Bluriness. From Text to Abstraction in 6 steps. by Gabriela Baka

DIVISIO N BY TO PIC

BLURRINE S S FROM TE X T TO ABSTR ACTION IN 6 STEPS

Presenting blurriness of the present and future situation of the book based on 4 examples.

BLURRINE S S FROM TE X T TO ABSTR ACTION IN 6 STEPS

Presenting blurriness of the present situation and future of the book on 4 examples.

4 O P I N I O N S FROM

TEXT TO ABSTRACTION IN 6 STEPS

STEP

~ choosing 4 different opinions from online platform networkcultures.org and extracting the text

STEP

~ visualizing importance

~ color coding lines of text, according to their emotional meaning

~ dividing paragraphs and representing them by color, according to the topic

~ finding connections between similar paragraphs

~ positioning chosen paragraphs in the two dimensional grid and creating a blurry shape, representing aspeculative future of the text information

INTRO DUC TIO N

Nowadays everything is changing so fast. It is impossible to judge the today, nor to predict the tomorrow. I can see 2 different types of reading experiences: Book (long and perfect form for individual experience) and internet browsing (fast scanning for knowledge and sharing it with others) - two contradictory matters, should not be threaten each other. And yet fast reading on internet is successively pushing the traditional forms of reading out of usage. In my research about the future of the book, I have found ‘The Unbound Book Conference in Amsterdam - 2011.’ This Conference had gathered a lot of specialists from different fields, from book to publishing, writing and both in digital and printed matter. After watching too many video’s from that event, there is no clear answer for the future of the book- there is only many opinions and speculations. It seems that

the book is unbound in double sens: type of content, and its physical shape. Impatience of reading: ~ today’s behaviour of browsing the internet is changing depending on the reading experience. The use of social media and limitation of used sings is making reading and communicating more ephemeral. As internet users, we want to become more direct and faster in scanning information — perhaps, even getting them without reading. To overcome the impatience problem we should look for new reading experiences. Think how to make text more approachable and more communicative. Maybe it is a good idea to transfer text into more imagelike forms and start informing in more abstract ways? Is it utopia to feel the text, its importance and it’s relation to the topic without actually reading it?

READ F I R

ME S T

WH Y

CONVENTIONAL NOTION OF THE BOOK, BASED ON CENTURIES OF PRINT, IS BECOMING R A P I D L Y OUTDATED. WHEN, THE CAPACITY TO CREATE DIGITAL B O O K - L I K E FUNCTIONS AND Unbound Book Conference, that took place in Amsterdam & Den Haag 19-21 may 2011â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

brought together academics, designers, writers, librarians, software and hardware developers, and publishers who want to take part in defining their roles within this transformative landscape, all through panel discussions, presentations and workshops.

IT’S FORMS —IS ENDLESS. IN A DOUBLE SENSE, THE BOOK IS U N B O U N D , BOTH FROM THE BINDINGS OF THE PRINTED VOLUME, BUT ALSO THE BOUNDARIES BETWEEN TYPES OF CONTENT If connected to other information or mediums - is the book still a book?

Do we herald the death of the individual author and the rise of collaborative writing?

WH Y

AND MODES OF AU T H O RS HIP IN A WIDE, INTERCONNEC TED E L E C T R O N IC SPACE. THESE POSSIBILITIES MAY BE EXCITING, BUT THE DIGITAL BOOK IS LEFT WITHOUT OBVIOUS C O N T O U R S . How to translate the text in to image-like abstract forms?

While the printed Book seems finite, is there room for works that never achieve closure, the ones that will remain in an unfolding state?

THE ENTIRE CONCEPT OF 'BOOKNESS' NEEDS REINVENTION. TO DO THIS WELL, WE MUST GO BACK TO THE BASICS. THAT MEANS NOT ONLY QUESTIONING THE FUTURE OF THE BOOK AND ITS INSTITUTIONAL AND INTELLECTUAL What are the new possibilities of designing information and transfering them in to the book?

How we will reorganize and redistribute information?

INFRASTRUCTURES, BUT ALSO ASKING WHAT WE MAY WANT TO RETAIN OF THE FAMILIAR PRINTED VOLUME, EVEN AS WE E M B R A C E THE DIGITAL FUTURE. THOSE DEVELOPING THESE TECHNOLOGIES How books can represents our digital part of life?

Can books represent our way of simultaneously looking and working?

AND STANDARDS TOO OFTEN IGNORE PERSPECTIVES B E Y O N D I M M E D I A T E M A R K E T- D R I V E N C O N C E R N S . IT IS CRITICAL THAT CULTURAL AND USER-CENTRIC INITIATIVES STEP IN TO AFFECT ...show me your bookshelf and I will tell you who you are...

...books evokes special behaviours with the people

HOW WE DESIGN, UTILIZE, AND DISSEMINATE THE BOOK’S FUTURE FORMS. WHAT NEW MODELS CAN A D V A N C E THE WRITING, C O L L A B O R AT I N G , DISTRIBUTING, R E A D I N G What is the current situation of the book, publishing industry and e-books.

What is the future of the book or publishing industry?

What is a Book? Is it a material container for reading or is it the content itself?

or an entity of externalized memory, a metaphor for knowledge?

OBJECT—book seen as a symbol, importance of material and supernatural power

AND INTERPRETING KNOWLEDGE? WHAT CAN AFFECT THE FO RM AT TIN G AND DESIGNING O F D Y N A M I C C O N T E N T ? PRINTED MATTER — book sees in terms of design and printed techniques (represented by craftsmans); PERFECT FORM — when design meet the content and harmonically create perfect whole (represented by publishers or designers),

CONTENT—text, exctract, matter, long forms of sharing atentions, communication (common way of thinking for average reader);

Fragments of unbound book conference, that is recorded and archive on onlince platform networkcultures. org

‘Book becomes a souvenir of itself, of its own experience, and you are experiencing with it.’ JAMES BRIDLE

1 O P I N I O N

source

www.vimeo.com/24457610

time

1053

FUTURE OF PUBLISHING INDUSTRY

title

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29,72

% importance summary 36,18

33,99

% emotional meaning summary

32,25

44,75

% summary of topics 43

key words

# # # #

values of a book future publishing social reading and its behaviour book shapes experience

JAMES BRIDLE is a publisher, editor, writer and technologist. He has worked in all areas of the traditional and online publishing industries,and speaks worldwide at about literature and technology.

STEP

[...] For a while I was involved in making various book-shape experiment. As I said, I’m a publisher, so my default positions towards any new technology is trying to force literature into it. Often with quite ugly results- but usually with the end result as a book shape in some way: some times they resemble a new publishing and printing, and sometimes some kind of art project. They sit on the border between those things. For example: Last year I made a collection of books based on wikipedia, I toked entered chain log, every single article and print it out in a for of a book. If you do that, actually it comes out in a size of a twelf volumes encyclopedia. This huge object, sort of illustrates the ways in which book technologies can not entirely contain the new ways that we creating information, even thought it is not necessary the new information, butsuddenly we have the new possibilities to view it in this extraordinary way... and that quite exciting ... is to see the expectations towards form of a book. I also created a book of twitter. I printed out 2 years of my twits in a form of a book. Which I am not particulate proud of, because somebody actually need to do it for me, but I’m glad that I did it. And I was fascinated by the responds to it. Because I printed it as a very beautiful, hardback book. With all that weight of the expectations that we have, to the form of a physical book. When I gave it to people, it sort of confused them. And that is a good thing that people are confused by things, when you get under their skin. The bordernese of nature seems to be so ephemeral, so digital and not physical

