Digital Mantras: The Languages of Abstract and Virtual Worlds

325 Pages·1994·10.41 MB·English

by  Steven R. Holtzman

DigitMaaln tras
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TheL anguageosfA bstraacntd V irtuWaolr lds
SteveRn. H oltzman
The MPIrTe ss
CambridMgaes,s achusetts
LondoEnn,g land
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Fourtphr inti1n9g9,6
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© 1994M assachuseItntsst itouftT ee chnology
Allr igh!5r eservedN.o parto ft hibso okm ay be reproduceda niyfn o rmb y any
electroonri mce chanicmaela ns( includpihnogt ocopyirnegc,o rdionrg ,i nformation
storaagned r etriewviatlh)o upte rmissiinow nr itifnrgo mt hep ublisher.
Thibso okw ass eti nS tonSee riafn dS tonSea nsb yA scoT radTey pesettLitndg.H ,o ng
Konga, ndw asp rintaendd b oundi nt heU niteSdt ateosfA merica.
Libraoryf C ongreCssa taloging-in-PuDbaltiac ation
HoltzmaSnt,e veRn.
Digitmaaln tratsh:e l anguagoefsa bstraacntd v irtuwaolr ld/s
SteveRn. H oltzman.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographicaanldi nrdeefxe.r ences
ISBN0 -262-0822(8H-B4) 0,- 262-5814(3P-B4)
1.C omputer2s..V irturaela liIt.Ty i.t le.
QA76.H27861 994
001.3'0285-dc20 94-9631
ClP
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Contents
Prefacev ii
PreludJei:s pa
Structur3e s
Piif)ini5
2 TheC ircolfeF ifths 15
3 Niigiirjuna3 5
4 TheS econVdi enneSsceh ool5 3
5 Kandinsk6y9
6 PostwarS erialis8m5
7 Chomsky 97
8 Coda 113
Interlude: P1o1k7a ra
/I StructMuarnei pulato1rs2 1
9 CalculRuast iocinat1o2r3
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vi Contents
10 "Natural Langu1a4g1e "
11 ComposiMnagc hines1 59
12 TheV isual Wo1r7l1d
13 TheV irtuWaolr ld 193
14 Reflection2s1 3
InterlAu dCeo:m pa 223
11/ Vibratio2n2 5
15 CCDL 227
16 A DigitAaels theti2c3 5
17 Dissonanc2e5 3
18 DeepS tructur2e6 1
19 Vibratio2n7 9
PostluBdaer:aL achaL a 295
Notes 299
Bibliograp3h1y1
Index 317
Copyrighted Material
Preface
Thereh asb eena growinign tereisntc omputerasnd t hea rtasn d,
morer ecentvliyr,t uraela liTthye.r ei sa growinsgu bcultoufra er t­
istcso,m puter hacvkierrtsur,ae la lietnyt husiassctise,n ficcet iofno l­
lowerasn,d otherrse adtyo e xplorteh en ew worldtsh atc omputer
technoloigsmy a kingp ossible.
We areo n thev ergoef a newa gei nc reatievxep ressitohned: i gital
age.W itht hed evelopmeonftt hec omputefru,n damentcahla nges
areo ccurriinngt hew aysw e communicatcer,e ataen,d e xpreosusr ­
selveAss. a resulwte, n eedt ot hinvke ryd ifferenatbloyu tt hep ro­
cessebys w hichw e communicatcer,e ataen,d e xpreosusr selves.
Thisb ooka imst oe stablains ahe stheftoiucn datifoonrt heu seo f
computefrosr c reatievxep ressiinol na nguagmeu,s ic, aanrdtv ,i rtual
realiTthye.u seo fc omputeirnst hec reatipvreo cemsasn datetsh at
we thinok fc ommunicatiavned c reatipvreo cessienst ermso fa b­
strascttr uctuarnedst hem anipulatoifos nu chs tructuAr ecse.n tral
themeo ft heb ooki st hatc omputearrse t heu ltimamtaen ipulators
ofa bstract strAuncottuhreeirsst . h acto mputearrse u,l timatemlay­,
nipulatoofra sb strascttr uctures.
PartI ," Structurleasy,sa" f oundatifoonrs ucha n approacIht.
lookast e stablisthreadd itiionnw sh ichl anguagmeu,s ica,n da rta re
thoughotf i nt ermosf a bstrascttr uctuTrheeo. b jectiisvt eo d emon­
stratteh ate merginnge w techniquoefs c reativwiittyhc omputers
represean cto ntinuwiittyh t raditifoonramls o fe xpressiionnf ;a ct,
witht radititohnastd atet ot hev eryd istapnats tT.h at'wsh y the
bookb eginasn,d e ndsi,n a ncient India.
Copyrighted Material
viii Preface
The viewo fl anguagaesa formasly steims t racefdr omt hefi rst
concepotfsa grammari nt heA ryanc ultuorfea ncienItn ditao the
worko fF erdinadnedS aussuarned fi nalltyh eg eneratgirvmaem arso f
Noam ChomskyC.e rtaifno rmaals pecotfst raditiomnuasli Ct heory
andt wentieth-cesnetruirmayul s ica ree xplainiendt ermosf s imple
numericraell ationsSheirpisma.ul s ict heoriysi llustrwaittehed x am­
plefsr omt hew orkso fA rnolSdc hoenberAgl,b anB erga,n dA nton
Weberna,n d from PBioeurlreeaz n do thepro stwacro mposerWsa.s ­
sily Kandinsky, ctohnefis risdateb rsetdr act daervteilsotp,ae fdo rmal
