The Zurich Node of the Planetary Collegium. Institute of Cultural Studies, University of Applied Arts, Zurich, Switzerland.
Dissertations awarded in 2010
Trebor Scholz| Title of Dissertation: | The Internet as Playground and Factory |
| Author: | Trebor Scholz |
| Supervisors: | Prof. Dr. Jill Scott. ICS ZHdK and Prof. Dr. Matthias Vogel ICS ZHdK |
| Description: | Currently, there is very little to no awareness of the expropriation of "interactivity labour" among the people who populate the Internet. "Free Labour" is, in fact central to the Internet. Traditional exploitation of labour was complemented by the monetization of attention between the 1880s and 1950s and then by the commoditization of networked publics starting in the 1980s. Today, commercial interests have colonized the Internet and “labour” is being performed online by hundreds of millions of people. Without being recognized as “labour”, it turns profits for corporations. Playful, virtual volunteerism, and social production, driven by the desire for praise, entertainment, and peer recognition, has become a significant driving force of consumer capitalism. In this dissertation I discuss the complex phenomena of “free labour” online. New social media have made people easier to use! Corporations have learnt to profit by appropriating the behavioural templates, social norms, and expectations of people that used communication system that preceded the Internet. Today, even what looks like casual play and spontaneous interaction makes money for the owners of the “playgrounds” of the Web. From the global “participation gap” to government and corporate surveillance, the newly gained freedoms and visions of empowerment have complex social costs that are often invisible. Exploitation surely exists but it is rare in the context of social milieus of the Internet. In this thesis I am unpacking some historical roots of the mechanics of this placement of people in a position in which they can be used and in relation to which they mount little resistance. I am proposing an analysis of the instruments with which value is created and captured and I am discussing motivations behind the widespread participation. Situated within the larger field of Internet Studies, this thesis contributes an approach that is deeply sceptical while also being celebratory and optimistic. One-sidedness, either on the techno-utopian or on the dystopian side is a limitation of many studies in this area. |
| Title of Dissertation: | Eco-visualization: Combining art and technology to reduce energy consumption |
| Author: | Tiffany Holmes |
| Supervisors: | Prof. Dr. Jill Scott. ICS ZHdK and Dr. Angelika Hillbeck ETHZ/ICS ZHdK |
| Description: | Artworks that display the real time usage of key resources such as electricity offer first, new visual strategies to conserve energy and second, new site-based environmental learning experiences. My own eco-visualizations—or artworks that creatively visualize ecologically significant data in real time—represent a substantial contribution to new knowledge about dynamic feedback as a tool to promote energy conservation in the related fields of art, design, and human computer interaction (HCI). The aims of this research endeavour were to locate and debate answers to the following questions: Can art trigger more environmentally responsible behaviour or merely raise awareness via site-based learning? Can art possibly make energy conservation fun, and more importantly, vital to everyday life? Might dynamic feedback from data-driven artwork create a better understanding of resource consumption patterns? Can creative visualizations that translate energy consumption data of some kind inspire not only ecological awareness but also a reduction in a community’s carbon footprint? What kinds of visualization strategies are most effective in communicating energy consumption data? These questions generated a four-year research project that involved an extensive literature review that culminated in three different practice-based case studies that resulted in new findings about the specific nature and effectiveness of eco-visualization as a novel conservation strategy. The three primary claims proven here were: Goal 1: Eco-visualization offers novel visual ways of making invisible energy data comprehensible, and thus encourages new forms of site-based learning. Goal 2:Eco-visualization that provides real time visual feedback about energy usage can definitely increase environmental awareness and possibly increase the conservation behaviour in the viewing population. Goal 3: Eco-visualization encourages new perceptions of linkages between the single individual and a larger community via site-based dialogue and conversation. Made with the philosophy of sustainability as a focus, my own artworks or eco-visualizations are used as case studies to illustrate how improved attitudes toward nature, increased environmental awareness, and stimulated interest in conservation concerns were raised. |
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