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h'ENERATION &LASHv INCORPORATES REVISED VERSIONS
OF THE TEXTS COMMISSIONED FOR WWWWHITNEYBIENNIAL
COM AND HTTPWWWELECTRONICORPHANAGECOMBIEN
NALE "OTH EXHIBITIONS WERE ORGANIZED BY -ILTOS -ANE
TAS %LECTRONIC /RPHANAGE h/N 54/0)!v WAS COMMIS
SIONED BY &UTUREFARMERS
'ENERATION &LASH
,EV -ANOVICH
4HIS ARTICLE IS ABOUT h&LASH 'ENERATIONv AND NOT
ABOUT THE 7EB SITES MADE WITH &LASH SOFTWARE -ANY
OF THE SITES WHICH INSPIRED ME TO CONSIDER h&LASH AES
THETICSv ARE NOT NECESSARILY MADE WITH &LASH 4HEY USE
3HOCKWAVE $(4-, 1UICKTIME AND OTHER MULTIMEDIA
7EB FORMATS 4HUS THE QUALITIES ) DESCRIBE IN THIS TEXT
AS BEING SPECIFIC TO h&LASH AESTHETICSv ARE NOT UNIQUE TO
&LASH SITES
&OR INSTANCE THE WORK OF ,ISA *EVBRATT *OHN 3IMON
AND 'OLAN ,EVIN
'%.%2!4)/. &,!3(
,EV -ANOVICH
4HE DIFFERENT SECTIONS OF THIS ESSAY EXAMINE THE PHENOMENON OF
&LASH GRAPHICS ON THE 7EB WHICH HAS ATTRACTED A LOT OF CREATIVE TALENT
OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS &LASH AESTHETICS ARE MUCH MORE THAN THE PROD
UCT OF A PARTICULAR SOFTWARE HARDWARE CONlGURATION LOW BANDWIDTH
LEADING TO THE USE OF VECTOR GRAPHICS 4HEY EXEMPLIFY THE CULTURAL
SENSIBILITY OF A NEW GENERATION 4HIS GENERATION DOES NOT CARE IF ITS
WORK IS CALLED ART OR DESIGN )TS REPRESENTATIVES ARE NO LONGER INTERESTED
IN THE hMEDIA CRITIQUEv THAT HAS PREOCCUPIED MEDIA ARTISTS FOR THE PAST
TWO DECADES )NSTEAD THEY ARE ENGAGED IN A SOFTWARE CRITIQUE )NSTEAD
OF SAMPLING COMMERCIAL MEDIA THEY WRITE SOFTWARE CODE IN ORDER TO
CREATE THEIR OWN CULTURAL SYSTEMS 4HE RESULT IS A NEW MODERNISM OF
DATA VISUALIZATIONS VECTOR NETS PIXEL
THIN GRIDS AND ARROWS "AUHAUS
DESIGN IN THE SERVICE OF INFORMATION DESIGN 2EPLACING THE BAROQUE AS
SAULT OF COMMERCIAL MEDIA THE &LASH GENERATION DISHES UP MODERNIST
AESTHETICS AND THE RATIONALITY OF SOFTWARE )T USES INFORMATION DESIGN
AS A TOOL TO MAKE SENSE OF REALITY AND TRANSFORMS PROGRAMMING INTO A
TOOL OF EMPOWERMENT
3EE HTTPWWWPOTATOLANDORGLANDFILL
4URNTABLE AND &LASH 2EMIXING
FOR WWWWHITNEYBIENNIALCOM
4URNTABLE IS A 7EB
BASED SOFTWARE THAT ALLOWS USERS TO MIX UP TO
SIX DIFFERENT &LASH ANIMATIONS IN REAL TIME 5SERS CAN ALSO MODIFY THE
COLOR PALETTE THE SIZE OF INDIVIDUAL ANIMATIONS AND OTHER PARAMETERS
4HE ARTISTS PARTICIPATING IN WWWWHITNEYBIENNIALCOM WERE INVITED TO
SUBMIT SHORT &LASH ANIMATIONS 4HESE WERE EXHIBITED ON THE SITE BOTH
SEPARATELY AND AS PART OF 4URNTABLE REMIXES 3OME REMIXES CONSISTED
OF A NUMBER OF ANIMATIONS BY THE SAME ARTIST WHILE OTHERS USED ANI
MATIONS BY DIFFERENT ARTISTS
)T HAS BECOME A CLICH TO SAY THAT hWE LIVE IN A REMIX CULTUREv 3URE
WE DO "UT ISNT IT POSSIBLE TO GO BEYOND THIS SIMPLE STATEMENT OF FACT
&OR INSTANCE CAN WE DISTINGUISH BETWEEN DIFFERENT REMIX AESTHETICS
7HAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN REMIXES MADE WITH ELECTRONIC AND
COMPUTER TOOLS AND EARLIER FORMS SUCH AS COLLAGES AND MONTAGES 7HAT
ARE THE SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN AUDIO AND VISUAL REMIXES
4HINK LOOP !S THE BASIC BUILDING BLOCK OF AN ELECTRONIC SOUND
TRACK THE LOOP HAS ASSUMED A SURPRISINGLY STRONG POSITION IN CONTEM
PORARY VISUAL CULTURE 7HEN LEFT TO THEIR OWN DEVICES &LASH ANIMATIONS
