Remedy for Information Disease >>
Alexei Shulgin
Infected with the Information Disease? Alexei Shulgin has developed a
Remedy.
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||| HIAFF 3.0 | university of colorado | department of art and art history | digital arts area | in conjunction with alt-x | atlas | blurr
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[Reviews] Has information become so abundant and prevalent that it is beginning to
exhibit the characteristics of a disease? Has media saturation and Internet
addiction become harmful to our health. Alexei Shulgin seems the think so and
has taken it upon himself to invent and prescribe a cure for such a malady. The
good doctor prescribes the hair of the dog that bit you in a Remedy for
Information Disease.
A strong dose of this cure includes selecting images from a list and then
choosing a mode for which to view them. One can choose to see them moving from
left to right, oscillating up and down, rotating, or blinking. This may seem a
little strange at first but after a while it does begin to have a calming,
almost meditative effect. Shulgin may be on to something. Most of the images
are familiar; often used in media and advertising; iconic in many ways. Viewing
them moving in a simple pattern begins to smooth out the chaotic flux that is
associated with the overuse of these images by the media. The back and forth
movement especially is a little like taking a pencil eraser to the visual
cortex.
It is not just information overload that may be a disease, but viruses, similar
to computer viruses, may be carried within information. Bruce Sterling, in his
book Snowcrash, theorizes that religion may be a form of informational virus,
spreading from person to person through communication. Consumerism,
nationalism, racism, fascism, and suicide bomberism may all be forms of
informational viruses. Maybe a remedy needs to be developed for all of these
diseases. Perhaps something similar to Shulginâs work could be made into an
inoculation that could ward off these afflictions.
Although this piece was written in 1996, it is even more pertinent at present.
As if cable television wasnât enough, the Internet has created such a media
blitz, encouraged so much multi-tasking of information dissemination that one
begins to wonder just how much the brain can handle without breaking down. The
human mind is being forced to imitate the functionality of machinery with much
of human thought directed toward building better and faster machines. Perhaps
Shulginâs piece is a nod toward getting machines to adapt to the functionality
of the human mind, rather then vice versa. Maybe the Internet can be used to
create a virtual meditative space, one that can wash away all of the daily
grime of multi-media soot and calm the mind into a relaxed and composed state,
ready for more.
By JOe Farbrook |
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