Class Notes
Information Systems for the Visual Arts
New York University
Department of Art and Art Professions
Robbin Murphy, Instructor

"Shape Shifting"
24 September 1998

http://www.nyu.edu/education/art/visartsadmin/infosystems/092498.html

The theme of the class refers to the quote from "Interface Culture" about
the maleability made possible by computers. I used it to talk about the
introduction of the Macintosh in 1984 and interface then to talk about
different document formats (text/ascii vs. binary/formatted) and how to
deal with them in e-mail. I linked this to a talk Martha Wilson gave to the
last "Museums and the Web" conference about how she has struggled to turn
"Franklin Furnace" into a "virtual institution."

I talked a little about HTML, HTTP, and the evolution of Web browsers from
Lynx to the present. The main point was that the same document can take
many forms from a formatted Word document to be printed, to HTML to PDF.

Then the class subscribed to the mailing list I set up using Lyris software
through a Web interface. I was surprised by the fact that few of them
seemed to know what an e-mail mailinglist was, or could be used for. So, I
will be using the list to demonstrate. Most still have no idea what a
Rhizome is though I've encouraged them to join.

These are visual arts administration students who have varying levels of
use of computers and network technology. These are the people who will be
making decisions in the art institutions they will either create or join.

Next week: HTML!

I've made an easier link to the class Web site:

http://artnetweb.com/nyu/

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