E-Reading

E-Reading can be used didactically, to describe a certain concept to the reader for their better understanding. Unlike face-to-face oral teaching, E-reading is capable of integrating imagery, and thus involves and tests the reader's visual literacy skills. It also can use video or audio files; and since it's online, it's highly accessible. An example of E-reading was given. As this E-reading suggests, symbology has always been an integral part of the communication of our society. Unlike language, this visual dialect varies through each culture and adapts to the change of time. For example, it is possible that future generations will be able to easily recognize the new pepsi logo, while we would be able to catch reference of the previous one much more easily. The reading also points out the elements that combine to form visual compositions: dot, line, shape, direction, texture, hue, saturation, value, scale, dimension, and motion. The source also shows a picture to describe each of these terms. This is exactly why E-reading has become so valuable as a teaching tool, it provides so many different levels of supplementary information. The reader can read along at their own pace, click on the links for further definition, and have the image supplied to back up their understanding of the written word.

E-Reading is often the very second thing I turn to when I'm preparing myself for a new art project, following face-to-face consultation with peers. This is because of the immense variety of opinions and information it offers me. Especially when I'm working with materials to create a sculpture that no one I know has worked with, I can simply log on to the Instructables website to find out the methods I need to take to complete my objectives. Instructables is a just another kind of E-learning, sharing website, specifically organized to be read in a step-by-step format. There are pictures to go along with text and oftentimes outside links to further your search for information. I can see myself in the future, as an artist, continually returning to E-reading sources like this to discover newer and better ways of constructing my projects.

This reminds me of a recent gallery opening in the Reitz in honor of the Future of Digital Studies conference. Hundreds were invited to bring their laptops in order to interact with John Cayley's installation, Imposition. Participants were asked to pick a language, (English, French, and German) from one of four possible passages, crank up the volume, and let their music blend and eventually synchronize through a specialized detection software. In this way, the space became a symphony of translations. As the piece progresses on your computer screen, you see the passage slowly appear as a mixture of all the languages, along with an accompanying image. The image can be of anything: a person, nature scenery, anything that will give you your own individual interpretation of the seemingly incoprehensible words. This piece, along with Cayley's other digital poetry projects, explore digital interpretation of language and how easily they flow into one another.