New Media Culture

There is currently a huge debate going on concerning the constant advance of surveillance technogy.
Surveillance or CCTV is said to be used to protect our cities and our societies but mainly people think it is encroaching on our lives and destroying our privacy. It can also be seen to be trying to change our behaviour with its presence.
The concept of surveillance technology originated frim M. Foulcault's idea of Jeremy Bentham's 'Panopticon', as a symbol of changing technologies' of surveillance and discipline.
Jeremy Bentham's Panopticon was designed to be a self regulating prison integrated with social descipline. The Panopticon was a circular designed building composed of a ring of cells to house the inmates. The control of the wardens was maintained by the constant assumption that the prisoners were always being watched.

Benthams plans for social reform used his technology of architecture to change the prison inmates, he predicted they would gradually become self-disciplined by the endless threat of being watched. I suppose the police have kind of adopted this process by placing CCTV through out cities.
Benthams' prison was never built but his concept is seen in the work of Foulcault and of course in the development of security surveillance today.
Surveillance can be used for two main reasons:-
1. For the collection of information regarding a specific identity.
2. For the exertion of power over an individual by the authorities use of surveillance in public spaces.
The use of modern surveillance systems or 'CCTV' in public spaces now raises the issue of social control and invasion of privacy. On an average we pass 300 surveillance cameras a day, especially in public spaces. Every transaction or interaction we make with other people or other technological devices are used to locate our position. Devices lke mobile phones and cash points are used to record not only our location but our everyday interactions and spending habits.


We are all being monitored to an unprcedented degree and most of us are not even aware of it happening.
It is also apparent that the mere presence of surveillance changes what we are and how we behave, this is because of the 'Big Brother is watching you' kind of messge being delivered by the government. I think this concept revolves around the idea of power and how the surveyor has power over the surveyed. This can be seen as a positive factor of surveillance as the cameras help some individuals feel safe. However a new concept of 'Big Brother' is evolving which is takeing surveillance to a whole new level. People are wanting to be watched 24 hours a day purely to entertain our society. I think this will change the younger generations notions of our rights to privacy.

When it comes to surveillance there will always be apparent issues focusing on our rights to privacy. However what will happen when surveillance advances beyond the point of control. There becomes a point when we cannot protect our personal lives and the data surveillance records and collects. We are even being recorded and watched at work to make sure we are doing our jobs properly. The only place we can take advantage of our rights to privacy is in our own homes, but how long before that is taken from us?

I decided to write this blog on the growing apprehension concerning the effects of technology. In my opinion the relationship between the youth of our society and the growth of technology is slowly getting out of control. This is due to the expansion of the media in every form - from the basic viewing of wars, conflict and terrorism dispayed on the news to the invention of new technology readily available to any child. The development of television has had a huge effect on the amount of time people (mainly teenagers) spend sitting in one room all day. In particular the development of the computer game which is what i want to talk about. Members of our society will literally sit infront of a computer or television screen playing imaginary games with imaginary characters al day. There are many negative issues that have evolved from the ever advancing 'computer game' one being child obesity. That can be blamed on the television as well but many children young and in their teens will be affecting their health by becoming addicted to computer games. It isn't just unhealthy children that is seen as a side effect to over use of computer games but also the hinderance of their ablity to socialise with other children. When i was a kid yeah they had computer games but we spent every free minute outside playing with friends, not sitting couped up on a sofa or study chair.
Helena and I actually live with two boys and we decided to use them as our subjects for this blog, plus we wanted to rant about them a bit! These boys have turned our dining room into a 'blokes room', our kitchen table is covered with a television and playstation 2 box. Their favourite and instantly understood phrase at the moment ia "Pro?" which to us normal people means "would you like to play a game of pro evolution?" Pro Evolution has become the bane of our lives, it is a football game where you are the players. We wanted these photos to display the sheer about of time that is wasted staring at a television screen. Sometimes late at night you can still hear them playing game afer game.

We suddenly realised that these boys are so in love with this form of media that they would rather sit in a small room playing football with their fingers rather than actually going out into the fresh air and playing the game with real people. This made me realise that the development and use of a childs social skills (skills that will be vital in later life) are being left behind and ignored.
I also started thinking about the effects of everyday events like wars and terrorist acts that are being transfered and made into computer games where its fun to kill and causing more damage and conflict means you win! Children will become desensitised to the horrific images we are shown in the news. They will begin to think its a natural act to blow up buildings and destroy cities.
I sound incredibly judgemental towards the development of computer games but there are many games that can be harmless fun, for example, The sims, where you can create your own family, community or city and Car games where you race around in cars (not the one where you have to steal the car first!). I am just concerned with the over use of damaging images that are used to create enjoyment for children. Is the continuous advancing of technology corrupting childrens minds with damaging images? When will we know when to actually draw the line on violence in computer games (the point where we have gone to far) and how are children of this generation going to learn the social skills needed to interact and secure a future for them?

The thought of cloning in most peoples minds results in the answers - Impossible/wrong!
However it is a concept that is very quickly advancing into reality. For example everyone has heard of Dolly the Sheep, the first animal to be cloned. This just shows that cloning is not only possible but is also being broadcasted by the press for the public to see. Its not some hush hush scientific experiment.
Dolly the Sheep not only advanced animal cloning but paved the way for HUMAN CLONING. However the idea of human cloning causes such uproar in our society and is seen as something very controversial. So has not been practised yet - that we know of!! (HSBC television advert)
Human cloning has a stigmata attached to it- its is seen as very unethical as a human beings life and body is unique and should not be tampered with (although plastic surgery has put a stop to that mentality!) Another problem with human cloning is that our society doesn't know enough about it to guarantee its safe, and the fact that Dolly the Sheep died maybe from the effects of cloning shows the risk and ineffectness of animal cloning.

