nettime's_digestive_system on 14 Jul 2000 22:43:36 -0000 |
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<nettime> two recent book announcements |
Date: 14 Jul 00 01:34:55 -0500 From: "swiss@drake" <thomas.swiss@drake.edu> The World Wide Web and Contemporary Cultural Theory: Magic, Metaphor, Power by Andrew Herman (Editor), Thomas Swiss (Editor) Paperback - 320 pages 1 edition (July 2000) Routledge; ISBN: 0415925029 Other Editions: Hardcover ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Editorial Reviews Book Description The World Wide Web is the most well-known, celebrated, and promoted contemporary manifestation of "cyberspace." To date, however, most of the public discourse on the Web falls into the category of explanatory journalism -- the Web has remained largely unmapped in terms of contemporary cultural research. This book, however, begins that mapping by bringing together more than a dozen well-known scholars across the humanities and social sciences to explore the Web as a cultural technology characterized by a nexus of economic, political, social, and aesthetic forces. Engaging the thematic issues of the Web as a space where magic, metaphor, and power converge, the chapters cover such subjects as The Web and Corporate Media Systems, Conspiracy Theories and the Web; The Economy of Cyberpromotion, The Bias of the Web, The Web and Issues of Gender,and so on. Contributors: Jody Berland, Jodi Dean, Sean Cubitt, Greg Elmer, Andrew Herman, Steven Jones, Nancy Kaplan, Robert McChesney, Vincent Mosco, Stuart Moulthrop, Theresa Senft, Rob Shields, John Sloop, Thomas Swiss, and David Tetzlaff. ----------||||||||||||---------------------- The Robot in the Garden Telerobotics and Telepistemology in the Age of the Internet edited by Ken Goldberg The Robot in the Garden initiates a critical theory of telerobotics and introduces telepistemology, the study of knowledge acquired at a distance. Many of our most influential technologies, the telescope, telephone, and television, were developed to provide knowledge at a distance. Telerobots, remotely controlled robots, facilitate action at a distance. Specialists use telerobots to explore actively environments such as Mars, the Titanic, and Chernobyl. Military personnel increasingly employ reconnaissance drones and telerobotic missiles. At home, we have remote controls for the garage door, car alarm, and television (the latter a remote for the remote). The Internet dramatically extends our scope and reach. Thousands of cameras and robots are now accessible online. Although the role of technical mediation has been of interest to philosophers since the seventeenth century, the Internet forces a reconsideration. As the public gains access to telerobotic instruments previously restricted to scientists and soldiers, questions of mediation, knowledge, and trust take on new significance for everyday life. Telerobotics is a mode of representation. But representations can misrepresent. If Orson Welles's "War of the Worlds" was the defining moment for radio, what will be the defining moment for the Internet? As artists have always been concerned with how representations provide us with knowledge, the book also looks at telerobotics' potential as an artistic medium. The seventeen essays, by leading figures in philosophy, art, history, and engineering, are organized into three sections: Philosophy; Art, History, and Critical Theory; and Engineering, Interface, and System Design. Ken Goldberg is Associate Professor of Industrial Engineering and founder of the Art, Technology, and Culture Colloquium at the University of California, Berkeley. His Net art installations include "Dislocation of Intimacy," "Memento Mori," and the "Telegarden." 7 x 9, 330 pp., 49 illus., cloth ISBN 0-262-07203-3 A Leonardo Book # distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission # <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets # more info: majordomo@bbs.thing.net and "info nettime-l" in the msg body # archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nettime@bbs.thing.net