intelligent agent Vol. 5 No. 2 -- end of year special issue (and a Happy New Year!)

intelligent agent Vol. 5 No. 2
Articles now available at
http://www.intelligentagent.com

+ Special Issue Vol. 5 No. 2:
// new media / photoblogging / interviews with Brian Massumi and Marcos Nov=
ak //

+reviews of games, books

All content is available in html and as pdf files.


//new media / photoblogging//
+ Susan Elizabeth Ryan, What's So New About New Media Art?
Susan Ryan traces the art-historical lineage of the slippery term "new medi=
a" – from various forms of non-traditional, "oppositional media" to video.=
Materialism vs. dematerialization, art vs. commerce, and hybrid practices =
emerge as issues that have characterized "new media" throughout the decades.

+ Curt Cloninger, Geeks Inadvertently Making Net Art: SXSW 2005
Cloninger reports on his attendance of the South by Southwest (SXSW) Intera=
ctive conference where the participants were active flickr.com users: "What=
resulted was a form of online, indexed photoblogging of a common event tha=
t comes closer to achieving the holy grail of compelling non-linear narrati=
ve than anything I've come across in a long time."


//interviews//

+ Thomas Markussen & Thomas Birch, Transforming Digital Architecture from V=
irtual to Neuro – An Interview with Brian Massumi
At the Neuroaesthetics conference in London, Markussen & Birch talked to Br=
ian Massumi about the increasing impact of neuroscience on contemporary arc=
hitectural theory, which marks a clear change of interests, if not a paradi=
gm shift. Is "virtual" becoming "neuro"?

+ Thomas Markussen & Thomas Birch, Minding Houses – A Conversation with Ma=
rcos Novak
Markussen & Birch talk to architect Marcos Novak, who utilizes nanotechnolo=
gy in constructing houses of the future out of neurons and atomic particles=
. Beetle-like buildings with built-in central nervous systems and the abili=
ty to think independently are gradually coming to life.


//free radical//
+ Shawn Rider, Redefine the Grind: "Sociolotron" and the Atypical Gamer
Shawn Rider explores social dynamics, sexuality, and violence in Sociolotro=
n, an online game that distinguishes itself from all of the better-known ma=
ssively-multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) through the dogged =
pursuit of *removing* any obstacle to character actions. Actions like rape,=
theft, and general assault or mayhem are possible, and character