Re: New Media Research Methodologies

criticalartware pursues [{her|hi}storical/critical] research on new 
media in rltn to [conceptually/code] based art [her/hi]storical 
theorypractices. the criticalartware [application/platform] is in + 
of itself a  discursive approach as we have just introduced 'liken' 
our new substructure.

liken stores criticalartware's growing database of information, 
resources + discourse as a collection of self-connecting nodes that 
anyone can add to [+/or] comment on. the pathways connecting these 
nodes slowly change based on use; more popular paths grow stronger, 
while weaker paths fade away. these relationships are also described 
in a public XML file, making it possible for anyone to develop 
alternate [interfaces/interpretations] of liken's unique + 
ever-changing content + structure.

liken departs from a hierarchical site structure which 
over-categorizes information, relinquishing some of the supremacy of 
"hard-coding" links between documents. part discussion platform, part 
[plastic/collaborative] site structure, + part [iterative/genetic] 
search engine, liken [encourages/ necessitates] a more 
[subjective/personalized] form of navigation. unlike anonymous 
"browsing," the paths that liken users follow can be 
[stored/reviewed/discussed], + affect the structure of the 
[application/platform] itself, creating a [literal/cybernetic] 
feedback loop in which less-used paths wither away, well-used paths 
are strengthened, + entirely new paths grow + crisscross recursively 
in response to discussion + new resources. like lichen, itself a 
composite meta-organism resulting from the symbiotic growth of algae 
+ fungus, liken's [form/structure/body] is [a/an] [product/agent] of 
criticalartware's resources that grows symbiotically with related 
discourses.

furthermore, by using a publicly-accessible XML file to describe 
these [pathways/relationships] of liken, criticalartware 
[invites/encourages] users to develop [alternate/critical/"new"] ways 
of [imagining/visualizing/navigating] liken's 
[pathways/relationships]. liken could easily be traversed as a 3D 
video game, a mindmap, a soundEngine, or a Flash animation. in this 
way, liken is the beta version of a criticalartware operating system, 
for which anyone can develop compatible 
[applications/plug-ins/skins/filters].

please create a login + begin contributing to:
http://www.criticalartware.net

--
jonCates
 ---> criticalartware coreDeveloper
http://www.criticalartware.net