1 but also so trashy, so unimportant and I gave it this form of a physical thing, That experiment revealed the weight the cultural history of importance that people give to that objects. I used it as a starting point, to question why people care so much about the books. What is it about them, that is so important? It is essentially I believe that BOOKS EXIST IN TIME. They have this incredible strong life that exist throughout time. Not like other media historically. Books exist before we put them up as a advertisements of themeself with bright covers that sort of cool them out. — And when you actually pick them up and read them, you will emerge with them in its space. This reading process is the most important part. You spend time with book.- you exist with it and you go on the journeys with the books itself. When you finish, the book does something totally unique, which other medium does not, becomes a souvenir of itself, of its own experience, and you experience with it. Also it Becomes a gift, something that you can store and share it and create new conversations about it. Book becomes a souvenir of itself, of its own experience, and you are experiencing with it. — For a long time the book was mistaken, that temporality of the book with its materiality. Cause when you hear people talking about e-books, you will hear all the time the same words: “Oh well, I like paper, it feels right, I want to be able to read it in the bath, I like the smell of the book”. I do not think that’s wrong, those are the

E X TR AC TIN G THE TE X T real things, but I do not think that those we really care about.Those are the things that we are hanging on to. E-books, so far produce cognitive dissonance, because they do not give us the temporal of the book that we require. Largely because of the bad design and because they knew that we are still working on them. We haven’t had any ways of in-acting with those pernament qualities. Those activities that I mean, and those that I focus on, and find interesting are: — What paper book achieves so easily? Writing on the margins, underlining the passages, dog-eating the book itself. Seeing physically our progress through it. — But that direct marking? That is possibly the most powerful thing. Bookmarking in a book, is the greatest interaction with the text. It is extraordinary thing. And slowly we put those things in to the e-book, and as we do so, I think we do something far more with them. We are encouraging people to make those marks as well. We are encouraging people to have those behaviors as well. I think we have been over too optimistic, with a lot of things that people do with books previously. There are wired behaviors around book, that we do not talk about so much. Like: book guilt, lot of people do not read, because of their ashamed how a little they read. Or people who, have the obsession to finish a book. I know people who haven’t read a book since years, because they haven’t finish that book, which they started several years ago. I think that e-books can change those

kind of behaviors. But also they can get away from their fears. Most people do not mark in books because, they think it is wrong to mark page, or its wrong to dog-it. We can change those behaviors. We can encourage people to do more with book. And all of those activities: the bookmark, annotations, the time spend with book and the conversation that we have around it, we can encode them as a totality of a reading experience. This is something with e-books and the network, that we can capture, and contain in a archive and wanted to spread. This is social reading. It is encoding our reading experience into something that last and is shareableif you wanted to be. It is important to distinguished the desire to share your bookmarks and to tell everyone what have you been reading and the simple desire, a very necessary desire to be able to keep those things for yourself and store them from the future. Or pass them on if its required. As we are just starting to develop those behaviors in e-books. This is the great opportunity for publishers. This is where publishing is going.

STEP

[...] For a while I was involved in making various book-shape experiment. As I said, I’m a publisher, so my default positions towards any new technology is trying to force literature into it. Often with quite ugly results- but usually with the end result as a book shape in some way: some times they resemble a new publishing and printing, and sometimes some kind of art project. They sit on the border between those things. For example: Last year I made a collection of books based on wikipedia, I toked entered chain log, every single article and print it out in a for of a book. If you do that, actually it comes out in a size of a twelf volumes encyclopedia. This huge object, sort of illustrates the ways in which book technologies can not entirely contain the new ways that we creating information, even thought it is not necessary the new information. but Suddenly we have the new possibilities to view it in this extraordinary way... and that quite exciting ... is to see the expectations towards form of a book. I also created a book of twitter. I printed out 2 years of my twits in a form of a book. Which I am not particulate proud of, because somebody actually need to do it for me, but I’m glad that I did it. And I was fascinated by the responds to it. Because I printed it as a very beautiful, hardback book. With all that weight of the expectations that we have, to the form of a physical book. When I gave it to people, it sort of confused them. And that is a good thing that people are confused by things, when you get under their skin. The bordernese of nature seems to be so ephemeral, so digital and not physical but also so trashy, so unimportant and 37,66%

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2 I gave it this form of a physical thing, That experiment revealed the weight the cultural history of importance that people give to that objects. I used it as a starting point, to question why people care so much about the books. What is it about them, that is so important? It is essentially, I believe that BOOKS EXIST IN TIME. They have this incredible strong life that exist throughout time. Not like other media historically. Books exist before we put them up as a advertisements of themeself with bright covers that sort of cool them out. — And when you actually pick them up and read them, you will emerge with them in its space. This reading process is the most important part. You spend time with book.- you exist with it and you go on the journeys with the books itself. When you finish, the book does something totally unique, which other medium does not, becomes a souvenir of itself, of its own experience, and you experience with it. Becomes a gift, something that you can store and share it and create new conversations about it. Book becomes a souvenir of itself, of its own experience, and you are experiencing with it. — For a long time the book was mistaken, that temporality of the book with its materiality. Cause when you hear people talking about e-books, you will hear all the time the same words: “Oh well, I like paper, it feels right, I want to be able to read it in the bath, I like the smell of the book”. I do not think that’s wrong, those are the real things, but I do not think that those we really care about.Those are the things 27,08%

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VISUA LIZIN G IMP O RTA N CE that we are hanging on to. E-books, so far produce cognitive dissonance, because they do not give us the temporal of the book that we require. Largely because of the bad design and because they knew that we are still working on them. We haven’t had any ways of in-acting with those pernament qualities. Those activities that I mean, and those that I focus on, and find interesting are: — What paper book achieves so easily? Writing on the margins, underlining the passages, dog-eating the book itself. Seeing physically our progress through it. — But that direct marking? That is possibly the most powerful thing. Bookmarking in a book, is the greatest interaction with the text. It is extraordinary thing. And slowly we put those things in to the e-book, and as we do so, I think we do something far more with them. We are encouraging people to make those marks as well. We are encouraging people to have those behaviors as well. I think we have been over too optimistic, with a lot of things that people do with books previously. There are wired behaviors around book, that we do not talk about so much. Like: book guilt, lot of people do not read, because of their ashamed how a little they read. Or people who, have the obsession to finish a book. I know people who haven’t read a book since years, because they haven’t finish that book, which they started several years ago. I think that e-books can change those kind of behaviors. But also they can get away from their fears. Most people 34,42%

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do not mark in books because, they think it is wrong to mark page, or its wrong to dog-it. We can change those behaviors. We can encourage people to do more with book. And all of those activities: the bookmark, annotations, the time spend with book and the conversation that we have around it, we can encode them as a totality of a reading experience. This is something with e-books and the network, that we can capture, and contain in a archive and wanted to spread. This is social reading. It is encoding our reading experience into something that last and is shareableif you wanted to be. It is important to distinguished the desire to share your bookmarks and to tell everyone what have you been reading and the simple desire, a very necessary desire to be able to keep those things for yourself and store them from the future. Or pass them on if its required. As we are just starting to develop those behaviors in e-books. This is the great opportunity for publishers. This is where publishing is going.

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I gave it this form of a physical thing, That experiment revealed the weight the cultural history of importance that people give to that objects. I used it as a starting point, to question why people care so much about the books. What is it about them, that is so important? It is essentially I believe that BOOKS EXIST IN TIME. They have this incredible strong life that exist throughout time. Not like other media historically. Books exist before we put them up as a advertisements of themeself with bright covers that sort of cool them out.

