© 2012 Megan Smith. All rights reserved.

Definitions/ #DigitalDomain #Placemaking #Culturescape #SociallyUseful #Hacking #Visualization/ terminology from my PhD thesis.

Digital domain/ refers within to socially networked space enabled by digital technologies. I associate the term specifically to operating within a technology enhanced learning environment where the defined perimeter of space that physically exists between the gaze of the eye and the application of touch to a networked device actually extends a person in non-linear patterns and trajectories to locations and people around the world. Operating with the digital domain encompasses the experience of taking part in the digital enabled socially networked world.

Placemaking/ is a term borrowed from the research area of Urban Planning & Architecture. Within the digital domain, the act of placemaking refers to carving out individual space and identity. It is about the maker deliberately accessing information then taking a perceptive stance within that data route which results in a demarcation or a personalization of the space. An example used within this document is the activity of geo-locating within the digital domain, where the maker tags through process an identifiable niche across networked platforms that also tie him/her to a physical location. This fusion of actions creates a locality and a new identity that describe the social context of the situation; the culture of the digital domain, which operates in a public and social manner.

Culturescape/ is the story of a place developed through a networked combination of factors, those involving location/region, cultural situation and participant behaviour – and pertaining primarily to a globalized and cosmopolitan culture that is participating in dialogue online.

Socially useful/ is used to reference methods of practice and new media art works that are actively engaging society through participation in positive, constructive and collaborative ways.

Hacking/ is a creative method of practice used to upturn the pattern of giving and receiving data. It is an adopted attitude and is associated with a set of values that often involve mutual collaboration.
Whereas a mash-up refers technically to the blending of tools, visuals, sounds, etc. into a collaged product, that may not be able to be categorically labeled within current Contemporary Art language or medium.

Visualization/ is a visual articulation and/or creative chronicling of an aggregated situation. Within this research I have looked predominantly at new media artists using this process to curate syndicated data from the internet into a new method of storytelling. The works are often experienced by the audience dynamically via a screen and occasionally the visualizations are rendered into digital print format. Visualizations made by artists with a hacker’s ethos are imaginatively repurposing common social tools and public content to draw attention to the new culturescape.

http://megansmith.ca/phd-research-leeds-metropolitan-university/