1UICK4IME MOVIES AND THE CHARACTERS IN COMPUTER GAMES WILL LOOP
ENDLESSLY n OR UNTIL THE USER INTERVENES WITH A CLICK !S ) HAVE SHOWN
ELSEWHERE ALL NINETEENTH CENTURY PRE
CINEMATIC VISUAL DEVICES RELIED
ON LOOPS 4HROUGHOUT THE NINETEENTH CENTURY THESE LOOPS KEPT GETTING
LONGER AND LONGER n EVENTUALLY TURNING INTO A FEATURE NARRATIVE
4ODAY WE ARE WITNESSING A MOVE IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION ARTISTS ARE
SAMPLING SHORT SEGMENTS OF FEATURE lLMS OR 46 SHOWS ARRANGING THEM AS
LOOPS AND EXHIBITING THESE LOOPS AS hVIDEO INSTALLATIONSv 4HE LOOP HAS
BECOME THE NEW DEFAULT METHOD FOR CRITIQUING MEDIA CULTURE REPLACING
THE STILL PHOTOGRAPH USED IN THE POST
MODERN CRITIQUES OF THE S !T
THE SAME TIME THE LOOP HAS SUPERSEDED THE STILL PHOTOGRAPH AS THE NEW
INDEX OF THE REAL SINCE WE ALL KNOW THAT A STILL PHOTOGRAPH CAN BE DIGI
TALLY MANIPULATED IT APPEARS THAT A SHORT MOVING SEQUENCE ARRANGED
IN A LOOP IS A BETTER WAY OF REPRESENTING REALITY FOR THE TIME BEING
'ENERATION &LASH
,EV -ANOVICH
!FTER '5)
BASED APPLICATIONS SUCH AS (YPERCARD
$IRECTOR 0HOTOSHOP AND OTHERS BECAME COMMONPLACE
MANY COMPUTER ARTISTS CONTINUED TO DO THEIR OWN
PROGRAMMING WRITING CUSTOM CODE TO CONTROL AN INTER
ACTIVE INSTALLATION PROGRAMMING AN INTERACTIVE MULTI
MEDIA WORK IN ,).'/ ETC 4HIS WAS NOT REFERRED TO AS
SOFTWARE ART )T WAS TAKEN FOR GRANTED THAT EVEN IN THE
AGE OF '5)
BASED APPLICATIONS A REALLY SERIOUS ARTISTIC
ENGAGEMENT WITH COMPUTERS REQUIRES GETTING ONES HANDS
DIRTY WITH CODE
OF A DIRTY ROADv AS 3TENDAHL DElNED ART IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 9ET
WE ALSO NEED TO ACCEPT THAT FOR OTHERS OUR WORK WILL BE JUST A SET OF
SAMPLES OR MAYBE JUST ONE SAMPLE 4URNTABLE IS THE VISUAL SOFTWARE
THAT MAKES THIS NEW AESTHETIC CONDITION PAINFULLY OBVIOUS )T INVITES
US TO PLAY WITH THE DIALECTIC OF THE SAMPLE AND THE COMPOSITE THE IN
TERPLAY BETWEEN OUR OWN WORKS AND THE WORKS OF OTHERS 7ELCOME TO
VISUAL REMIXING &LASH STYLE
4HINK 4URNTABLE
!RT -EDIA !RT AND 3OFTWARE !RT
2ECENTLY hSOFTWARE ARTv HAS EMERGED AS THE DYNAMIC NEW lELD IN
THE NEW MEDIA ARTS &LASHS !CTION3CRIPT $IRECTORS ,INGO 0ERL -!8
*AVA3CRIPT *AVA # AND OTHER PROGRAMMING AND SCRIPTING LANGUAG
ES ARE THE MEDIUM OF CHOICE FOR A STEADILY INCREASING NUMBER OF YOUNG
ARTISTS 4HEMATICALLY SOFTWARE ART OFTEN DEALS WITH DATA VISUALIZATION
/THER AREAS OF CREATIVE ACTIVITY INCLUDE THE TOOLS FOR ONLINE COLLAB
ORATIVE PERFORMANCE COMPOSITION EYSTROKE $* 6* SOFTWARE AND
ALTERNATIVES TO CRITIQUES OF COMMERCIAL SOFTWARE !UTO
)LLUSTRATOR
ESPECIALLY THE BROWSERS EARLY CLASSICS LIKE .ETOMAT 7EB 3TALKER AND
MANY OTHERS THAT HAVE EMERGED SINCE THEN /FTEN THESE ARTISTS CRE
ATE NOT SINGULAR WORKS BUT SOFTWARE ENVIRONMENTS OPEN FOR OTHERS TO
USE SUCH AS !LEX 'ALLOWAYS h#ARNIVOREv 3TYLISTICALLY MANY WORKS
IMPLICITLY REFERENCE VISUAL MODERNISM *OHN 3IMON SEEMS TO BE THE
ONLY ONE SO FAR WHO HAS EXPLICITLY WOVEN MODERNIST REFERENCES INTO
HIS WORKS
3UDDENLY PROGRAMMING IS COOL 3UDDENLY THE TECHNIQUES AND IM
AGERY THAT FOR TWO DECADES WERE ASSOCIATED WITH 3)''2!0( GEEKNESS
AND BAD TASTE THE VISUAL OUTPUT OF MATHEMATICAL FUNCTIONS PARTICLE
SYSTEMS THE 2'"