I also created a book of twitter. I printed out 2 years of my twits in a form of a book. Which I am not particulate proud of, because somebody actually need to do it for me, but I’m glad that I did it. And I was fascinated by the responds to it. Because I printed it as a very beautiful, hardback book. With all that weight of the expectations that we have, to the form of a physical book. When I gave it to people, it sort of confused them. And that is a good thing that people are confused by things, when you get under their skin. The bordernese of nature seems to be so ephemeral, so digital and not physical but also so trashy, so unimportant and 47,45%

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— And when you actually pick them up and read them, you will emerge with them in its space. This reading process is the most important part. You spend time with book.- you exist with it and you go on the journeys with the books itself. When you finish, the book does something totally unique, which other medium does not, becomes a souvenir of itself, of its own experience, and you experience with it. Also it Becomes a gift, something that you can store and share it and create new conversations about it. Book becomes a souvenir of itself, of its own experience, and you are experiencing with it. — For a long time the book was mistaken, that temporality of the book with its materiality. Cause when you hear people talking about e-books, you will hear all the time the same words: “Oh well, I like paper, it feels right, I want to be able to read it in the bath, I like the smell of the book”. I do not think that’s wrong, those are the real things, but I do not think that those

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EM OTIO N A L ME A NIN G we really care about.Those are the things that we are hanging on to. E-books, so far produce cognitive dissonance, because they do not give us the temporal of the book that we require. Largely because of the bad design and because they knew that we are still working on them. We haven’t had any ways of in-acting with those pernament qualities. Those activities that I mean, and those that I focus on, and find interesting are: — What paper book achieves so easily? Writing on the margins, underlining the passages, dog-eating the book itself. Seeing physically our progress through it. — But that direct marking? That is possibly the most powerful thing. Bookmarking in a book, is the greatest interaction with the text. It is extraordinary thing. And slowly we put those things in to the e-book, and as we do so, I think we do something far more with them. We are encouraging people to make those marks as well. We are encouraging people to have those behaviors as well. I think we have been over too optimistic, with a lot of things that people do with books previously. There are wired behaviors around book, that we do not talk about so much. Like: book guilt, lot of people do not read, because of their ashamed how a little they read. Or people who, have the obsession to finish a book. I know people who haven’t read a book since years, because they haven’t finish that book, which they started several years ago. I think that e-books can change those kind of behaviors. But also they can 41,04%

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get away from their fears. Most people do not mark in books because, they think it is wrong to mark page, or its wrong to dog-it. We can change those behaviors. We can encourage people to do more with book. And all of those activities: the bookmark, annotations, the time spend with book and the conversation that we have around it, we can encode them as a totality of a reading experience. This is something with e-books and the network, that we can capture, and contain in a archive and wanted to spread. This is social reading. It is encoding our reading experience into something that last and is shareableif you wanted to be. It is important to distinguished the desire to share your bookmarks and to tell everyone what have you been reading and the simple desire, a very necessary desire to be able to keep those things for yourself and store them from the future. Or pass them on if its required. As we are just starting to develop those behaviors in e-books. This is the great opportunity for publishers. This is where publishing is going.

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DIVISIO N BY TO PIC

individual readingÂ social reading traditional mediums new media & technology

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[...] For a while I was involved in making various book-shape experiment. As I said, I’m a publisher, so my default positions towards any new technology is trying to force literature into it. Often with quite ugly results- but usually with 1 the end result as a book shape in some DIGITAL CONTENT way: some times they resemble a new publishing printing,OF andBOOK sometimes IN and A FORM some kind of art project. They sit on the border between those things. For example: Last year I made a collection of books based on wikipedia, I toked entered chain log, every single article and print it out in a for of a book. If you do that, actually it comes out in a size of a twelf volumes encyclopedia. This huge object, sort of illustrates the ways in which book technologies can not entirely contain the new ways that we creating information, even thought it is not necessary the new information, butsuddenly we have the new possibilities to view it in this extraordinary way... and that quite exciting ... is to see the expectations towards form of a book. I also created a book of twitter. I printed out 2 years of my twits in a form of a book. Which I am not particulate proud of, because somebody actually need to do it for me, but I’m glad that I did it. And I was fascinated by the responds to it. Because I printed it as a very beautiful, hardback book. With all that 2 the expectations that we have, weight of DIGITAL CONTENT to the form of a physical book. When I gave itIN to people, it sort of BOOK confused A FORM OF them. And that is a good thing that people are confused by things, when you get under their skin. The bordernese of nature seems to be so ephemeral, so digital and not physical

5 but also so trashy, so unimportant and I gave it this form of a physical thing, That experiment revealed the weight the cultural history of importance that people give to that objects.

I used it as a starting point, to question INDIVIDUAL why people care so much about the books. What is it about them, that READINGis so important? BOOKSIt is essentially I believe that BOOKS EXIST IN TIME. They have this incredible strong life that exist throughout time. Not like other media historically. Books exist before we put them up as a advertisements of themeself with bright covers that sort of cool them out. — And when you actually pick them up and read them, you will emerge with them in its space. This reading process is the most important part. You spend time with book.- you exist 4 you go on the journeys with it and with theINDIVIDUAL books itself. When you finish, READING the book does something totally BOOKS unique, which other medium does not, becomes a souvenir of itself, of its own experience, and you experience with it. Also it Becomes a gift, something that you can store and share it and create new conversations about it. Book becomes a souvenir of itself, of its own experience, and you are experiencing with it. — For a long time the book was mistaken, that temporality of the book with its materiality. Cause when you hear 5 about e-books, you will people talking hear all the time the same words: “Oh E-BOOK well, I like paper, it feels right, I want to be able to read it in the bath, I like the smell of the book”. I do not think that’s wrong, those are the

C O NNEC TIN G PA R AGR A PHS real things, but I do not think that those we really care about.Those are the things that we are hanging on to.

6 so far produce cognitive E-books, dissonance, because they do not give us INDIVIDUAL the temporal of the book that we require. READING- EBOOK Largely because of the bad design and because they knew that we are still working on them. We haven’t had any ways of in-acting with those pernament qualities. Those activities that I mean, and those that I focus on, and find interesting are: — What paper book achieves so easily? Writing on the margins, underlining the passages, dog-eating the book itself. Seeing physically our progress through it. — But that direct marking? That is possibly the most powerful thing. Bookmarking in a book, is the greatest7interaction with the text. It is extraordinary thing. And slowly we put BOOKMARKING those things in to the e-book, and as -SOCIAL READING we do so, I think we do something far more with them. We are encouraging people to make those marks as well. We are encouraging people to have those behaviors as well. I think we have been over too optimistic, with a lot of things that people do with books previously. There are wired behaviors around book, that we do not talk about so much. Like: book guilt, lot of people do not read, because of their ashamed how a little they read. Or people8who, have the obsession to finish aBOOK book. I GUILT know people who haven’t read a book since years, because they haven’t finish that book, which they started several years ago. I think that e-books can change those

FROM BOOK TO EBOOK This is something with e-books and

the network, that we can capture, and contain in a archive and wanted to spread. This is social reading. It is encoding our reading experience into something that last and is shareableif you wanted to be. It is important to distinguished the desire to share your 10and to tell everyone what bookmarks have you READING been reading and the simple desire, a very necessary desire to be EXPERIENCE able to keep those things for yourself and store them from the future. Or pass them on if its required. As we are just starting to develop those behaviors in e-books. This is the great opportunity for publishers. This is where publishing is going.

STEP

6 6

BOOK-TRADITIONAL MEDIUM

SOCIAL READING

P OSITIO NIN G PA R AGR A PHS P OINT O N GRID

NEW MEDIA & TECHNOLOGIES

INDIVIDUAL READING EXPERIENCES

Book as an idea, is based on this: the way in which the information is presented, selected, sequenced, edited, surrounded by tools like index, notes, references. That way adds to the value of the information. As an integrated whole, this is its form, turns information, data into something more than itself supposedly knowledge, wisdom, beauty. DIRK VAN WEELDEN

O P I N I O N

source

www.vimeo.com/24414154#at=0

time

959

DESIGNING FOR SIGN-CONSUMPTION

title

amount ofÂ words

26,67

% importance summary 35,67

37,66

52,26

17,98

29,76

% emotional meaning summary

% summary ofÂ topics 30

key words

# # # # # #

sing-consumption reading practice efficiency types of reading autonomy of a text rethinking the idea of book

DIRK VAN WEELDEN writer and philosopher. Literary debut: Arbeidsvitaminen.Writes on art, photography, literature, media, design, architecture,cinema for newspapers and magazines.

