Hacker Manifesto

"Hacking" can be applied to almost any form of information. Language, math, music, shapes, colors, shaped and reshaped to introduce new, if not entirely desirable things to the world. Hackers are everywhere, a new class, programmers, scientists, musicians, artists, writers, all 'hacking' their way into this abstract subculture. They take different and seemingly unrelated material and reconstruct it on a plane where these two things can relate and combine. By the definition of McKenzie Wark, to hack "is to produce or apply the abstract to information and express the possibility of new worlds." Since information cannot exist in unaltered, immaterial form, it is necessary to find the material means to extract and distribute this information. The universal goal of hackers is to free this information from its material constraints. Production, and the production class, or vectoralist class, plays an important role in hacking, simultaneously aiding as well as trying to obstruct the hackers goal. I definitely agree with alot of aspects of this article, information should be readily available, and its availability in several different forms works to expand our minds and knowledge as a culture. Though this 'at your fingertips' information should not discourage you from getting out into the world, experiencing things and gaining knowledge for yourself.

Encoding/Decoding

After reading Stuart Halls essay "Encode/Decode" I did think that it could be 'interesting' in a lot of ways, but that didnt keep it from being ridiculously hard to digest. Maybe its just me; Maybe its because its 3 in the morning. Either way, I had to read alot of it over several times, and some parts of it Ill admit I really didnt read at all. Albeit, what he was discussing was a very prevalant and casually discussed issue. Dont let the wording throw you off, this is something you would see brought up in everyday conversation and seen in various forms of media.
Semiotics, which is the study of signs and symbols in relation to communicative behavior, and the analysis of systems of communication, may help us to more intelligently decipher the encoded symbols thrown at us every day. Of course, how we decode certain things may be completely different from culture to culture, it has been argued that there can be "national" symbols, but this has been concluded with little success. Depending on the cultural mindset of an individual, which varies drastically from country to country and eve region to region, they will perceive symbols extremely different.
Any Art has an idea encoded into it by the creator, this original idea, when presented to the public, is decoded into a different meaning. This is seen very strongly in television. Although the images, an image of a cow for example, may look and sound like a cow, it is not a cow. Art can be deceptive in this fashion.

If you have any interest in “Art as a cultural system” I would very strongly advocate the reading of Clifford Geertz version up until about page nine, where it becomes almost impossible to follow for a genuine lack of interest in the long-winded redundancies of the text. So far as I have gathered from the reading as well as my own personal experience with the visual arts, the definition these creations and the effect it undeniably produces in any aesthetic-minded person is unattainable; so broad and truly all encompassing, it can only be subject to the individual viewer.
It has raged as an ongoing discussion and controversy between savants of all cultures for the better part of human-kinds existence, and still remains unsolved. Some feel to dissect the beauty of something many would deem as sacred would be to destroy the very intangible plain of existence this otherworldly masterpiece lies on. I tend to agree with the other, more humanistic version of the argument; the discussion and interpretation of art very much adds to our aesthetic experience. Not too say that being overly chatty over a tour de force of sorts wont leave it feeling butchered; moderation is key in many things, especially the dismemberment of a treasured piece of art.
It is shown that from an early age children are able to appreciate and respond to visual stimuli, and I, as a child, I remember my home brimming with the grotesque and beautiful fine arts of Dali, the intriguing, dark, romanticized texts of Poe, and all other sensuous forms of artistic beauty and skill. I had always been extremely responsive to such things, but after taking art history & numerous other art classes at the Pratt institute I felt my deeper understanding of the intricate workings of art was enriched.
It is so important, when looking at something one would generally deem art, to consider its origins & the effect it had on the work. For instance, one would need to understand that the ovals in Abelam paintings represent the fertile womb of a woman, from which they believe creativity both literally and figuratively stems to understand the work. Or that the thickness, length and depth of the lines in the ritual cuttings of the Yoruba tribe signify a sort of civilization rite. “The country has been civilized” literally means in their native tongue “the earth has lines upon its face.” Rather then allow these interesting facts to be shrouded in shadow, the details of this art prove to be necessary in order to understand it. Depending on your background as well as several other key factors of your being your interpretation of one work of art could be drastically different from another persons. An artists work will almost always reflect the common people of his culture, and people always have a natural inclination towards something they feel they can relate too. The art of a culture is very much a mirror of the culture itself, and as always, any type of art is extremely interpretive and is truly produced to extract any strong emotion, no matter what it may be, from the viewing audience.
Although it is very important to be able to recognize and enjoy art in the most primitive forms, I believe that analyzing specific characteristics and designating significance to a certain symbols, shapes, colors, etc., may help you to understand the abstruse meaning of a piece. However, I do not think that you should be so concerned with defining it that you reduce it to a cold mathematical equation. We arent looking to solve the art through our interpretations and dissections, were looking to solve and dissect ourselves through the interpretations of the art.