This week we discussed the nature of touch within computational art.
One of the texts we were assigned to read this week was ‘Archaeologies of Touch’ by David Parisi. I found it an interesting read, particularly as it covers similar themes to my research topic in terms of media archaeology. The focus of the text is on the history of virtual reality and how developers have been attempting to introduce tactile feedback into the technology. It goes into detail about a talk Ivan Sutherland gave in the 1960’s, explaining how computers in the future would have an immersive display that would present information to as many senses as possible. This vision formed the basis of virtual reality, a point that was addressed at the launch of the Oculus Rift. This reminds me of an idea raised in the lecture by Derek Holzer that I analysed last week – how advancements in technology have been defined by radical, utopian visions of the future. Holzer mentioned a specific example from the 1920’s, where a German artist predicted a future where people would talk to each other via portable radios, predicting mobile phone technology.
Another work was Touching Reality by Thomas Hirschorn. It consists of footage of an unknown person flicking through disturbing, graphic images of war and violence on an ipad. It addresses the contemporary means in which we interact with images; it is partly a commentary on how the notion of touch affects how we consume media, as well as how technology has led us to become desensitised to violence and disturbing content. This is exemplified in the way the hand toggles through the images; the content is extremely graphic and shocking, however the viewer swipes through them with apparent calm, zooming in on certain elements before moving on.
References
https://textundblog.de/?p=5227
https://vimeo.com/184926876
https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/archaeologies-of-touch