STEP

The Book is an object. It’s a stack of paper glued and bounded together, printed with text and images. That you pick it up today at a bookshop. It’s only superficially similar to XVIII century folio edition, it’s printed on paper, sure, but all its features and specifications are radically changed. Paper, ink, the letters itself, fonts, process of editing, publishing and selling a book have completely change. Hand made image and the alphabet where king in the XVIII, and now everything is data. Meaning that is radical, technical and commercial e-quality and fluidity between recorded sound and moving image or photographic stored images, all possible source of data. The book is an idea. Or should I say ideal, in a world where people died easily and young, where a lot time, talent and energy were required to support basic human needs. To gather valuable information, something of extreme importance. Because not published in a book- that information would be very easily lost to the humanity. Books where not only useful or entertaining but they where the key to growth and survival of civilization. No surprise that books where treated with a lot of respect and libraries where looking like temples. The book as an idea, is a printed version of a concept of work. A network of elements presented ideas, visions, experiences to the public sphere. It is more than frozen random selection. Book is a medium and as a medium is nowadays a link, in a sequence of media events. An intellectual and cultural context for

1 a book can only exist in a form of a websites, exhibition shows, televised interviews, symposiums, debates or Facebook groups, links to blogs and internet forums or even merchandised. [...] ‘Books-Works’ are completely dependent on this context. To be distributed, to be understood and to be appreciated. More and more Books anticipate their successful connection to that other media in their editing in their structure, in the illustrations, layout or style. Much like magazines and newspapers offers access to the information forums, movies online by the Qr text. Is it pragmatic? Is it selling out? I think the title of this conference is a good direction – direction that I'm thinking. Unbound. The book, the printed word, in a sense is in prison. Just as much as its glorious past, and the conservatism in publishing as a result of it, but also by the system and formats of commercial media industry, that rule our public life and the culture more and more. Liberating a printed word from this prison requires 3 things: 1# The idea of the book, that transcend the physical book, and includes all the media, so interactive online media, as well. To find a form that have a value and enhancing effect of the coherent stable work, without killing the vividness, mediacy and social aspect of digital media. Maybe the images can expand the idea of a book, beyond the object, and appropriate other media to achieve the territory for a work. Conquer as a part of the work, a part of the context

E X TR AC TIN G THE TE X T in which the written word does not suffer from other medias dictates but cooperates with them. This new book would be a tans-digital medium that takes control over the cultural conditions, that the written world lives in. By counteracting the loss of meaning of its states as a work. The written word would be a heart of this ‘Book-Work’, but would not be that necessary. 2# To achieve this printed matter would relate to the text online, video's forums, real events and…interact with it. And it should be an investigation about how actually people read, watch, listen. There is many ways to read a text, speed reading, scanning, out loud, analytically. There is information reading, looking on a text like a message, performative reading mentally playing the text. Not in all types of context those types of readings are possible, just as different forms of literacy are distinguished, but are not always used. It’s all about tinkering combinations till you find a right mix between the visual and the text. [...] What objective is? — To find a contemporary digital equivalent to the work. To integrate the power of reading, writing, editing into assemblage like that. For that you need to know as much as you can how to trig and mold peoples attention. My intuition says, that this is all about the techniques to counter the fragmenting and disconnecting and endlessly repeating completely informal qualities of media culture.

3# This notion of this new ‘Unbound Book’ as a medium is a project that’s involving more than tackling media questions or design problems. There is economic dimension added to that. Digital technology has made it possible to exploit a free time, social life and culture much better than ever before. In theory most cultural activities could sustain themselves, because of these technical possibilities. [...] From what we need to liberate us from today? What do we need is — new media to help us, in that emancipation. I think the power of the economy, of the politics, life and culture and even though online media - our private lives and personal sphere is comparable to the power of the church from 1500. Book liberated itself from that church, now its need to win with the power of social media. The ‘Unbound Book’ as I vision it, would not ignore those realities, utopia style, but I would include organizational economical consideration in to that design. Tactically, with explicit objective to free withering ‘Bound Book’ culture dictates big media industry and allowed this type of new ‘Book-Work’ — where the name of ‘Unbound Book’ is a clumsy name to develop, it is thought full of potential.

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a book can only exist in a form of a websites, exhibition shows, televised interviews, symposiums, debates or Facebook groups, links to blogs and internet forums or even merchandised. [...] ‘Books-Works’ are completely dependent on this context. To be distributed, to be understood and to be appreciated. More and more Books anticipate their successful connection to that other media in their editing in their structure, in the illustrations, layout or style. Much like magazines and newspapers offers access to the information forums, movies online by the Qr text. Is it pragmatic? Is it selling out? I think the title of this conference is a good direction – direction that I'm thinking. Unbound. The book, the printed word, in a sense is in prison. Just as much as its glorious past, and the conservatism in publishing as a result of it, but also by the system and formats of commercial media industry, that rule our public life and the culture more and more. Liberating a printed word from this prison requires 3 things: 1# The idea of the book, that transcend the physical book, and includes all the media, so interactive online media, as well. To find a form that have a value and enhancing effect of the coherent stable work, without killing the vividness, mediacy and social aspect of digital media. Maybe the images can expand the idea of a book, beyond the object, and appropriate other media to achieve the territory for a work. Conquer as a part of the work, a part of the context

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VISUA LIZIN G IMP O RTA N CE in which the written word does not suffer from other medias dictates but cooperates with them. This ‘New Book’ would be a tans-digital medium that takes control over the cultural conditions, that the written world lives in. By counteracting the loss of meaning of its states as a work. The written word would be a heart of this ‘Book-Work’, but would not be that necessary. 2# To achieve this printed matter would relate to the text online, video's forums, real events and…interact with it. And it should be an investigation about how actually people read, watch, listen. There is many ways to read a text, speed reading, scanning, out loud, analytically. There is information reading, looking on a text like a message, performative reading mentally playing the text. Not in all types of context those types of readings are possible, just as different forms of literacy are distinguished, but are not always used. It’s all about tinkering combinations till you find a right mix between the visual and the text. [...] What objective is? — To find a contemporary digital equivalent to the work. To integrate the power of reading, writing, editing into assemblage like that. For that you need to know as much as you can how to trig and mold peoples attention.

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3# This notion of this ‘New Unbound Book’ as a medium is a project that’s involving more than tackling media questions or design problems. There is economic dimension added to that. Digital technology has made it possible to exploit a free time, social life and culture much better than ever before. In theory most cultural activities could sustain themselves, because of these technical possibilities. [...] From what we need to liberate us from today? What do we need is — new media to help us, in that emancipation. I think the power of the economy, of the politics, life and culture and even though online media - our private lives and personal sphere is comparable to the power of the church from 1500. Book liberated itself from that church, now its need to win with the power of social media. The ‘Unbound Book’ as I vision it, would not ignore those realities, utopia style, but I would include organizational economical consideration in to that design. Tactically, with explicit objective to free withering ‘Bound Book’ culture dictates big media industry and allowed this type of new ‘Book Work’ — where the name of ‘Unbound Book’ is a clumsy name to develop, it is thought full of potential.

My intuition says, that this is all about the techniques to counter the fragmenting and disconnecting and endlessly repeating completely informal qualities of media culture. 47,29% 209 words

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in which the written word does not suffer from other medias dictates but cooperates with them. This new book would be a tans-digital medium that takes control over the cultural conditions, that the written world lives in. By counteracting the loss of meaning of its states as a work. The written word would be a heart of this ‘Book-Work’, but would not be that necessary. 2# To achieve this printed matter would relate to the text online, video's forums, real events and…interact with it. And it should be an investigation about how actually people read, watch, listen. There is many ways to read a text, speed reading, scanning, out loud, analytically. There is information reading, looking on a text like a message, performative reading mentally playing the text. Not in all types of context those types of readings are possible, just as different forms of literacy are distinguished, but are not always used. It’s all about tinkering combinations till you find a right mix between the visual and the text. [...] What objective is? — To find a contemporary digital equivalent to the work. To integrate the power of reading, writing, editing into assemblage like that. For that you need to know as much as you can how to trig and mold peoples attention.

