October 28, 2003
On blogs
I'd been discussing the art of letter writing and sharing poetry with an old friend when I realised they had not really known what a blog was/is... I penned the following, or rather typed the following in an email, which in a way clarified what all this means to me:
A blog is a kind of web page that is setup for an individual to write a day by day account of just about anything. There are thousands and thousands of blogs on the internet and mine, Auto Scribe, is a personal attempt at understanding the context, the technology and what it means to journalise one's thoughts within a medium that becomes a kind of shared resource... People can comment on one's "journal" entry for instance and as such, this can influence the way one writes...
I still keep a daily journal of sorts, both personal and mundane, where as the blog is perhaps less so. Auto Scribe is a way for family and friends to know what I'm up to. As so much of my writing time has been consumed by email, my letter writing has decreased to zilch!
Auto Scribe is also a kind of notepage. I also use it to log ideas when I'm travelling or list references, etc. I've always wanted a way to append notes to URLs. As such a tool doesn't appear to be available within a browser, MovableType's bookmarklet feature fills that need.
My personal journal is more important to me than any blog could be, as it reflects more the world I inhabit and those I inhabit it with. Auto Scribe reflects more that which transpires during the long hours in front of my computer. Auto Scribe has a more utalitarian role, whereas the paper based journal serves all manner of outlets, if only to remind me what it is I must do today, what I am to do tomorrow and what I forgot to do yesterday.
Thanks to Justina for reviving my journal writing... She gave me with a decent sized Filofax for Christmas... I write nearly every day now with a pen no less!
On generative compositions
When I started writing generative music, barely anyone was interested in the concept. One radio interviewer understood the idea and thought I would become a millionare by the end of the last century, but it was only a few months ago that a generative work of mine was actually installed and ran for 4 months in an Australian gallery. Prior to that, the only generative works that I have "performed" in Australia have been via our (Toy Satellite) initiatives, or via the bold and far reaching vision of the ABC's Listening Room, which I believe is being taken off air.
These days there is hardly anyone that doesn't talk about generative art and there are countless more who consider themselves in the vanguard of this genre. It is really quite remarkable!
I wonder now what it is that drives people to create generative works? Is it that they want something fresh to inspire their work by? For me, it is the idea, the concept or the context of the original work that is the driver, not necessarily the process or the software for that matter.
At a recent performance someone looked over my shoulder, before I started playing, and made some stupid remark when they saw Fruity Loops, which was actually FLStudio Pro. If they bothered to listen, rather than judge the work by the software, they may have learnt something of the capability of something like Fruity to assist in the creation of works other than those that are beat driven.
I love using Koan and have done since the first moment I had it running, way back in 95. Suddenly, I was able to actuate ideas that had been sketched back in the 80s, and I was able to "jam" with my computers and create a body of work I would otherwise have only dreamt about.
Although I enjoy "playing" with software, as I did last night with the new version of Mulch, it is generally the idea that is the driver, not necessarily the software, although there have been pieces that have grown out of these playtimes too... and that's great!
October 14, 2003
Beatnik Sofware
Having worked with Beatnik I was suprised to find the company no longer supports this plugin, let alone developing it for use in the more recent browsers. I was also suprised to find no obvious links to these legacy plugins, but I've since found an archive courtesy of skop shop.
Beatnik Browser Plugins - PC and Mac.
