New Media, Cthulu, & the Adjacent Possible

New Media, Cthulu, & the Adjacent Possible

Ed RodleyPeabody Essex Museum

1Friday, May 31, 13

I’d like to tell you a little bit about what I find so interesting about digital media in museums

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icons courtesy of The Noun Project

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3Friday, May 31, 13

Screens - the original New mediuminteractivity = watching television


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3Friday, May 31, 13


The computer - a different kind of screeninteractivity = engaging with a computer


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3Friday, May 31, 13



The Internet - a disembodied computerinteractivity = visiting a website


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3Friday, May 31, 13




Web 2.0/SM/etc... - the crowdinteractivity = interacting with each other


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“In his house at R'lyeh, dead Cthulhu waits dreaming.”

- H.P. Lovecraft

Cthuluby Tiina Aumala

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In new media, all those other “old” media lie waiting.

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But first, a brief history of new media in museums

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7Friday, May 31, 13




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7Friday, May 31, 13




Web 2.0/SM/etc... - the crowdinteractivity = interacting with each other


7Friday, May 31, 13

“In his house at R'lyeh, dead Cthulhu waits dreaming.”

- H.P. Lovecraft

Cthuluby Tiina Aumala

8Friday, May 31, 13

In new media, all those other “old” media lie waiting.

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Now, some general thoughts on new media, old media, and media media

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“The medium is the message”

the symbiotic relationship by which the medium influences how the message is perceived

- Marshall McLuhan

Marshall McLuhan from Library and Archives Canada reference number PA-172791


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_and_Archives_Canada




“The medium is the message”

the symbiotic relationship by which the medium influences how the message is perceived

- Marshall McLuhan

still

Marshall McLuhan from Library and Archives Canada reference number PA-172791






“The impact of new media... is evolutionary, not revolutionary,”

- David Thorburn & Henry Jenkins

080523 Henry Jenkins-1 by Flickr user Dan4th (CC-BY-2.0)

Face by Flickr user GregPC (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)


“New media do not make old media obsolete: they assign them other places in the system.”

- Friedrich Kittler

tm07_Friedrich Kittlerby Flickr user transmediale(CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)


Old media don’t go away just because newer media appear. They live on after death, just

like Cthulu.









What makes new media “new” is their position in the adjacent possible


What makes new media “new” is their position in the adjacent possible

otherwise they’re just media


The adjacent possible


is a kind of shadow future, hovering on the edges of the present state of things, a map of all the ways in which the present can reinvent itself.





Flickr user jdlasica(CC BY-NC 2.0)



- Steven Johnson





- Steven Johnson- Stuart Kaufmann





- Steven Johnson- Stuart Kaufmann

Teemu Rajala(CC BY 3.0)




old media


old media


old media


old media


old media

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the adjacencies are well-understood


"The strange and beautiful truth about the adjacent possible is that its boundaries grow as you explore them. Each new combination opens up the possibility of other new combinations. Think of it as a house that magically expands with each door you open.”


new media


new media


new media


new media

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new media

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new media

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new media

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and so on...


And this matters because...?


“A museum exhibition is ‘the medium of media’”

- Dan Spock

by @danspock


An exhibition can utilize:

Gallery OneCleveland Museum of Art


An exhibition can utilize:• the written word,



An exhibition can utilize:• the written word,• sound,



An exhibition can utilize:• the written word,• sound,• image,



An exhibition can utilize:• the written word,• sound,• image,• moving image,



An exhibition can utilize:• the written word,• sound,• image,• moving image,• performance,



An exhibition can utilize:• the written word,• sound,• image,• moving image,• performance,• installation, and



An exhibition can utilize:• the written word,• sound,• image,• moving image,• performance,• installation, and most recently, Gallery One

Cleveland Museum of Art


An exhibition can utilize:• the written word,• sound,• image,• moving image,• performance,• installation, and most recently,• digital media.



An exhibition can utilize:• the written word,• sound,• image,• moving image,• performance,• installation, and most recently,• digital media.



Part of the joy of our work is that anything is fair game for inclusion in museum experiences


Part of the joy of our work is that anything is fair game for inclusion in museum experiences

Part of the challenge is figuring out what are appropriate uses for a given technology/medium/device


Our audiences are out there, already using these media


Our audiences are out there, already using these media

Wherever we want to move their understanding, we need to meet them where they are.


What are some ways museums are experimenting

with new media?


Games & Gamification (ack!)


Games & Gamification (ack!)


Games & Gamification (ack!)• In 2013, people (young and old) don’t come to most museums with the expectation of gaming, and treat “games” with suspicion.• Exceptions include actual games used in museum settings, like Minecraft, or Wii/Kinect hacks


Game Overby Flickr user Jennie Faber(CC BY 2.0)


Museum games tend to suck







because bolting game mechanics onto an activity doesn’t automatically make that activity “fun”.



Rather than gamifying (ack!), we should be working more

towards making hard fun.


Hard Fun

by Flickr user ak_mardini (CC BY-SA 2.0)


Hard Fun

by Flickr user ak_mardini (CC BY-SA 2.0)


Hard Fun

“Everyone likes hard challenging things to do. But they have to be the right things matched to the individual and to the culture of the times.”

- Seymour Papertby Flickr user ak_mardini (CC BY-SA 2.0)


“Hard fun” is hard

Hard to find, and hard to make... but not impossible

4 Keys 2 Funby XEODesign


“Hard fun” is hard

Hard to find, and hard to make... but not impossible

4 Keys 2 Funby XEODesign


Actual prototype interface


It looks like a real tool, not an “educational” experience


3D Scanning & Printing


3D Scanning & Printing


New media now includes reality

thanks to 3D scans and prints







Meet Liz


Meet Liz


Meet Liz


Meet Liz


Questions?


New Media, Cthulu, & the Adjacent Possible

Education

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noun project7friday

televisionicons courtesy

websiteicons courtesy

computericons courtesy

impact of new media

televisionthe computer

othericons courtesy