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The Book is an object. It’s a stack of paper glued and bounded together, printed with text and images. That you pick it up today at a bookshop. It’s only superficially similar to XVIII century folio edition, it’s 1 printed on paper, sure, but all its features and SOCIAL specifications are radically changed. MEDIA Paper, ink, the letters itself, fonts, process of editing, publishing and selling a book have completely change. Hand made image and the alphabet where king in the XVIII, and now everything is data. Meaning that is radical, technical and commercial e-quality and fluidity between recorded sound and moving image or photographic stored images, all possible source of data. The book is an idea. Or should I say ideal, in a world where people died easily and young, where a lot time, talent and energy were required to support basic human needs. To gather valuable information, something of extreme importance. Because not published in a book- that information would be very easily lost to the humanity. Books where not only useful or entertaining but they where the key to growth and survival of civilization. No surprise that books where treated with a lot of respect and libraries where looking like temples. The book as an idea, is a printed version of a 2 concept of work. A network of elements BOOK presented ideas, visions,NEW experiences to NEW MEDIA the public sphere. It is more than frozen random selection. Book is a medium and as a medium is nowadays a link, in a sequence of media events. An intellectual and cultural context for

5 a book can only exist in a form of a websites, exhibition shows, televised interviews, symposiums, debates or 3 Facebook groups, links to blogs and NEW BOOK internet forums or even merchandised.

NEW MEDIA

[...] ‘Books-Works’ are completely dependent on this context. To be distributed, to be understood and to be appreciated. More and more Books anticipate their successful connection to that other media in their editing in their structure, in the illustrations, layout or style. Much like magazines and newspapers offers access to the information forums, movies online by the Qr text. Is it pragmatic? Is it selling out? I think the title of this conference is a good direction – direction that I'm thinking. Unbound.

4 word, in a sense The book, the printed is in prison. Just as muchMEDIA as its glorious NEW past, and the conservatism in publishing SOCIAL ASPECT as a result of it, but also by the system and formats of commercial media industry, that rule our public life and the culture more and more. Liberating a printed word from this prison requires 3 things: 1# The idea of the book, that transcend the physical book, and includes all the media, so interactive online media, as well. To find a form that have a value and enhancing effect of the coherent stable work, without killing the vividness, mediacy and social aspect of digital media. Maybe the 5 images can expand the idea of a book, beyond the object, NEW MEDIA and appropriate other media to achieve HYBRID the territory for a work. Conquer as a part of the work, a part of the context

C O NNEC TIN G PA R AGR A PHS in which the written word does not suffer from other medias dictates but cooperates with them. This new book would be a tans-digital medium that takes control over the cultural conditions, that the written world lives in. By counteracting the 6 loss of meaning of its states as a work. SOCIAL The written word would be a heart of READING this ‘Book-Work’, but would not be that necessary. 2# To achieve this printed matter would relate to the text online, video's forums, real events and…interact with it. And it should be an investigation about how actually people read, watch, listen. There is many ways to read a text, speed reading, scanning, out loud, analytically. There is information reading, looking 7 on a text like a message, performative MEDIA readingNEW mentally playing the text. Not in all types of context those types of SOCIAL ASPECT readings are possible, just as different forms of literacy are distinguished, but are not always used. It’s all about tinkering combinations till you find a right mix between the visual and the text. [...] What objective is? — To find a contemporary digital equivalent to the work. To integrate the power of reading, writing, editing into assemblage like that. For that you need to know as much as you can how to trig and mold peoples attention.

8 NEWsays, BOOK My intuition that this is all

about the techniques to counter the fragmenting and disconnecting and endlessly repeating completely informal qualities of media culture.

BOOK I think the power of the economy, of the politics, life and culture and even though online media - our private lives and personal sphere is comparable to the power of the church from 1500. Book liberated itself from that church, now its need to win with the power of social media.

The ‘Unbound Book’ as I vision it, would not ignore those realities, utopia style, but I would include organizational economical consideration in to that design. Tactically, with explicit objective to free withering ‘Bound Book’ culture dictates big media industry and allowed this type of new ‘Book-Work’ — where the name of ‘Unbound Book’ is a clumsy name to develop, it is thought full of potential.

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â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Using process based design methodology means that you know from the beginning that there is no difference whether the end result will be a book or a magazine, an urban area or the whole city, because the process is what defines it.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; DIMITRI NIEUWENHUIZEN

3 O P I N I O N

source

www.networkcultures.org / outofink /2012/11/09/interview-with-dimitri-nieuwenhuizen-lust-the-hague/

time

816

title

MERGING OF DIGITAL AND PHYSICAL WORLD

amount of words

12,42

% importance summary 38,62

48,95

48,03

22,9

29,7

% emotional meaning summary

% summary of topics

key words

# process based design # multimedia experimental approach # finding new forms of communication # how to deliver new informations?

DIMITRI NIEUWENHUIZEN is cofounder of LUST studio. LUST works in a broad spectrum of media including traditional printwork and book design, abstract cartography and data-visualisations, new media and interactive installations, and architectural graphics. Moreover, LUST is deeply interested in exploring new pathways for design at the cutting edge where new media and information technologies, architecture and urban systems and graphic design overlap.

STEP

Many LUST projects deal with rethinking material objects with a digital approach. We founded Lustlab in 2010. At that time it was already becoming clear that the economic crisis would happen and that times would have changed. We were used to doing projects in the cultural field, since, that was where you could experiment the most, go a few steps further, see the potential of your ideas, even if it didn’t work out 100%. However, at that time, we had already realized that the cultural field was completely collapsing. Therefore, for us it was still a very important issue, and we decided to start a laboratory where we could keep doing these kind of projects. Hence, with a huge amount of experimenting, not even necessarily having a clear goal, we started LUSTlab whose aim was to cross the lines of design, science and technology to find new forms of communication. Within LUSTlab we have also done some projects to investigate how reading was changing, not necessarily how the book will be in the future, but more about how we absorb information. McLuhan already said in the ’60’s, that basically it is the medium that changes us, rather than the information that’s in the medium. Of course for us, as we are human beings, the content is the most important thing, but actually it is the carrier of that content that defines our society. We have always tried to find the bridge between information and the carrier of information, so now we are just doing the same with the digital world. For example looking at a digitalized text, we can create algorithms to figure out what this text is about. Some of these concepts come from the theories of Wolfgang Iser on how the meaning of

1 texts changes depending on the context. LUSTlab tried to use these theories with digital text: for example, in order to analyze a text and figure out what it means, we can find algorithms to trace the meaning of it in terms of semantic orientation and location. Another interesting way to analyze a text is to have links to the context: who is the writer, where did he study, what is his background etc., and any other kind of meta information. We create something like a fingerprint, so that the computer can use its semantic orientation to find other information, for example, what is the emotional value of each word, or where are the people who are talking about any given subject. Again, for me, a stream of tweets is also like a book... [...] I think that the e-book – which is actually a very incomplete word was invented to build a bridge between something we are so use to, analog technologies and paper, and the digital world that we are trying to replace that with. For me, the e-book is no more than a half product, it’s like the CD: one of the many steps that had to be taken in the transformation from analogue music to digital. [...] In fact, I think that text in the digital age is never alone in any medium, since it has so many layers. We are all very skilled in using all these layers by just browsing the web, why not use them to read a book? [...] We made, let’s call them, interactive books or magazines, which were all experiments to help figure out how content and context could relate to each other.

