i-cinema reflection

i-Cinema reflection
Michael Mammarella
z3170531
MEFT3353 Performance in a Mediatized Culture

I have been to i-Cinema before and written about it in a similar assessment. I’ve always been more intrigued by the overall concept than the actual works being made with the technology. The usual response from the viewer is an overwhelming of the senses and while this may be true I’ve never felt satisfied after any i-Cinema experience. This may seem like an overly negative response to something which is obviously groundbreaking, especially for UNSW. However it is my honest response which is based on my passion for the concept and the advancement of media technology. Obviously the i-Cinema and it’s works play directly into the hands of media theorists like Auslander and his view on “Liveness” because the hypereal experience of i-Cinema questions our perception of ‘live’.
Place Hampi’s most obvious let down was the 3D glasses not being comfortable and hurting the overall immersive experience of the work. The most interesting part of this work was it’s archival potential. I’ve often marvelled at the age we live in because of that fact that there is a digital record of the billions of events worldwide occurring daily. Archives could be the single most important part of element of media technology. Everything will be digital, as technology evolves we will be able to record and keep absolutely everything. Auslander states that “the ‘live’ can be defined only as ‘that which can be recorded’” which means here that the ability to experience the past in this manner would be ‘live’. Instead of looking at a black and white photograph of the city a hundred years ago, people will be able to walk around amongst a bustling city of the past much like the scene in the Matrix where Neo and Morpheus are able to observe their surroundings in an artificial virtual city. I’m aware this is unrelated to the actual work however it is my honest response to the concept and the explanation of the work by our friendly ‘tour guide’. I feel the 3D experience at i-Cinema is still in experimental stages and is still finding its footing in a mediatised world it’s presence and importance is inevitable.
The Spherecam work was reminiscent of a stroll through google maps street view. I lived next to Anzac bridge for a year and am very familiar with it already in 3D. Bondi beach looked wonderful. The most exciting part of this work was the potential for immersion the ugly/beautiful ensemble of cameras have in the world of entertainment. I imagined a whole film shot in this way where we experience through the POV of the protagonist a full 360 degree view of the world. This would perhaps make the identity of the protagonist elusive in the traditional sense however it may be that the spectator becomes the main character in the ‘films’ made using the Spherecam.

Presentation QUestion

Hi everyone
I just wanted to know if anyone knows if you are in a group of 3 how long you need to talk for and how many slides you have to have in total. Please answer asap if anyone knows.

Thanks Bec

week 9 Reading Summary

Exposing Globalisation: Biopolitics in the work of Critical Art Ensemble
Gabriella Giannachi
By Carmen Holmes

Exposing Globalisation: Biopolitics in the Work of Critical Art Ensemble looks at the human body, nature and technology in relation to globalisation. Gabriella Giannachi describes the human body “through the possibilities of genetic manipulation and patenting, a desirable site for global productivity.” In other words, the combination of technology and the human body is a reflection of the human becoming a product of globalisation.

She describe the concept behind biopolitics and its creation from globalisation. By enforcing an image of “global” a ruling “empire” is created. Empire is a product of globalisation and works its way to the individual to somehow bring them into practice as a global citizen. The empire regulates the economic and cultural actions on a global scale, even to the extent of redefining the existing economic and cultural exchanges of the world. In following Michael Foucault’s ideology, Giannachi establishes that societal (or empire) control is not only established through ideology, but also through the control of the human body. This “biopower” is achieved in the way in which life has been redefined and acted out by society.

Giannachi refers to the way in which Donna Harraway observes the way “branding and natural classification” in everyday life. She describes there has been a denaturalisation of classifications that individualise subjects, and move them into a global subject through genetically modified products and cloned organisms. Both these genetically modified foods as well as technology have become easy to reproduce and highly commercial that it has become a feature of our everyday lives. We become subjects of globalisation and global citizens because we immerse our lives into these technologies, with our lives being the setting of product placement.

Technologies such as OncoMouse and the technologies used to create clones have also been methods of globalisation and technology obtaining biopower. OncoMouse was created in 1988 and bred to contain human DNA that was able to create cancers inside this experimental mouse. This mouse then become the subject to pharmaceutical experimentation to test whether or not the medicine is suitable for humans or not. This genetically modified mouse became a global product, viewing it as a tool rather than a living being.

Cloning, the modifying of genetics show the technological capabilities that brought their (and our lives) into being. Corporal wealth is made off these technologies and genetically modified products that we purchase for our everyday life and feel as though we depend on in our everyday lives.

The Critical Art Ensemble work to denounce the links that have been formed in regards to empire, globalisation and biotechnological industries. Their work is global in that art, technology, critical theory and political activism as well as connecting local issues to international issues in their performances. This ensemble use interrelated interventions and political views, performing them in both real and virtual locations.
The company use ECD (electronic civil disobedience) as an option for resistance. Using this method, they argue that “under the capitalist regime, individuals will be forced to submit their bodies for reconfiguration so they can function more efficiently under the obsessively rational imperatives of pancapitalism.” The biological body has become a commodity along with all the other products that are exploited through capitalism and globalisation.