Media Taxonomy
For this taxonomic chart I decided to focus on two less obvious axes of organization. The first measures the degree to which the medium asserts itself during composition, through accidental or unforeseen effects. The higher the medium is placed, the more the artist is forced to accommodate the demands of her materials by arranging or modifying the original design—or in extreme cases, the degree to which she may rely on fortuitous manifestations of "static" or resistance for guidance and inspiration. The second, horizontal axis, measures the number of people involved in the act of composition, setting aside for our purposes the idea of the audience as an active participant in the process. This taxonomy seemed interesting because intuition would suggest that the more consciousnesses involved in the use of a medium, the more accidental assertions of the medium would occur, in the "interference" between the different artistic visions. I have also attempted to include some unusual or more neglected media for purposes of comparison. It is also important to note that almost all media have a "gradient" on both axis, depending on the particular instances and situations in which they are employed.
Chad Hines
Winter 2003
For this taxonomic chart I decided to focus on two less obvious axes of organization. The first measures the degree to which the medium asserts itself during composition, through accidental or unforeseen effects. The higher the medium is placed, the more the artist is forced to accommodate the demands of her materials by arranging or modifying the original design—or in extreme cases, the degree to which she may rely on fortuitous manifestations of "static" or resistance for guidance and inspiration. The second, horizontal axis, measures the number of people involved in the act of composition, setting aside for our purposes the idea of the audience as an active participant in the process. This taxonomy seemed interesting because intuition would suggest that the more consciousnesses involved in the use of a medium, the more accidental assertions of the medium would occur, in the "interference" between the different artistic visions. I have also attempted to include some unusual or more neglected media for purposes of comparison. It is also important to note that almost all media have a "gradient" on both axis, depending on the particular instances and situations in which they are employed.
Chad Hines
Winter 2003