The process of communication is founded on the principles of sender, receiver, message, and medium in conjunction with the environment in which the message is sent. Each component is intertwined in a looping stream of consciousness. Marshall McLuhan, actor, scholar, and founder of media theory, suggested that the medium is the message. A concept that may seem fragmented, but ultimately comes together as whole, McLuhan postulated that the form of medium that a message takes influences the way the message is perceived by the receiver. This is especially true in the case of new media.
Each different medium has different characteristics and each characteristic affects its receivers in different ways. If we look at current media such as reading from the Kindle, a viewer could potentially re-read a passage of a book until it is understood. You would have the opportunity to refresh and renew to make sure you fully understand the meaning. In the opposite spectrum we have television, which is (unless you count television over the internet) is streamed once. Thus the medium through which a viewer watches a message/content has a great affect on a person’s clear understanding and personal perception of it. In Text Rain, the medium itself is not only re-playable but interacts with the user, making the digital experience one of intense interaction.
In an ever increasing technologically reliant culture, the values and norms of society are changing. In the next pieces of artwork, Wooden Mirror and Nosce Te Ipsum, the essence of typography and our concept of an interface is come into question. It is only then when we ourselves notice the medium change and that the interface is more then transparent in our society. We realize how much of an impact these interfaces have on our world. Churches are using social networking sites, emailing of newsletters outpaces paper copy, print newspapers are an extinct species. These changes in mediums will reflect the changes that our society is facing for many years to come.
Nice commentary here. And interactivity is very much a part of the digital medium, in contrast to older media such as print. I'd also point out that, in regard to the idea that the medium is the message, McLuhan also suggested that the medium is an environment, and new media give us an entirely new kind of environment to live in.
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