Reflection Ch. 7-9

As I was reading I found that I really enjoyed the idea of Terminal Time.  History is a very important part of our culture.  The fact that something technological like this can show cultural contexts that show our history is amazing.  I love history and think that it is important for a culture to take the past and grow from it.  Terminal Time is set up so that the viewer can watch and participate.  Many times we only watch things and the viewer becomes uninterested in the video but when they have to participate they become much more interested in the video in front of them.  I also found that Plato's design was interesting because he was already thinking about how people would be enslaved by different technologies.

The whole idea of having a gallery where the viewer gets to interact with the art is refreshing.  When I go into art exhibits and see classic Renaissance paintings or even modern art galleries I never am able to walk into an interactive gallery.  Text Rain and Wooden Mirror are both exhibits that I would love to see how they work and just experience the splendor of its design.  The gallery itself is also its own exhibits that leads the viewer into specific galleries.  The book says that "digital art is about performance."  I completely agree with that.  The computers that are used are asked to either reflect a persons face or make words by simply putting your hand over the screen.

"Designers cannot afford to ignore the need for transparency, but they can show the Structuralists how sites can be reflective as well as transparent."  What a viewer sees on the internet reflects the culture of the viewer.  But the web does not only reflect it also is transparent and brings you to a world like Magic Book where the layers are peeled back and you are able to be apart of the story and interact with the characters.