However, in new media this often doesn’t happen. Often the author does not consider what the user will think of the art. If there is no connection between author and user there can be a miscommunications. To avoid miscommunications interactive feedback on artwork is often used.

For example:
Test Audiences on new movies often make suggestions that ultimately lead to changes being made in the movie.

Blade Runner’s Ending:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fCeH-WnJYM
Changed ending to make it more theater friendly. Used extra footage from The Shining

Authorship From a Selection Menu

Authorship from a selection menu makes the user feel like a real artist by allowing them to create artwork simply by clicking a few buttons. However, is this really art if the software to create this art is already in place?

For Example:
Create your own fairy tale:
http://www.quest4camelot.com/games/writetale.html?val=HANNAH&val=BOULDER&val=MOVIE%20STAR&val=DAD&val=COMPUTER&val=KARLA&val=DOG&val=BENJI&val=FLYING&val=BOB&val=SNAKE&val=girl&

Remixing

The idea of remixing suggest a re-working of an original piece of artwork. Remixing a work of art means that the art as a whole is rearranged systematically to create something new.

For Example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzbH5fRJ0uI&ob=av2e

In Conclusion…

Poscardt: “however much quoting, sampling and stealing is done — in the end it is the old subjects that undertake their own modernization. Even an examination of technology and the conditions of productions does not rescue aesthetics from finally having to believe in the author. He just looks different.”

Discussion Questions

Can interactive artwork actually exist?
Should “art” created from a selection menu or by remixing be considered art?
Do you agree with Poscardt? Do New Media collaborations just change the face of the author or does it change the definition of the author completely?