E X TR AC TIN G THE TE X T Important there - is the relationship between text and images. Images and texts are only different in form, but actually they are quite close. Images were the first form people used to try to easily pass information onto other people. Later, somehow, those images became symbols, and then symbols became characters and, combined with one another, they became sentences. With an image, with one glance you can find multiple layers of information, this of course has a different meaning, but there actually is not so much of a difference between text and image. However, now we are starting to realize that using the characters we have created, those from the latin alphabet, our communication is limited. This is finally being proved through the internet. Therefore, in the making of a book, being limited is a choice, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s something that we appreciate and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s also the value of the book, thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why I think analogue books are not going to disappear. [...] I wish that publishers and other people involved in publishing, for example content creators,would start to think about how they want to deliver their information. We got so used to paper, which was of course a fantastic invention! [...] but this is going to come to an end. So how do you want this information reach the reader, now that we are living in a world in which these two things, the digital and the material, are integrated.

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2 texts changes depending on the context. LUSTlab tried to use these theories with digital text: for example, in order to analyze a text and figure out what it means, we can find algorithms to trace the meaning of it in terms of semantic orientation and location. Another interesting way to analyze a text is to have links to the context: who is the writer, where did he study, what is his background etc., and any other kind of meta information. We create something like a fingerprint, so that the computer can use its semantic orientation to find other information, for example, what is the emotional value of each word, or where are the people who are talking about any given subject. Again, for me, a stream of tweets is also like a book... [...] I think that the e-book – which is actually a very incomplete world was invented to build a bridge between something we are so use to, analog technologies and paper, and the digital world that we are trying to replace that with. For me, the e-book is no more than a half product, it’s like the CD: one of the many steps that had to be taken in the transformation from analogue music to digital. [...] In fact, I think that text in the digital age is never alone in any medium, since it has so many layers. We are all very skilled in using all these layers by just browsing the web, why not use them to read a book? [...] We made, let’s call them, interactive books or magazines, which were all experiments to help figure out how content and context could relate to each other.

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Important there - is the relationship between text and images. Images and texts are only different in form, but actually they are quite close. Images were the first form people used to try to easily pass information onto other people. Later, somehow, those images became symbols, and then symbols became characters and, combined with one another, they became sentences. With an image, with one glance you can find multiple layers of information, this of course has a different meaning, but there actually is not so much of a difference between text and image. However, now we are starting to realize that using the characters we have created, those from the latin alphabet, our communication is limited. This is finally being proved through the internet. Therefore, in the making of a book, being limited is a choice, it’s something that we appreciate and it’s also the value of the book, that’s why I think analogue books are not going to disappear. [...] I wish that publishers and other people involved in publishing, for example content creators, would start to think about how they want to deliver their information. We got so used to paper, which was of course a fantastic invention! [...] but this is going to come to an end. So how do you want this information reach the reader, now that we are living in a world in which these two things, the digital and the material, are integrated.

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texts changes depending on the context. LUSTlab tried to use these theories with digital text: for example, in order to analyze a text and figure out what it means, we can find algorithms to trace the meaning of it in terms of semantic orientation and location. Another interesting way to analyze a text is to have links to the context: who is the writer, where did he study, what is his background etc., and any other kind of meta information. We create something like a fingerprint, so that the computer can use its semantic orientation to find other information, for example, what is the emotional value of each word, or where are the people who are talking about any given subject. Again, for me, a stream of tweets is also like a book... [...] I think that the e-book – which is actually a very incomplete word was invented to build a bridge between something we are so use to, analog technologies and paper, and the digital world that we are trying to replace that with. For me, the e-book is no more than a half product, it’s like the CD: one of the many steps that had to be taken in the transformation from analogue music to digital. [...] In fact, I think that text in the digital age is never alone in any medium, since it has so many layers. We are all very skilled in using all these layers by just browsing the web, why not use them to read a book? [...] We made, let’s call them, interactive books or magazines, which were all experiments to help figure out how content and context could relate to each other.

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Important there - is the relationship between text and images. Images and texts are only different in form, but actually they are quite close. Images were the first form people used to try to easily pass information onto other people. Later, somehow, those images became symbols, and then symbols became characters and, combined with one another, they became sentences. With an image, with one glance you can find multiple layers of information, this of course has a different meaning, but there actually is not so much of a difference between text and image. However, now we are starting to realize that using the characters we have created, those from the latin alphabet, our communication is limited. This is finally being proved through the internet. Therefore, in the making of a book, being limited is a choice, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s something that we appreciate and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s also the value of the book, thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why I think analogue books are not going to disappear. [...] I wish that publishers and other people involved in publishing, for example content creators,would start to think about how they want to deliver their information. We got so used to paper, which was of course a fantastic invention! [...] but this is going to come to an end. So how do you want this information reach the reader, now that we are living in a world in which these two things, the digital and the material, are integrated.

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Many LUST projects deal with rethinking texts changes depending on the conmaterial objects with a digital approach. text. LUSTlab tried to use these theories We founded Lustlab in 2010. At that with digital text: for example, in order 1 time it was already becoming clear that to analyze a text and figure out what it NEW and TECHNOLOGIES the economic crisis would happen means, we can find algorithms to trace RETHINKING OLD that times would have changed. We were the meaning of it in terms of semantic used to doing projects in theOBJECTS cultural orientation and location. field, since, that was where you could experiment the most, go a few steps furAnother interesting way to analyze a ther, see the potential of your ideas, even text is to have links to the context: if it didn’t work out 100%. However, at who is the writer, where did he study, that time, we had already realized that what is his background etc., and any the cultural field was completely collapsother kind of meta information. We 4 ing. Therefore, for us it was still a very create something like a fingerprint, so important issue, and we decided to start that the computer canNEW use its MEDIA semantic NEW LANGUAGES a laboratory where we could keep doing orientation to find other information, for these kind of projects. example, what is the emotional value COMMUNICATION of each word, or where are the people Hence, with a huge amount of experiwho are talking about any given subject. menting, not even necessarily having a Again, for me, a stream of tweets is also 2 clear goal, we started LUSTlab whose like a book... aim was to cross the lines ofNEW design,IDEAS science and technology to find new forms of [...] I think that the e-book – which is communication. Within LUSTlab we have actually a very incomplete word also done some projects to investigate was invented to build a bridge between how reading was changing, not necessarsomething we are so use to, analog ily how the book will be in the future, but technologies and paper, and the digital more about how we absorb information. world that we are trying to replace that with. For me, the e-book is no more than McLuhan already said in the ’60’s, that a half product, it’s like the CD: one of the basically it is the medium that changes many steps that had to be taken in the us, rather than the information that’s transformation from analogue music to in the medium. Of course for us, as we digital. are human beings, the content is the most important thing, but actually it is [...] In fact, I think that text in the digital the carrier of that content that defines age is never alone in any medium, since our society. We have always tried to find it has so many layers. We are all very the bridge between information and the skilled in using all these layers by just 3 carrier of information, so now we are just browsing the web, why not use them CONTENT doing the same with the digital world. to read a book? [...] We made, let’s call For example looking at a digitalized text, them, interactive books or magazines, 5 we can create algorithms to figure out which were all experiments to help figure what this text is about. Some of these out how content andHYBRID context could relate concepts come from the theories of to each other. E-BOOK Wolfgang Iser on how the meaning of

AS A STEP BETWEEN

C O NNEC TIN G PA R AGR A PHS Important there - is the relationship between text and images. Images and texts are only different in form, but actually they are quite close. Images 6 were the first form people used to try toSOCIAL easily passMEDIA information onto other people. Later, somehow, those images became symbols, and then symbols became characters and, combined with one another, they became sentences. With an image, with one glance you can find multiple layers of information, this of course has a different meaning, but there actually is not so much of a difference between text and image. However, now we are starting to realize that using the characters we have created, those from the latin alphabet, our communication is limited. This is finally being proved through the internet. Therefore, in the making of a book, being limited is a choice, it’s something that we appreciate and it’s also the value of the book, that’s 7 analogue books are not going why I think to disappear. NEW DISPLAY

FOR INFORMATION

[...] I wish that publishers and other people involved in publishing, for example content creators,would start to think about how they want to deliver their information. We got so used to paper, which was of course a fantastic invention! [...] but this is going to come to an end. So how do you want this information reach the reader, now that we are living in a world in which 8 these two things, the digital and the material, are integrated.

