Response 2_Tyler R

With today’s many-to-many media we are surrounded by technology that adds to our global presence. As individuals, we are able to extend ourselves into the digital space, that creates a part of us that connects to the web of individuals. These selves are independent of our human body’s but are not independent of our mental identity.

Phage is a project that takes information and data from whatever hard drive it is installed to and projects it onto a black display screen. The pieces of information it displays is completely random and can vary from text, photo, or audio files. I found the phage video to provoke existential questions about the project. What is this piece of information? Why is it being shown to me? Who is showing it? What does it mean? The way the program delivers the information to the viewer is very disorienting, and in most cases, the information is unreadable or moving in such a way that you had no chance.  This project creates a strange mirror on what it means to be human because much like hard drives our brain stores every piece of information we have ever experienced. We are not aware of that because we can only recall a certain amount of information at a time, often forgetting the incredible amount of data that is stored within us. This program is designed to show you all of the random pieces of information you stored on your hard drive and probably forgot about. I think also that it is not meant to answer any of the earlier questions, it does not care what the information is or the meaning attached to it, it is up to the human to do that. This is a very personal project that when used by any given person, it will yield different results. I think this varies person to person within any race, or gender, or class. I do not think that the boundaries of this project are drawn around those classifications, rather than the individual themselves.

The Jennicam had an interesting story behind it, as it was the first time someone had taped and streamed their daily life onto the internet. Some people credit it to the start of reality television as we know it, as it was definitely the first pioneer of the virtual territory. By essentially live streaming her life onto the internet she shaped what kind of self was possible because people are allowed to watch every day and begin to gain information on someone that they have never met in their entire life. With this new many-to-many technology, society goes through a shift in relationship with computers and the internet. Because of Jennicam, the internet became a much more personal space. You are able to communicate with other humans in which you would otherwise never see or know instantly. This is a very exciting thought but as we are now well aware of, having the ability to communicate to everyone is a great responsibility that everyone must take on in order for it to be useful.