ande xplilcaintg uaogfev isuahla rmoniaensd d issonancheissi; n flu­
ential irdeegaasr dianbgs traacrtta rea lspor esentAeldl.o ft hesfeo r­
mala pproachteosl anguagmeU,S iCa,n d artf orma foundatifoonr
developienxgp resssiyvset emwsi thc omputers.
ParItI ",S tructMuarnei pulatoerxsp,l"o rheosw ,w itht hed evelop­
mento ft hec omputear ,f ormavli ewo fe xpressliavneg uagseusp ­
porttsh ea pplicatoifoc no mputerfso rb uilding abasntdrv aicrtt ual
worldisn l anguagmeu,s ica,r ta,n dn ew medias ucha sv irturaela l­
ityT.h ed evelopmeonftt hec omputeirs f ollowferdo mL eibnitoz
thet wentiectehn turTyh.e w orko fa numbero fp eoplien d ifferent
discipliisnd eiss cussiendc,l udianrgt ificiinatle lligpeinocnee eTre rry
Winogracdo,m poseGrost tfriMeidc hael KoaenndiI ga nniXse nakis,
anda rtiHsatr olCdo hen.
Inp artI II",V ibratioIn d,i"s cussosm eo ft hec reatiavees,t hetic,
and mysticiamlp licatioofn tsh esen ew meanso f expressiaonnd
new worldIs .o utlianne aesthevtiiecw t hatp roposeexsp loritnhge
idiomaptoitce ntoifac lo mputers-tihsaw,th atc anb ed onea ndc on­
ceiveodf onilnyl ighotft hec omputeIrg .o o n tod iscuasns u nusual
viewo ft her elationship bsettrwuecetnau nrdem eaningI.c onclude
theb ookb y placitngh ee xploratoifos nt ructwuirteh c omputeirns
thec ontexotfm ystictarla dition.
A synthesoifis d eaissb uilftr oma broasde to fd isciplilniensg:u is­
ticmsu,s ica,r tv,i rturaela lictoym,p uterasn,d m ysticaanld r eligious
philosophSieevse.r dailff eretnhtr eaddse velowpe,a vinagn intricate
web froma pparentulnyr elattehde mesA.s theb ookp rogresstehse,
differendti sciplianneds t hemesb ecomem ore and more tightly
linketdo providae p erspectfirvoem w hicht o viewc omputerisn
creative processes.
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ix Preface
Int hee nd,t heb ookd ocumentas p ersonjaolu rneayn dr epresents
a personaaels thetTihca.ti sw hy iti sa ccentweidt he xcerpftrso mm y
diarDyi.g itMaaln trasi sm eanta sa stakien t heg round-rae ference
pointto i nitidaitsec ussiTohnej. o urneiysb rieIf i.n vityeo ut oj oin
me.
Acknowledgments
Whilet hei deapsr esentiendt hibso okd ateb ackt ot he1 970sm,a ny
peoplhea veh elpetdo d eveloapn ds hapteh ems incteh enT.h ea ccu­
racyo ft hem aterifarlo mt heb readtohf d isciplirneepsr esenitse d
duet ot hep atienocfea numbero fd iligernetv ieweprasr,t icularly
MichaeJla mesO,l iveMru irheadL,a rryBr iskmaPna,u lW illiams,
GottfriMeidc haeKlo enigC,l iveB ennettH,a roldC ohen,T rudy
EdelsoSnt,e pheTnr aviPso pea,n dR oberJta cobson.
Otherr eviewearlss hoe lpewdi tht h�b ooki,n cludiTnegr rWyi no­
gradH,a rriPeatr celRlosb, G emmellM,i chaeRli chmanL,i saC ort,
StacSyt yleKse,n KrichJ,e ffH udsonM,a rinaB osiH,a rryB oadwee,
MariaG agliarRdaiy,L auzzanWaa,y neO lerM,i chaeSli ebraLsisn,d a
Jacobsoann,d B enD elaneEyv.e rrye viewmeard ea contributtioo n
thefi nals hapoef t hibso okB.o bA ngus's pr(ianntdee nrtsh usiasm) let
me seei td evelop.
Theg raphiicl lustraotfik oenysc oncep(tssu cahs t hem usic-clocks
andt hec ubesa)r et hew orko fI lenSea ndlaenrd B radE igen.
RandyS tickrwoads i nstrumenItnaa ld.d ititoonh ise ncouragement
andf eedbachki,sh elpl edd irecttloyK athleTeinb betwthso,s ee n­
thusiasamn d supporptl ayead critircoalle a,n du ltimatteol Byo b
Priomry, editoartt heM ITP ress.
I wantt ot hanke veryonaett heM IT Presfso rt heihre lpS.p ecial
thanksh,o wevera,r ed ue to Bob.H e stimulatmeadn y ideatsh at
helperde finteh ibso okt oi tfisn alf ormA.n di fr eadehrasv ea clearer
understandoifnw gh atI havew ritteinti, s d uet oM attheAwb bate,
who editetdh eb ooka,n dt oh isp assionaatttee ntitoodn e tail.
I wantt o gratefully ackntohwels eudpgpeo ratn d confidencoef
ProfessBoerr narMde ltzewrh,o providmeed theo pportuntiotd yo
my doctorraels earch-whfiocrhm tsh ef oundatifoonrt hibso ok-at
theU niversoiftE yd inburgJhe.a nP ollocJke,ffT ansleayn,d P rofessor
SidneMyi chaelsaolns por ovideesds entsiuaplp orwth ilIew ast here.
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x Preface
FinalJlayy,W eilm,y mothera,n dm y sisteprrso vidtehde e ncour­
agementth ath elpemde seet he botohkr ougtho c ompletion.
Thanky ou.
StevHeo ltzman
Novembe1r9 93
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