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NEW MEDIA & TECHNOLOGIES

INDIVIDUAL READING EXPERIENCES

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;We are convinced, that as our reading habits change, so must our writing habits and the way we communicate, and ultimately the way we think. Authoring is blurring with curating, and the expression of the in-between gains importance over content.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; ANTHON ASTROM

O P I N I O N

source

www.networkcultures. org /outofink /2012/12/30/ interview-with-anthonastrom-the-cafe-societyastrom-zimmer-lines-interacting-with-an-idea/

time

784

INTERACTING WITH IDEA

title

amount of words

191 WORDS 24,4%

% importance summary 41,2% 322 WORDS

% emotional meaning summary

% summary of topics 5

key words

# image information # risk of Google # relation between the content & the structure # tanslating book-behaviours into internet

ANTHON ASTROM The Café Society Project was initiated in 2007 by Astrom / Zimmer and collaborators. Anthon Astrom and Lukas Zimmer run shop out of the Woods (Zürich). Through The Café Society Project they investigate frameworks — rulesets— based on how reading, writing and organisation of textual information could work differently.

STEP

[...] The main difference between a book and an e-book in terms of “reading experiences” is that one is ingenious and the other is incredibly stupid. Ok, I own a Kindle and I do quite enjoy it, but for the fact that it makes my library portable, and not because of the reading experience. The print book has undergone centuries of refinement, and throughout its lifetime it has remained very high-tech regarding its components – surface, print, binding, size etc. Then along comes digital computing and screens, and what do we do? We take an ancient, analogue approach to presenting text, and paste it into this new environment, without even bothering to translating some of its most basic features – its hapticity, its location in a room, the act of turning physical pages, the fact that the remaining stack of paper gets thinner as you approach the end, etc – all of which are extremely important cognitive clues to the mind experiencing and processing the content. In this sense e-Books are worryingly poor compared to their analogue counterparts. The term “reading experience” feels like a passive action – something that comes out of reading in a certain medium, using a certain interface. That medium / interface combination can then be viewed more mechanically, like a “reading machine”. The traditional book has certain functionalities that can be accessed and triggered while reading, just as a digital interface on the screen has. The “experience of reading” is the sum of these functions plus the act of using them.

1 [...] As we know the relationship between text and image has always been one of the core matters in visual communication. Now in the digital environment this relationship look different on two levels. The act of reading (and writing) on the screen has a lot more common with image analysis than old-school paper pages, since it’s dynamic, and information can blend in and out as pixels, not having to follow the rules of linearity. This also means we have a lot more possibilities for replacing lists and linear argument with images, and have images carry a lot more of the “hard” information we traditionally had to put in writing. [...] The relationship between content and structure in the laying out of a book (indexes, hyperlinks, different ways of visualization etc.) in digital publishing are more dynamic. We can compress a lot more information on a smaller space. It started with simple hyperlinks, moving though old HTML image maps, and nowadays there seems to be no limit to how we can “hide” large amounts of information – text, more images, videos – behind parts of images or points in graphs. This makes for a super playing field for coming up with new ways of indexing stuff on the screen. And what’s perhaps even more interesting – by taking the things we learn from this digital indexing, and applying it to print publications, we can start to completely rethink the paper. Visual indexes have started to appear more and more in print books, and I’m very sure we’re still only scratching the surface of what’s possible. Overload of information? [...] we’ve already reached it. There’s way more stuff

E X TR AC TIN G THE TE X T out there than any of us could consume in a lifetime. The new challenge lays in content curation, and here is also a much greater risk; over the last 10 years or so we’ve started to trust filtering services way too much, to the extent that our favourite online gateway – Google – has started to provide personalised search results. Theoretically this is a great service, but the impact is that our world view becomes increasingly isolated. What we need is more overview – more blur – not more reduced sharpness. [...] Art and design practice definitely can, is and will contribute in great ways to the evolution of publishing, but the question is to what extent. Until now the development has been very efficiencydriven, and we keep locking ourselves into certain design patterns when it comes to interfaces – digital or physical. Much of it has to do with our striving for consensus, and our fear of being unclear. Perhaps it’s time for the artistic part of creative design practice to get a bigger role, and push for solutions – interfaces, devices – which are blurry, more openended. Digital devices and their interfaces are the new grammatical rules defining the way we communicate, both inter- and intra-personally. And we need to start treating them with the philosophical respect they deserve. That means not only treating them as a means to a productive end, but as arguments in a discussion about bigger things. And this is the domain of the arts and design. .

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75 words

[...] As we know the relationship between text and image has always been one of the core matters in visual communication. Now in the digital environment this relationship look different on two levels. The act of reading (and writing) on the screen has a lot more common with image analysis than old-school paper pages, since it’s dynamic, and information can blend in and out as pixels, not having to follow the rules of linearity. This also means we have a lot more possibilities for replacing lists and linear argument with images, and have images carry a lot more of the “hard” information we traditionally had to put in writing. [...] The relationship between content and structure in the laying out of a book (indexes, hyperlinks, different ways of visualization etc.) in digital publishing are more dynamic. We can compress a lot more information on a smaller space. It started with simple hyperlinks, moving though old HTML image maps, and nowadays there seems to be no limit to how we can “hide” large amounts of information – text, more images, videos – behind parts of images or points in graphs. This makes for a super playing field for coming up with new ways of indexing stuff on the screen. And what’s perhaps even more interesting – by taking the things we learn from this digital indexing, and applying it to print publications, we can start to completely rethink the paper. Visual indexes have started to appear more and more in print books, and I’m very sure we’re still only scratching the surface of what’s possible. Overload of information? [...] we’ve already reached it. There’s way more stuff

27,59%

144 words

58,05%

303 words

VISUA LIZIN G IMP O RTA N CE

PER PAGE

out there than any of us could consume in a lifetime. The new challenge lays in content curation, and here is also a much greater risk; over the last 10 years or so we’ve started to trust filtering services way too much, to the extent that our favourite online gateway – Google – has started to provide personalised search results. Theoretically this is a great service, but the impact is that our world view becomes increasingly isolated. What we need is more overview – more blur – not more reduced sharpness. [...] Art and design practice definitely can, is and will contribute in great ways to the evolution of publishing, but the question is to what extent. Until now the development has been very efficiencydriven, and we keep locking ourselves into certain design patterns when it comes to interfaces – digital or physical. Much of it has to do with our striving for consensus, and our fear of being unclear. Perhaps it’s time for the artistic part of creative design practice to get a bigger role, and push for solutions – interfaces, devices – which are blurry, more openended. Digital devices and their interfaces are the new grammatical rules defining the way we communicate, both inter- and intra-personally. And we need to start treating them with the philosophical respect they deserve. That means not only treating them as a means to a productive end, but as arguments in a discussion about bigger things. And this is the domain of the arts and design.

34,95%

86 50 words

20,33%

50 words

44,72%

110 words

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VISUA LIZIN G IMP O RTA N CE

PER PAGE

redundant valid important

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20,96% 161 words

25,26% 194 words

53,77% 413 words

VISUA LIZIN G IMP O RTA N CE SUMM A RY

STEP

276 words

16,9%

88 words

30,1%

157 words

EM OTIO N A L ME A NIN G

PER PAGE

17,9%

44 words

51,2%

126 words

30,9%

76 words

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EM OTIO N A L ME A NIN G

PER PAGE

positive neutral negative

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41,7% 320 words

21,4% 164 words

EM OTIO N A L ME A NIN G

36,9% 283 words

SUMM A RY

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1,1%

18 words

28,1%

75 words

20,9%

53 words

50,9%

250 words

DIVISIO N BY TO PIC

30,9%

38 words

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DIVISIO N BY TO PIC

individual readingÂ social reading traditional mediums new media & technology

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18,9%

1,1%

20,1%

35%

DIVISIO N BY TO PIC

SUMM A RY

STEP

5 [...] As we know the relationship between text and image has always been one of the core matters in visual4communication. Now in the digital environment this INDIVIDUAL relationship look different on two levels.

