The Coursera E-Learning and Digital
Cultures MOOC has commenced!
These early days are a tsunami of
resources, suggested readings and cacophonous fellow learners. I don’t know how
many people are doing this MOOC (someone mentioned 40k), but the facebook page
and twitter feeds seem frantic – a frenetic learning space.
I’ll start with some reactions to two of
Week 1’s video resources…
In Bendito Machine 3, the original oscilloscope object, with
its single wavy line, seems a very benign god object. The tv god object exhibits
increasingly surprising, cruel and randomly violent behaviour to the supine 'worshipper'
audience. The net god object is not explored (another film perhaps), being
destroyed by the ‘deus ex machina’ alien stilt machine, which is in turn
destroyed by the descent/fall of some
horrible measly call-centre corporate selling machine. Despite all the abuse
from their gods, these 'natives' are very much 'living with' their techno gods.
They are random and unimportant victims of those gods. But the victims are in
thrall.
Viewed in another way, the god objects continually assume a
crucial central position in the society of the natives. The early god objects
are placed on the altar by the adoring natives. The more advanced god objects climb onto the altar, onto the podium,
assuming their power place – so they’re very conscious that the centrality of
their god position is the source of their power as gods. Humans remain
important to the ‘alien imposed’ technology.
I haven’t watched any of the other Bendito Machine videos,
but I will, when time permits.
NEWMEDIA
Apart from the rather obvious ‘sinister tentacled aliens
from the sky’ similarities, I don't see an visual echoes with Bendito Machine
in this film. NEWMEDIA is very much a
sinister, subtle apocalyptic depiction, an alien invasion, a destruction. Humans
are not depicted in this video, apart from one human face seemingly attached to
alien tentacles. The aliens or alien craft hover over the post-apocalyptic
disintegrating, moss-covered city, sinisterly vacuuming up 'stuff'. Black smoke
billows into the air, to exacerbate the disturbed scene. This is a war scene, a
catastrophe. The humans have lost.
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