In the Center for Integrated Technologies (CIT), Kmee Kim MFA 16 DM (pictured above) and Yeahyun Shin 15 GD use a keyboard to control the fluttery movements of a two-dimensional bird attempting to cross a digital landscape filled with natural obstacles. Once the bird lands safely on the edge of the computer screen, a fictional email is fired off to the user’s grandmother. The pair built the quirky game to make a statement about the innumerable ways in which social interactions are influenced by cell phones, email and other contemporary technologies.
The project was one of several presented during last week’s final critique for Interactive Text, a course offered by the Digital + Media and Graphic Design departments. Students experiment with typeface, visuals and audio composition in the digital realm while studying Fluxus poetic works, Russian Constructivist posters and texts by leaders of the Dada movement in Europe.
“Clearly technology’s influence on modern communication is on people’s minds,” noted Senior Critic Rafael Attias 91 GD (above right), who teaches the course. “It might be interesting if the game sent a real text message or email as a reward for moving on to the next level.”
The group also reviewed an interactive website by Sarah Recht MFA 15 GD (above left). Designed in Javascript, the project reveals huge chunks of text after users click a mouse. The graduate student says she was inspired by the late philosopher Jacques Derrida’s writing about the sense of touch.
“This is quite engaging,” Attias noted. “I love that you’ve explored one of the senses that often goes undiscussed – yet it’s so essential to the human experience.”