READING

The act of reading (and writing) on the screen has a lot more common with image analysis than old-school paper pages, since it’s dynamic, and information can blend in and out as pixels, not having to follow the rules of linearity. This also means we have a lot more possibilities for replacing lists and linear argument with images, and have images carry a lot more of the “hard” information we traditionally had to put in writing.

Then along comes digital computing and screens, and what do we do? We take an ancient, analogue2approach to presenting text, and paste it into this NEW BOOK [...] The relationship between content new environment, without even botherMEDIAand structure in the laying out of a book ing to translating some of its NEW most basic features – its hapticity, its location in a (indexes, hyperlinks, different ways of room, the act of turning physical pages, visualization etc.) in digital publishing the fact that the remaining stack of paper are more dynamic. We can compress a gets thinner as you approach the end, lot more information on a smaller space. etc – all of which are extremely important It started with simple hyperlinks, moving cognitive clues to the mind experiencing though old HTML image maps, and nowand processing the content. adays there seems to be no limit to how we can “hide” large amounts of informaIn this sense e-Books are worryingly poor tion – text, more images, videos – behind compared to their analogue counterparts. parts of images or points in graphs. The term “reading experience” feels like This makes for a super playing field for a passive action – something that comes coming up with new ways of indexing 3 out of reading in a certain medium, using stuff on the screen. And what’s perhaps a certain interface. That medium / interNEW MEDIAeven more interesting – by taking the face combination can then be viewed things we learn from this digital indexing, more mechanically, like a “reading and applying it to print publications, we machine”. can start to completely rethink the paper. The traditional book has certain functionalities that can be accessed and triggered while reading, just as a digital interface on the screen has. The “experience of reading” is the sum of these functions plus the act of using them.

Visual indexes have started to appear 5 more and more in print books, and I’m very sure we’re still only NEW scratching the MEDIA surface of what’s possible. HYBRID Overload of information? [...] we’ve already reached it. There’s way more stuff

C O NNEC TIN G PA R AGR A PHS out there than any of us could consume in a lifetime. The new challenge lays in content curation, and here is also a much greater risk; over the last 10 years or so we’ve started to trust filtering services way too much, 6 to the extent that our favourite online gateway – Google – has NEW BOOK started to provide personalised search reNEW MEDIA sults. Theoretically this is a great service, but the impact is that our world view becomes increasingly isolated. What we need is more overview – more blur – not more reduced sharpness. [...] Art and design practice definitely can, is and will contribute in great ways to the evolution of publishing, but the question is to what extent. Until now the development has been very efficiencydriven, and we keep locking ourselves into certain design patterns when it comes to interfaces – digital or physical. Much of it has to do with our striving for consensus, and our fear of being unclear. Perhaps it’s time for the artistic part of 7 design practice to get a bigger creative role, and pushMEDIA for solutions – interfaces, NEW devicesSOCIAL – which are blurry, more openASPECTS ended. Digital devices and their interfaces are the new grammatical rules defining the way we communicate, both inter- and intra-personally. And we need to start treating them with the philosophical respect they deserve. That means not only treating them as a means to a productive end, but as arguments in a discussion about bigger things. And this is the domain of the arts and design. 8 .

SOCIAL MEDIA DEVELOPING A BOOK

9 NEW MEDIA HYBRID

STEP

BOOK-TRADITIONAL MEDIUM

SOCIAL READING

P OSITIO NIN G PA R AGR A PHS P OINT O N GRID

NEW MEDIA & TECHNOLOGIES

INDIVIDUAL READING EXPERIENCES

3 9

SUMMARY

4 SH A PE S

SUMMARY

4 O PINIO NS

SUMMARY

OVERL A PPIN G O F 4 SH A PE S

SUMMARY

6 1 3

4 2 2 3

4 1 9

5 8 6

7 7

8 8 6

A LL P OINT S FRO M E ACH TE X T

6 1 2 2

4 2 3

5 9

7 9 7 10

BO O K (IS) ...

a r e ading exp erienc e

make me curious ab out a subje c t

a r e al b e aut y lie s in p ower full c ontent

exis tenc e thr ough time

of ten, a b o ok â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s b e aut y lie s in small but cr ucial de signs [...] de cisions deter mine a b o ok â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s p er suasivene s s

material c ont ainer for r e ading a balanc e and c ontr ol

c ommunic ating with me when de signer thought ab out the c ontent the me aning and the p o s sibilitie s of the b o ok

give s enjoyment

le ave b ehing a nic e memor y and new knowle gde

is like a go o d friend

an ide a, sy s tem

that, what c an b e handle d e asily

c an pr ovoke our s ens e s and ex tend the me aning s of the tex t

an entit y of ex ternalize d memor y

that, what you r ememb er as a tr ue for m and obje c t

me ans that s ome one s ommit a signific ant amount of time, money and ide as to cr e ate s omething p er nament

RE A DIN G E X PEROIM CE (IS) ...

an ac tion

a jour ney with the tex t

ob s er vation and p ar ticipation fe eling

evoking imagination

iner tia

under s t anding and analy zing

exer cis e o f p er c eption ther e ar e the func tion alitie s in the b o ok that c an b e ac c e s s e d and trig ger e d while r e ading. The â&#x20AC;&#x153;exp erienc e of r e ading â&#x20AC;? is the sum of the s e func tions plus the ac t of using them. visual interpr et ation

a sharing knowle dge andÂ t alking ab out b o ok s or ar ticle s

expanding the limit s of r e adabilit y

s c anning and s e ar ching for infor mation examination p ar aphr asion tr anslation af fir mation explanation

s ele c ting o f infor mation

tr ans fering tex t me s s age s in to image -like for ms

marking & par aphr asing

emer genc e of the for m

[P-9]

UNBOUND source 1:

http://networkcultures.org / wpmu/outofink /unboundbook-2011/ source 2 : http://networkcultures.org / wpmu/outofink /unboundbook-2011/about /

source 3:

http://networkcultures.org / wpmu/outofink /unboundbook-2011/biographies/

source 4:

http://networkcultures.org / wpmu/outofink /boek-uitde-band-2012/ [P-9]

VIDEOS source:

http://networkcultures.org / wpmu/outofink /unboundbook-2011/video/

+++++++++++ REL ATED JAMES BRIDLE

source 1:

http://booktwo.org /

source 2:

http://www.riglondon.com/

source 3:

http://vimeo.com/ search?q=james+bridle

source 4:

http://www.openbookmarks.org /social-reading / DIRK VAN WEELDEN source 1: http://www.dirkvanweelden.net / LUSTL AB source 1: http://lustlab.net / source 2: http://lust.nl/ source 3: http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=ukpsKqCoKsY source 4: http://vimeo.com/lustlab

CAFESOCIET Y

source 1:

http://lab.astromzimmer. com/cafesociety

source 2:

http://astromzimmer. com/

source 3:

http://networkcultures.org /wpmu/ outofink /2012/12/30/ interview-with-anthonastrom-the-cafe-societyastrom-zimmer-lines-interacting-with-an-idea/

source 4:

http://vimeo. com/27660313

source 5:

http://vimeo.com/astromzimmer UNBOUND source 1: http://e-boekenstad.nl/ unbound/ NETWORK CULTURE http://networkcultures.org / wpmu/portal/

G A B RIE L A

B A K A

2013 IN FO R M AT I O N D E S I G N _ D E S I G N A C A D E M Y E IN D H OV E N

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