Beyond Productivity Information Technology, Innovation, and Creativity (2003) / Chapter Skim
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7. Institutional Issues and Public Policy
7. Institutional Issues and Public Policy
Pages 176-196
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From page 176... ...
First, the ongoing copyright debates on the use and re-use of digital information have important immediate and future consequences for the conduct of ITCP work. Second, the archiving and preservation of digital content for the benefit of future generations to support both future enjoyment and to serve as a baseline for future ITCP work requires action now before many digital works become lost.
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From page 177... ...
Recently, however, other viewpoints are gaining prominence, through the work of scholars such as Lawrence Lessig.3 Capability in the creative use of IT needs to be understood as growing from the fertile soil of a common culture containing past creativity, ever more encoded in digital artifacts, and the nurturing of social processes, ever more mediated through IT networks, that make deep knowledge of this past creativity possible. The real choices available to individual ITCP practitioners in defining how their work circulates socially constitute an effective dimension of their creative freedom.4 However, the mediation by networks raises new questions iThere are, of course, other public policy issues that have varying impact on ITCP work, such as the concentration of the mass-media industries and the role and impact of international organizations (some of which is discussed in Chapter 8 under the rubric of funding)
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From page 179... ...
Notwithstanding the partial origins of the open-source movement in the quest for highly reliable generic computing resources, like operating systems or file transfer services,6 there are similar incentives for individual creators to contribute to a common art or design platform.7 Such a platform can permit a rising tide of community performance in particular domains, such as computer animation or interactive art, while still preserving the ability of individuals to create their own works. Similarly, an open-source approach may enable development of tools specialized for art or design uses that would not themselves justify commercial development.
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From page 180... ...
project is a national effort by a non-partisan, public policy institution to address the impacts, challenges, and opportunities resulting from technological advances that are confronting the arts. Case Western Reserve University has established the new Center for Law, Technology, and the Arts.~3 Continuing efforts are needed, particularly those that can offer new and bold ideas that are commensurate with the effects on copyright law and practice attributable to the shift from analog to digital information.
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From page 181... ...
as formats and systems for digital content evolve. i4For detailed treatments on digital archiving in general, see Computer Science and Telecommunications Board, National Research Council, 2001, LC21: A Digital Strategy for the Library of Congress, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C.; CSTB, NRC, 2000, The Digital Dilemma; and the forthcoming report of the Committee on Digital Archiving and the National Archives and Records Administration (for further information, see |
From page 182... ...
Although one may link to the work of another, copying another work as an integral step in the preservation of a given work (which presumably will be made accessible to various people in the future) may well violate copyright law (for works under copyright protection)
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From page 183... ...
Guggenheim Museum, Franklin Furnace Archive, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, and Rhizome.org; see |
From page 184... ...
The Electronic Literature Organizations is exploring all these possibilities, but again no consensus has yet emerged that is likely to win support from the relevant stakeholders. · ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ VALIDATION AND RECOGNITION STRUCTU RES Validation and recognition structures are needed to encourage the production of good work in ITCP, to offer reliable indications of quality to users, the public, and funders, and in academia, to support decisions on hiring, tenure, and promotional The nature of the output (consider the cliche, "but is it art?
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From page 185... ...
The late-199Os surge in entrepreneurial activity by computer science faculty suggests a swing toward market acceptance as a validating factor in that time period, although computer scientists continue to view academia as the locus of fundamental research and idea generation and industry (the dot-coms and other businesses) as the locus of the application of these ideas the implementers.
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From page 186... ...
This gives tremendous freedom and range that have to be balanced with considerable discernment, taste, and criticism, whether one is a painter, composer, or computer scientist. In industry and in various design and art contexts, assessments may be less rigid as compared with those in academia, inasmuch as there are greater total numbers of jobs or other outlets for work.
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From page 187... ...
Also, as explained by a member of the committee, "Popularization and elite curation, though seemingly opposed, actually work together to produce stronger results than either alone could." The extant structures for computer scientists, artists, and designers are each based on the differing goals and motivations of the respective fields; the criteria used in validation and recognition structures relevant to ITCP also differ by subdiscipline within those arenas; and validation and recognition structures for ITCP work should reflect multiple sets of goals and motivations. Differences within a field in how people perform research or undertake specific practices are also difficult to appreciate across disciplinary boundaries.
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From page 188... ...
The gold standard for academia and the criterion most easily understood by parties outside a given subdiscipline is the so-called archival journal (often published by scholarly or professional societies) that involves considerable editorial selection plus prepublication review and revision, which function as a screening system for quality.
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From page 189... ...
As curated Web sites gradually gain credibility, they serve as important display sites for audiences interested in electronic art but unsure where to find it. Existing sites of this type include those curated by Marjorie Luesebrink, Jennifer Ley, and Carolyn Guertin that assemble the best of Web-specific electronic literature: "Progressive Dinner Party" and "Tumpin at the Diner."36 "Best of the Web: Museums and the Web," a juried competition coordinated by Maria Economou, identifies museum winners in the categories of online exhibition, museum's professional site, educational use, and research site.37 Even individually curated sites can provide valuable recognition; for example, the Digital Libarian sited produced 35See |
From page 190... ...
Similarly, through its Web site, TAM sponsors the Digital Media Commissions program. Each year, with the help of a select committee of professionals from arts and technology fields, TAM chooses artists for whom it provides technical and financial support for the production of Internet art.
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From page 191... ...
· ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ TH E GEOGRAPHY OF I N FORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND CREATIVE PRACTICES Particular geographic configurations can support creative work in profound ways, even with information networks linking remote parties. There are hot spots of scientific, technological, scholarly, and artistic creativity, as exemplified by ancient Athens and Renaissance Florence, just as there are large areas where very little activity of this sort takes place.
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From page 192... ...
Second, it has supported specialized division of labor on a global scale; made libraries and other facilities available online rather than at specific, privileged locations; and enabled geographically distributed remote collaboration. These geographical factors have implications for future progress in ITCP.
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From page 193... ...
An example is the western Massachusetts area and its Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASSMoCA) in a former factory complex, which has attempted to attract digital media firms to co-locate at the intersection of IT and the arts.50 A more subtle question is whether Silicon Valley itself can sustain its hot-spot status as conditions evolve and change over time.
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From page 194... ...
Diversity is simply something they value in all its manifestations." See Richard Florida, 2002, "The Rise of the Creative Class," Washington Monthly, May, available online at |
From page 195... ...
Thus, for example, the film industry remains clustered in Hollywood, but there is an active electronic link to London's Soho area which has particularly strong postproduction capabilities. Silicon Valley has a strong electronic connection to the complementary capabilities of Bangalore in India and the founding of a West Coast campus of Carnegie Mellon University.55 Universities are beginning to form strategic alliances, supported electronically, with overseas uni54See, for example, Jose Pinto Duarte, Joao Bento, and William J
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From page 196... ...
And, in particular, local creative clusters can now extend their potential by strategically forming electronic linkages to other clusters maybe very distant oneswith complementary capabilities. One can begin to think of these clusters as the specialized professional neighborhoods of the global village.
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