official fieldbook

official fieldbook
The Metaphorm Technodyssey 2.0™ | Virtual Graphagromania™
Creative Expression & Innovative Cultural Documentation through New Media
A QUANTUMEDIA TECHNODYSSEY™ | Virtual Global Expeditions | w: quantumedia.org
The Metaphorm Technodyssey™ © QMX.05™ Official Fieldbook | Gregory O'Toole | University of Denver.
ABSTRACT & ARTIST/TECHNICIANS STATEMENT
The Metaphorm Technodyssey 2.0 is a usable, stand-alone new media application that posits
live (and recorded) virtual 'performances' of world-wide, real-time documentary excursions,
fusing traditional and innovative approaches to photo/journalism, gonzo journalism, poetics, and
spontaneous bop prosody.
TMT 2.0 is the founding incarnation of a series of technology-based artistic works developed in the
field by a single composer, and made instantly available to internet audiences of an interstellar scope.
The individual projects are each a part of the Quantumedia Technodyssey Experiment, a conscious
combinatory effort of everyday life experience, and thought-provoking, intentional image- and textbased artworks served up within the context of a series of virtual global expeditions.
Through real-time, instant electronic publication, these performances are conducted to potential
audiences anywhere in the internet world, at any time, simultaneously creating a form of digital
folk art and the potential to generate new sociological axioms which can live within and without
the virtual realm through which they are transferred; a dimension which Culler describes as our
"consensual hallucination."
The Metaphorm Technodyssey 2.0 is based on the theory that media are message-concept transport
entities, and therefore utilizes a unique perspective on cultural study, digital technology and literary
means to explore the "photographic truths" of daily life. This methodology exposes hidden, forgotten,
unknown, little-known, ignored, and/or avoided thoughtful elements of a social culture. In short, The
Metaphorm Technodyssey is a form of digital storytelling that not only generates content based on
socio-geographic muse, but raises and addresses the question of how the use of new media effects
cultural documentation and traditional image- and text-based storytelling.
"The impossible situation of the realistic novel was that the better an imitation was of reality in the
Aristotelian sense, the more it was an imitation in the other, Platonic sense: a shadow, a second-hand
version, a counterfeit. The more intensely the novel was about life, the less it was part of it." (R.
Sukenick).
Sukenick also writes on the "inevitably enervating conflict between art and life, imagination and
reality…(an) alienation of consciousness from experience…". The Metaphorm Technodyssey reckons
itself a response to this theory, and aims to turn it on its ear, successfully, spontaneously merging
real life with the very act of documenting it.
Gregory O'Toole
South Denver
January 26, 2005
The Metaphorm Technodyssey™ © QMX.05™ Official Fieldbook | Gregory O'Toole | University of Denver.
The Metaphorm Technodyssey™ © QMX.05™ Official Fieldbook | Gregory O'Toole | University of Denver.
Greetings intrepid travelers, I will be your guide, Technodysseus. Welcome to the second
incarnation of the Metaphorm Technodyssey, a new media application fusing creative
expression and innovative cultural documentation.
Here you will be able to travel and partake in an ongoing series of Quantumedia’s Virtual
Global Expeditions. Things can get a little strange around here, so use the simple guidelines
available on the web site to assist you along our way.
The Quantumedia Technodyssey,
including
all
photography, digital poetics,
conceptual
works,
and
cultural studies documented
on this site are property of
QMX | The Quantumedia
Experiment © 2005. No part
of this project or process
may be replicated without
the consent of the author,
Gregory O’Toole. Peace.
Graphomania
|psychiatry|
Morbid
and
excessive
impulse to write. Origin:
Grapho-+ G. Mania, insanity
Agromania |psychiatry| An
obsolete term for a morbid
impulse to live in the open
country or in solitude. Origin:
G. Agros, field, + mania,
frenzy Definitions from the
Dept. of Medical Oncology,
University
of
Newcastle
upon Tyne © Copyright
1997-2004 The CancerWEB
Project. All Rights Reserved.
I S B N 0 - 9 7 111 2 5 - 5 - X
Number Nine Arts & Books
The Metaphorm Technodyssey™ © QMX.05™ Official Fieldbook | Gregory O'Toole | University of Denver.
Content from The Metaphorm Technodyssey 1.0™ | HELP page
PROJECT PURPOSE / alpha theorem
To allow viewers to virtually experience any number of ongoing, real-world, REAL-TIME excursions
being made by one traveler (or a group of travelers) from anywhere on the globe, through any
internet enabled viewing apparatus.
RHETORIC
Academic Provisions:// written materials for the projects academic purposes.
