Louise Poissant

New Media Dictionary

Section Editor: Louise Poissant Leonardo Editorial Advisor The New Media Dictionary project was born out of the desire to name and define the many and varied forms of art that have developed in conjunction with technology. A whole lexicon is being created to describe the many processes, techniques, instruments, critical and aesthetic concepts—in short, the entire emerging culture—of this immense laboratory workshop. The original electronic version of this dictionary (in French) contains about 2,000 entries, illustrations, examples of works, references and comments from artists and experts (URL: ). English translations of selected dictionary entries can be found at the following Web site: . The terms selected for this installment of the New Media Dictionary come from the field of video. The original group of terms and definitions have been selected by the Groupe de recherche en arts mediatiques (GRAM). However, interested artists and researchers are invited to submit additions and comments to Section Editor Louise Poissant [1] for possible inclusion in the electronic version of the dictionary; credit will be given to all contributors. In this way, the New Media Dictionary will gradually become a collective project in which each significant contribution will find its place. These definitions were prepared by Chantal duPont and Monique Langlois. Project director: Louise Poissant. Translator: Lou Nelson.

Netsurfers and Cybernauts in Search of Identity

© 1999 ISAST LEONARDO, Vol. 32, No. 3, pp. 217–222, 1999 217 The following is a selection of short texts presented at “The Aesthetic Status of Technological Art” colloquium at the Les Treilles Foundation, south of France, 3–9 March 1997. The colloquium was attended by 15 participants, including artists working in technological and traditional visual art forms; composers of electroacoustic music; and others from the fields of aesthetics, sociology, mathematics and physics. The texts published here and in the following issue of Leonardo indicate the variety of artworks and perspectives discussed at Les Treilles.

Creative technologies and innovation: health and well-being

Creative technologies and innovation: health and well-being Ted Krueger, Diana Maria Gallicchio Domingues and Louise Poissant School of Architecture, Rensslaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, USA; LART Founder and Director – Laboratory of Researcher in Art and TechnoScience CNPq Researcher (National Council for Scientific and Technological Development) Senior Collaborator Professor at the Graduate Program in Biomedical Engineering FGA and at the Graduate Program on Science and Technologies in Health – FCE – University of Brasilia – Research Collaborator at the Institute of Computing – University of Campinas Brazil; Faculté des arts, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada

The Encyclopedia of New Media Arts

The Dictionary of New Media Arts project [1] was a mapping and description of technologies used in art that allowed us first to observe the passage from tools and machines to interfaces and then gradually to witness the shift from the instrumental register to the more global paradigm of media ecology. Technologies are no longer reduced to tools of environmental transformation: they have become the very environment. They determine our sensory apparatus and our exchanges with the environment and with others— in short, our way of being. The continual inscription of new technologies and new aesthetic approaches, combined with the documentation and archiving of processes that have marked the history of new media arts, have led to a larger project: the Encyclopedia of New Media Arts. Artists and theorists of the international community are invited to submit new terms, definitions, historical notes, comments and visual and sound documents to this project, which will thus become a record, inspiration and guide for emerging practices. In this sense, the Encyclopedia becomes a project of community networking via creation of collaborative links, exchanges and pooling in the field. The Internet represents both a space and a platform perfectly adapted to the dimensions of the project. The information is universally accessible on-line, and it is very easy to get involved as a consultant, in both senses of the term: as user and as expert. One of the guiding principles of community networking applies precisely: The competence, knowledge and know-how of an individual may belong to him or her but do not generate value in isolation. To create value, it is necessary to combine human capital, knowledge capital and network innovation capital. The Encyclopedia is meant to become just such a network. Combining text, sound and image, the multimedia dimension of the Encyclopedia allows escape from the circularity in which a dictionary is enclosed, where every cross-reference is done word to word. The possibility of connecting to artworks, graphic illustrations and interviews prompts a continuous dialogue between words and things. To name, describe, illustrate, measure, exemplify, compare, distinguish and translate are operations that answer and challenge each other, providing the opportunity to update and improve consensual definitions, while at the same time facilitating exchanges between these definitions and exemplifying artworks. The interpenetration of tools and theory seen in the sciences is echoed in the arts, where practice, vocabulary and sensibility are gradually being transformed by the integration of technological devices and elements. New media arts seem naturally intended for all kinds of interbreeding. It is expected that they will be practiced less and less in isolation. This tendency to interbreed validates the establishment of the media ecology paradigm because it supports the interactions and the exchanges between the various elements, which are woven, merged and lost in one another.

Part VII: Multimedia Part I

The New Media Dictionary project [1] was born out of the desire to name and define the many and varied forms of art that have developed in conjunction with technology. A whole lexicon is being created to describe the many processes, techniques, instruments, and critical and aesthetic concepts—in short, the entire emerging culture—of this immense laboratory workshop. The terms selected for this issue come from the field of Telematics. The terms and definitions have been chosen by the Groupe de recherche en arts médiatiques (GRAM). Interested artists and researchers are invited to submit additions and comments to Section Editor Louise Poissant [2]. These contributions will be added to the electronic version of the dictionary, with credit to the author. In this way, the New Media Dictionary will gradually become a collective project, in which each significant contribution will find its place. These definitions were prepared by Jean Dubois and Suzanne Leblanc, directed by Louise Poissant. Project director: Louise Poissant. Translator: Lou Nelson.

New Media Dictionary: Part VI: Telematics

The New Media Dictionary project [1] was born out of the desire to name and define the many and varied forms of art that have developed in conjunction with technology. A whole lexicon is being created to describe the many processes, techniques, instruments, and critical and aesthetic concepts—in short, the entire emerging culture—of this immense laboratory workshop. The terms selected for this issue come from the field of Telematics. The terms and definitions have been chosen by the Groupe de recherche en arts médiatiques (GRAM). Interested artists and researchers are invited to submit additions and comments to Section Editor Louise Poissant [2]. These contributions will be added to the electronic version of the dictionary, with credit to the author. In this way, the New Media Dictionary will gradually become a collective project, in which each significant contribution will find its place. These definitions were prepared by Suzanne Leblanc. Project director: Louise Poissant. Translator: Lou Nelson.

New Media Dictionary: Part V: Copy Art

The New Media Dictionary project [1] was born out of the desire to name and define the many and varied forms of art that have developed in conjunction with technology. A whole lexicon is being created to describe the many processes, techniques, instruments, and critical and aesthetic concepts—in short, the entire emerging culture—of this immense laboratory workshop. The terms selected for this issue come from the field of Copy Art. The terms and definitions have been chosen by the Groupe de recherche en arts médiatiques (GRAM). Interested artists and researchers are invited to submit additions and comments to Section Editor Louise Poissant [2]. These contributions will be added to the electronic version of the dictionary, with credit to the author. In this way, the New Media Dictionary will gradually become a collective project, in which each significant contribution will find its place. These definitions were prepared by Philippe Boissonnet. Project director: Louise Poissant. Translator: Lou Nelson.