New electronic communication systems are rewiring the connections between people and the places where we live and work. In this series, guest speakers led an examination of how new communities are being forged, familiar communities are being reshaped, and how democratic access is being addressed. From early pioneers of Internet connectivity to artists exploring the potential of digital media to sociologists deciphering the casual conversations of electronic mail senders, these sessions have created lively discussions about the simulated, wired, and unwired realms of our daily existence.
February 4
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
A screening of
This Is Marshall McLuhan: The Medium Is the Message
(1968) followed by a discussion of McLuhan's anticipation of many of the conditions
of the wired world of today.
(90k)
February 18
Remote Intimacy & Cocktail Hour At Lambda MOO
An examination of how mediums of electronic communitication affect our relationships
with one another. Writer
Laura Miller,
writer/programmer
Ellen Ullman,
and cultural theorist
Mark Poster
discussed disembodied social interactions
via electronic mail. Following the discussion,
Pavel Curtis
of Xerox PARC,
led a tour of
Lambda Moo
, a text based multiuser dungeon.
March 4
Digital Art And Communication
During the course of
Multimedia Playground '95
Exploratorium artists-in-residence
Larry Andrews
and
Lubor Benda
were developing projects. Their projects
involved investigations of digital technology and video art, defense systems, information
visualization, and communication technologies.
(50k)
(41k)
March 11
The Information Supermarket
Macworld
senior editor
Charles Piller
conducted a national study
showing that consumer preferences regarding such things as video on demand and
home shopping are not necessarily what people are most interested in from the
Internet. Rather, Pillar has found that people are more interested in highly
interactive communication such as voting from home, electronic town hall meetings,
remote education, etc. This will necessitate a much less expensive wiring scheme
than current Infobahn proposals, designed largely to deliver a one-way stream
of electronic products and entertainment, will require.
Back to the Multimedia Playground homepage
The Exploratorium,
3601 Lyon Street, San Francisco CA 94123