Intergalactic Provisions:// important and relevant information about the project written by the creator.
Abstract & Artist/Technician Statement:// a 400-word abstract and artist/technicians statement on the
nature and functionality of the project. This can be used for new media art & tech exhibit submissions
or gallery shows.
The Official Graphagromaniac Field book:// a downloadable pdf “how-to” publication on becoming
an effective GRAPHAGROMANIAC-style cultural journalist running amuck in the fields and high places
around the globe. Published by Number Nine Arts & Books and The Quantumedia Experiment.
TERMINOLOGY
Metaphorm™:// from Ronald Sukenick’s idea that ‘form is the ultimate metaphor’; here the digital
interface takes the place of the ‘real-life’ version of the expedition.
Technodyssey™:// hybrid state of “technology” (applied science) and the title of Homer’s Odyssey,
the classic, epic, literary masterpiece. A term coined to describe expeditional events only possible, or
partially possible through the use of new media technology.
Intrepid Travelers:// A running tally of audience members who have taken part in one or more of the
Quantumedia Experimental Metaphorm Technodysseys.
Quantumedia Experiment™:// The name given to my art & tech work; The philosophical pursuit of
the fundamental unit of electromagnetic energy. An ontological ‘poetics of experience’. The veritably
abstract. Works that fall into such a category are not individual works of any particular medium, but
in the tradition of HST, the great roaming gonzo journalist: life as art.
Graphagromaniac™:// hybrid state of Graphomania (|psychiatry| Morbid and excessive impulse to
write. Origin: Grapho-+ G. Mania, insanity) and Agromania (|psychiatry| An obsolete term for a
morbid impulse to live in the open country or in solitude).
LexiConductor™:// hybrid state of Lexicon and Conductor: a word, idea, or concept manipulator; new
media.
APPLICATION FUNCTIONS
SIGN-IN:// This allows your/the viewer’s name and region to be used in the main INTERFACE page,
where you and many other audience members can be watching the excursions happen at the same
time.
THE INTERFACE PAGE:// This is the main page for audience members to watch the excursions take
place.
CURRENT SHOW:// This is the current location of your guide (the composer of the project) a.k.a.
Technodysseus. The audience member has the option of sitting back and following along in the
expedition being broadcast from afar.
PAST SHOWS:// These are archived expeditions. These links take the viewer to slide-show-like
The Metaphorm Technodyssey™ © QMX.05™ Official Fieldbook | Gregory O'Toole | University of Denver.
versions of past Technodysseys, complete with photographs, journal entries, any chat sequences
which may have taken place, and the full range of maps from each respective archived project.
THE GRAPHAGROMANIAC PAGE:// This is only seen or accessed by authorized composers, from out
in the field. This is the interface through which all of the content is uploaded that the viewers see.
THE MAPS:// The maps, like the rest of the documentary content, are updated when the
INTERFACE page refreshes itself. The maps are generated by GPS Visualizer, from actual GPS
coordinates, into vector based graphic maps. If the composer wishes, upon refresh, the maps can
create a course line following the trek of an excursion on the move. The maps are clickable to get a
full size view for more geographic detail.
THE PHOTOGRAPHS:// The photographs, like the rest of the documentary content, are updated
when the INTERFACE page refreshes itself. The photos are documentary of the region from where
the composer writes. The composer is able to upload photographs, cut lines, and photograph titles,
which all are updated upon page refresh from the database.
THE GRAPHAGROMANIAC JOURNAL ENTRIES:// The Graphagromaniac Journal Entries, like the rest
of the documentary content, are updated when the INTERFACE page refreshes itself. The entries are
writings of any kind from the field: documentary, poetry, prose, etc. Here, anything goes.
THE GRAPHAGROMANIAC FORUM:// The Graphagromaniac Forum, like the rest of the documentary
content, are updated when the INTERFACE page refreshes itself. The forum allows for two-way
communication between the audience members at home and the composer in the field.
THE AUDIO:// Once implemented, the audience will have the ability to click and load pre-recorded
audio samples, and eventually will have the capabilities to stream live audio from the INTERFACE
page. These are documentary sound bytes from the field.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
THE METAPHORM TECHNODYSSEY
is brought to you by...
Old No.9
A finely auspicious malt cultivating
new world techno-Dharma on the
global road to mindfulness, free-wheeling satori, & cultural enlightenment.
WARNING: Adding Old No.9 to your Technodyssey may improve visions and mind-wandering, but is in no way required for a successful journey.
The Metaphorm Technodyssey™ © QMX.05™ Official Fieldbook | Gregory O'Toole | University of Denver.
