Interesting links, questions and discussions

Subject: From cultural studies to Interactivity…

This chapter looks centrally at the concept of interactivity. One of the best starting points for understanding how a particular artifact implies the engagement of the reader/user/viewer is to work through the many studies of fan culture. Fans invest enormously in any given production and many fans, through something called slash fiction, reinvent story lines for the characters of their favourite dramas. Henry Jenkins has investigated fan communities and the kinds of productions they have generated. From science fiction fans, to the new ways that fans have expressed their interests with image manipulation, via the Internet and Adobe Photoshop, Jenkins work represents how cultural studies has investigated the blurring line between reception and production. Look for his forthcoming book entitled Convergence Culture. His past books include, Textual Poachers (1992) and the edited collection From Barbie to Mortal Kombat: Gender and Computer Games (1998).

Sources of Interactivity

Systems theory and ecology are interesting launching grounds for an understanding of interactivity. In addition, any area of inquiry that thinks spatially has a long history of pondering forms of interactions across these dimensions. Architecture, cultural geography and theatre studies have become natural and historical sources for the building of virtual worlds through new media technology.

The other dimension of interactivity is the reconstruction of face-to-face communication. You should search for sources that are related to interpersonal communication and in psychological literature areas connected to group therapy.

Rob Shields has written one of the latest books on the virtual which is entitled appropriately, The Virtual (2003). An earlier book, Virtual Reality by Howard Rheingold is also worth investigating.

Systems theory is closely connected to the emergence of cybernetics. These approaches have been instrumental in the development of digital culture, computer communication and the entire human–machine interaction. Key thinkers include Norbert Wiener, who has been used by One web artist as an inspiration. It is worth looking at his website to explore the dimensions of cybernetic thinking. Other writers worth investigating are Greg Elmer (Profiling Machines) and Charlie Gere (Digital Culture).

As discussed in the chapter, the film Minority Report presents an interesting and not-too-distant version of the kinds of interactivity that work on surveillance and, ultimately, controlling the population in a manner that resembles the work of ideology.