4. Art and Technology: Cybernetics, Intermedia and Video Art

Question 1

CYBERNETIC ART

Answer 1

• 1950s - 1960s

Question 2

“The medium is the message”

Answer 2

– Marshall McLuhan, The Medium is the
Message, from the book Understanding
Media, 1964
– Medium intended as a medium of communication in a broader sense.
– The medium employed (e.g. print, television, computer etc.) determines the ways
in which that message will be perceived.
– A communication medium itself, not the message it carries, should be the primary
focus of study.
– The character of the medium is also a message.
– The nature of the medium is more important than the meaning or content of the
message.
– A message is also the change in society brough by a new medium.
– The legible content of a medium distracts and deceives viewers/users.
– The content of a medium is always another medium: speech is the content of
writing, writing is the content of print, and so on.