There are many arguments against human cloning the main being-
How are we allowed to create life in such a manner? And who is going to be the first to try. The major problem behind the concept of human cloning is that know one knows what the outcome would be.
Cloning humans may happen one day but watching films like The 6th Day certainly paints a negative view on the issue. This film introduces the issue of cloning not only humans but animals to, however the view on cloning animals is very different to cloning humans. The main character in The 6th Day is of course played by the invincible Arnold Schwarzenegger, who becomes cloned by a company trying to take over the human society with clones. Animal cloning is used and accepted but the image of human cloning is very evil. Arnies mission is to not only save his family...but also the rest of the world from the evil cloning organisation!!!

The 6th Day is your standard sci-fi 'arnie' film but also raises the issue of human and animal cloning. The animal cloning may seem to be accepted in the film but the thought of bringing a dead pet back to life is really rather creepy so could you imagine it happening with people?!
I sound very negative about human cloning in this blog as i do think the concept of it is immoral and wrong however i do agree that there may be some advantages to it, like being able to use cloning to generate tissues and organs for transplants. Cloning should be used to prolong life, not re-create it.
But you never know we could be living in the same world as our identical twin in years to come, i just hope i am not around when it happens.

We know that technology is everywhere, all over and around us. We also know that is starting to expand quicker than us -
-Its like a new universe within us
-Matter within us
-And we cant live without it.

The body is a huge area for advance and can be stripped, played with and improved by technology.
Technologists want to engage the body with the new opportunities arising. By doing this they can advance the human body further than many people think is possible.
Examples of subculture groups engaging with the technologies of the body could be; Stelarc, who uses technology to advance the body Or Orlan who uses plastic surgery as a method of art. Other practises of alternative subculture groups include bloodletting, piercing or branding.

These 'artists' take a post planetary position - like stepping out of the world, to exhibit their work.
All technologies are about enablement, a system of adapting the body efficiently and improving it.

Australian artist Stelarc wanted to explore the inner landscape of the body and surrenders it to technology - he says we are all remote controlled in a way, this he shows using physical actions.
Stelarc makes the interior of the body available to us but also destroys the intimate body by opening it up to us.
Some people say Stelarc degrades the human body to be nothing more then an entity - to him we are purely mechanisms that he can restore to a level where bodies are just bodies.

"Notion of technology invading the body"

Stelarc refers to the body as being brutilised or re-engineering the human body.

A few examples of Stelarcs 'work';

- Stelarc designed a third ear with all sorts of technologies embedded in it eg. radio, internet, MP3 player. It becomes part of a body so technological that there is no need for the body to even be there.
- The 'Ping Body' was an internet activated performance, other people across the world could control Stelarcs body by a touch screen computer. This then sends electrodes to his body. Its one body surrendered to the other.

Stelarc is trying to radically re-think what the body is and what it needs to be to keep up with the ever changing technology in our society.

"The body is profoundly obsolete." - Stelarc.

The French feminist artist Orlan wanted to challenge the conventional idea of how the body is percieved. To do this she used plastic surgery as her tool and broadcasts her operations live using local anaesthetic so she is concious throughout.
Orlan wanted to create a new version of beauty so had horns implanted into her forehead. While her operations are being carried out Orlan uses her own blood to draw pictures and express her feelings.
She uses the whole procedure and recovery period as her 'art' to show how beauty and the body can be easily changed.
One of her surgical ideas was to get the biggest nose possible but she couldn't find a surgeon who would step outside the cosmetic surgical boundaries.
Her experiments or surgery's are ways of discovering excellence in a physical form - As Orlan says, no one wants to end up with an average beauty.

These artists show that we are losing touch with the real and with human beings because technology is taking over with new ways to improve upon the 'normal'. Everything we ever do is now being measured, surveyed and tested, we are wiping out the distinctiveness that makes us human and replacing it with technology.

The point Stelarc is making is technology can long outlive the human body and soon enough there won't be any use for it.

Introduction to the course

This module is based on how 'New Media Cultures' have changed our personal lives and how they have become an instrinsic part of our lifestyle.
New media cultures can be linked to many aspects of everyday routine, and many different cultures have emerged from the use of New Media Cultures.

New Media can be many anything from - Information exchange to Classification. A few examples are: A social bond (common currency), A delivery of information (eg. a Television), A Storage Mechanism (eg. DVD's, CD's) or A use of Power (eg. politics or advertising)
All of these examples influence peoples lifestyle and choices.

Marx would say we all live in a state of conciousness.

"WE BELIEVE WE ARE FREE BUT EVERYWHERE WE ARE IN CHAINS."

Our lives are ruled by these technologies, things we can't go a few hours without, as our whole routine is upturned.

The public can never quite be sure of the quality of the information we recieve. Illusions, fantasies or Myths are at the heart of our capitilist society, this society holds promises just out of our reach for example The Lottery.

The term MEDIA comes from the word mediate: to stand between you and something else (eg. the middle man). As a whole our society utterly relies on the media to make meaning. We would find it practically impossible to complete many tasks without the help of media, and most of the time it happens without us even knowing about it.
A lot of the time Media cuts in the way of real straight communication

New Media is nothing more than a discourse, it is not definite and is always in progress. It can be seen as a dabate or discussion accessible to anyone.

However it is also strangely regulated - although it is supposed to be free to everyone and everything.