Ongoing Reflective Statement on the Design & Nature of the Final Work Version 2.0
Digital Media Studies | University of Denver
REFLECTIONS
As is, right now, the project is moving along at a much faster rate of success than I was even hoping
for. I have known for some time now WHAT I wanted the application to do (at least for now, that is),
but I thought I might come across some technical difficulties in surpassing the high expectations I
have in consideration of design, fluidity, functionality, clarity in purpose and pragmatics, and ease of
use for the “uninitiated”. At this point, however, the transcendence of the few very minor hang-ups
has come without too much burden at all.
All four media feeds (Photography, Mapping, Journal Notebook, and Discussion Forum) in the main
INTERFACE page originate in the main database which is housed in a parallel server directory to the
rest of the site, images and uploads. The two text based cells (Journal Notebook and Discussion
Forum) are dynamically driven at this time and function very well. The two graphics based cells
(Photography and Mapping) are also dynamically driven by the same means as the text-based cells,
however, due to time restraints, there just aren’t multiple photographs and maps being uploaded into
the database. This function will be highly useful when the application is brought into the field, and
a composer is out there, consistently uploading new content. For now, though, the cells still refresh,
you will only see the same image each time. The only functions not working at this time (due to
time restraints as well) are the maps and photo uploads from the GRAPHAGROMANIAC control panel
interface, for now I am just placing them manually onto the server.
In short, there are two main screens in this application. The INTERFACE view is the audience view.
Sign in to get here and enjoy the show. The GRAPHAGROMANIAC view is the control panel, or admin,
view, for the composer in the field to be writing and uploading through. You can access this panel by
signing into the GRAPHAGROMANIACS ONLY link at the top of the index page. The only requirement
is your password which for testing and critique is set to “test”.
A great benefit to this project is the use of the <iFrame> html/cfm tag. This allows for the contents
in each of the refreshing cells to ONLY REFRESH THE CONTENT, not the entire page. Refreshing the
entire page, on the contrary, and originally tested, causes the INSERT coldfusion tag to attempt at
reloading the same data time and time again into the database, and then, of course, outputting the
same data time and time again each time upon refresh. The result is a multiple publishing of the
same users text. The iframe method remedies this problem.
As a result of successful critique and useful feedback, I’ve implemented a vast HELP page that is
intended to clarify a lot of what is going on with the project as a whole. The HELP page includes
information on everything from the reason for creating/developing the project in the first place, to
instructions on application elements, to vocabulary used in the process. PLEASE REFER TO THE HELP
PAGE at some point during your review of the project as some data which I otherwise would have
included here I felt was sufficient to present only there.
I am very pleased with TMT at this time. The more I get done on it now, the more ideas I have to
improve it including the implementation of web cams, streaming media, and flash remoting to name
a few. I am looking into the purchases of a GPS handheld device as well as a satellite phone system.
I have already submitted TMT to the iDEAs exhibit at the iDMAa conference in the spring of 2005. I
plan to keep a lookout for fitting art/tech/new media venues still, as well as to continue to develop
TMT for potential use as a field research tool for my PhD studies.
Please contact [email protected] or [email protected] for more information.
The Metaphorm Technodyssey™ © QMX.05™ Official Fieldbook | Gregory O'Toole | University of Denver.
PROPOSED TMT TIMELINE
Winter 2005
RESEARCH: GPS handheld, Satellite phone
BUY: GPS handheld, Satellite phone
Multimedia systems/RIA courses
Spring 2005
Bridges Expedition to Dharamsala – 10 days-funding?
iDMAa iDEAs-submitted 2005
Extensive Field Testing
Finalize Thesis presentation concepts
Final M.A. Thesis Presentation (May 2005)
Gallery Show? Into Sturm 434 from the field?
Virtual Expedition?
PhD research:
Technology/new media as content generators
Media as (creative/innovative) message-concept transport entities
Augmented reality inclusion
Encouraging the Global Tribe
Technology as natural extension, next level of “human” evolution
Only the mind is our reality, no “spirit” or “soul”, or “heaven/hell”
Draw threads with A Beatific Triad?
Applications/Projects/”Shows”:
Chicago; The Road/Shakori Rambler; A day in the life; Denver; Psych Hospital; Alaska; Himals;
Ireland; Prague; NM; Paris; Andes Regions
Academic/Experimental Art/DM Conferences:
IDMAa iDEAs 2005
Beatific Triad paper-submitted to Mephisto 2005
BEA 2005
The Metaphorm Technodyssey™ © QMX.05™ Official Fieldbook | Gregory O'Toole | University of Denver.
FURTHER INFORMAL PROJECT NOTES
Project’s Narrative Elements/Advantages
An interactive ColdFusion GUI
Interface using semiotic chains, strings of communication and associations
Allows reader to add their own input/ideas
Limitless potential to the reader/audience
VIRTUAL PRESENTations/”SHOWS”:
Presented in the form of Live Performances or “Shows”.
Upload IP number (CF code) and (C_date) for proof of where, when the works are done.
DVD intro for presentation, rest is done remotely.
Make it work like a band on stage, improvising. The shows are not talking “about” or “describing” the
work, but “creating” work. (NSM p 123)
Materializing work is a documentation of some degree
HARDWARE:
Field Laptop
Nikon D100/Digital Camera
Sanyo VM4500 CameraPhone
GPS Handheld/Magellan Meridian COLOR
Satellite Phone System/Iridium 9505 & Data Kit
SOFTWARE:
Metaphorm Technodyssey (current version)
Photoshop (if necessary)
GPS Visualizer
The Metaphorm Technodyssey™ © QMX.05™ Official Fieldbook | Gregory O'Toole | University of Denver.
UPDATED PROPOSAL DATA
In Relation to “Siren Shapes: Exploratory and Constructive Hypertexts” Joyce, NMR
The Metaphorm Technodyssey merges both EXPLORATORY hypertext (“where audience
members view and test alternative organizational structures of their own” Joyce, NMR, 614) and
CONSTRUCTIVE hypertext (where the application is used as an inventive or analytical tool / the
user develops a body of work according to their needs / they gather info, act on it, transform as they
encounter / the work being built is a structure of what does not yet exist)
In Relation to “Toward a Theory of Non-Genre Literature” J. Culler
The Experimental element of October New Mexico relates to the idea of “recuperation”, as in Culler’s
theory that if a computer randomly emitted strings of text, the human brain would eventually make
correlations or associations between the strings, drawing commonalities or threads throughout. Same
thing with my project of the random haiku and then entering the haiku into a google search. When
placing that image next to the haiku (where the two are completely unrelated in any way) it is our
nature to draw conclusions and assume an inherent relationship between text and image.
In Relation to “Nonlinearity and Literary Theory” E. Aarseth
“The verbal oscillation created by two equally possible combinations, the choice of which is entirely
up to the user, produces an ambiguity different from the usual poetic double meaning of a word or
phrase, because there seem to be two different versions, neither of which can exist alongside the
other, and both obviously different from the text itself. Like optical illusions, we can imagine first one,
then the other, but not both at the same time.”
“When we look at the whole of such nonlinear text, we cannot read it; and when we read it, we
cannot see the whole text. Something has come between us and the text, and that (something) is
ourselves, trying to read.”
BIBLIOGRAPHY (running informal)
“Siren Shapes: Exploratory and Constructive Hypertexts” Joyce, NMR
“Toward a Theory of Non-Genre Literature” J. Culler
“Nonlinearity and Literary Theory” E. Aarseth
THE METAPHORM TECHNODYSSEY is brought to you by Old No. 9_ A Finely Auspicious Malt:
Cultivating new world techno-dharma on the global road to mindfulness, free-wheeling satori &
cultural enlightenment. Graphomania |psychiatry| Morbid and excessive impulse to write. Origin:
Grapho-+ G. Mania, insanity Agromania |psychiatry| An obsolete term for a morbid impulse to live
in the open country or in solitude. Origin: G. Agros, field, + mania, frenzy. www.quantumedia.org
2010 The philosphical pursuit of the fundamental unit of electromagnetic energy.
The Metaphorm Technodyssey™ © QMX.05™ Official Fieldbook | Gregory O'Toole | University of Denver.
Fig. 1 The index page (sign-in interface) of The Metaphorm Technodyssey, HELP tab, instructions
and clarification of the project objective available here.
The Metaphorm Technodyssey™ © QMX.05™ Official Fieldbook | Gregory O'Toole | University of Denver.
Fig. 2 The LIVE PERFORMANCE interface of The Metaphorm Technodyssey, signed-in audience
viewers can observe all elements and participate in GRAPHAGROMANIAC FORUM.
The Metaphorm Technodyssey™ © QMX.05™ Official Fieldbook | Gregory O'Toole | University of Denver.
Fig. 3 The GRAPHAGROMANIACS ONLY (Administration) interface of The Metaphorm Technodyssey, authorized composers in the field communicate and upload information from this view.
The Metaphorm Technodyssey™ © QMX.05™ Official Fieldbook | Gregory O'Toole | University of Denver.
Big world. Now go.
The Metaphorm Technodyssey™ © QMX.05™ Official Fieldbook | Gregory O'Toole | University of Denver.