Slides of the presentation "Multimodal Online Mediation. A Typology of Patterns For Media Art-Mediation" by Florian Wiencek, Ognyan Seizov and Marion G. Müller at ECREA Conference 2010, Section 6 – Digital Culture & Communication – Panel 6-2: Art

1. MULTIMODAL ONLINE MEDIATION:
A TYPOLOGY OF PATTERNS FOR MEDIA ART-MEDIATION
Florian Wiencek, Ognyan Seizov, Marion G. Müller; Jacobs University Bremen
Research Center „Visual Communication and Expertise“ (VisComX)13.10.2010
Presentation at the ECREA Conference 2010.
Section 6 – Digital Culture & Communication – Panel 6-2: Art

2. Outline
 Meaning Generation in Digital Archives
 Problem & Research Design
 Preliminary Results
Wiencek, Seizov, Müller - Multimodal Online Mediation @ ECREA 2010 13.10.2010

3. Definition of the Term „Mediation“
13.10.2010Wiencek, Seizov, Müller - Multimodal Online Mediation @ ECREA 2010
 use of the term “mediation” in the sense of the German
word „Vermittlung“ of content, which can be described as
the communication of content by different means (tools,
media, etc.)
 mediation is about the „inbetween“ between recipient
and e.g. an artwork or data about an artwork  display
 in the digital context we are talking about interfaces and
specific „interface-grammars“ (Manovich 2001, p. 73)
 mediation as translation-process (e.g. Grusin & Bolter 1996)

4. Definition of an Archive
 selection
 order + metadata  retrieval
 accessibility
 conservation of material
 decontextualization & re-contextualization
 construction of reality
(cf. e.g. Haber, 2006; Ernst, 2002b; Drechsel, 2005)
13.10.2010Wiencek, Seizov, Müller - Multimodal Online Mediation @ ECREA 2010
Archive

5. Digital Archives
13.10.2010Wiencek, Seizov, Müller - Multimodal Online Mediation @ ECREA 2010
 Michel Foucault (French Philosopher):
 archive as (institutional) site of discursive formation
(Foucault 1973 – Archaeology of Knowledge)
 Lev Manovich (Media Theorist, UCLA, USA)
 the archive becomes a database  enhanced
functionality

6. Research Questions
13.10.2010Wiencek, Seizov, Müller - Multimodal Online Mediation @ ECREA 2010
1. What are the the different modalities used in
online-mediation of media art and what are their
roles?
2. Which modalities are used to mediate specific
aspects of the artworks?
3. Do the different modalities interact to mediate an
artistic project in the different strategies?

7.  Categorization of the material
 Interactive processes of digital archives
 Visualization and contextualization of archive material
 Retrieval
4 Dimensions of Meaning Generation in
Digital Archives
13.10.2010Wiencek, Seizov, Müller - Multimodal Online Mediation @ ECREA 2010

8. Mediation Paradox (Dieter Daniels, 2004)
13.10.2010Wiencek, Seizov, Müller - Multimodal Online Mediation @ ECREA 2010
 media art projects are produced in electronic media but
are not mediated in them
 loss of specific qualities of the works in classical mediation in
museum catalogues (text + image)
 projects are not about the object but about the action
they evoke in the user (cf. Mulder 2007, p.54)
 media qualities, „realms of possibilities“, configuration of
the work need to be documented
 media art needs to be mediated by multimedia and
related to relevant theory
(cf. Daniels 2004, p. 90 ff)

9. Mediation Paradox (Dieter Daniels, 2004) (2)
13.10.2010Wiencek, Seizov, Müller - Multimodal Online Mediation @ ECREA 2010
 Web as medium is especially suited (Wiencek 2009)
 use of several media types
 processability of digital data
 accessability
 connection of information nodes inside a archive but also of
different archives  discourse space
(cf. Ernst, 2002; Haber, 2006; Manovich, 2001; Wiencek, 2009)
 BUT: translation of media art projects into a format for
digital storage and display needed  re-mediation
(Bolter & Grusin, 1996)  loss of information

10. Sample
13.10.2010Wiencek, Seizov, Müller - Multimodal Online Mediation @ ECREA 2010
 Ars Electronica Archiv
 V2_archive
 virtualart.at
 Daniel Langlois Foundation
 Medien Kunst Netz  Educational Platform
 netzspannung.org 
 GAMA  Subject Gateway
Institutional Archives
Archives in Scientific Contexts
Educational Platform /
Collaborative Online Platform

11. Documented Layers of Interactive Installations
13.10.2010Wiencek, Seizov, Müller - Multimodal Online Mediation @ ECREA 2010
Concept Setup
Technology
Space
Elements/
Component
s of the
Artwork
Interface
Interaction
between
Hard- &
Software
Possible
Experience
Interactive
Process
Realm of
Possibilities
Exhibition /
Performance
Situation(s)
User
Experience
Context
History
History of
Technology
Art History
Archive-
Context
Institutional
Context
External
Sources
Exhibitions
Literature
Project
History
Versioning
Partial
Projects
Specific
Exhibited
Version
Additional
Information
Artist‘s Bio
Archive-
Specific
Additional
Information
Metadata
Title
Artist
Year
Keywords
Type
Archive-
Specific
Metadata

12. Conclusions
13.10.2010Wiencek, Seizov, Müller - Multimodal Online Mediation @ ECREA 2010
 No correspondence between the function of the
archive and the modalities used for documentation
 Text & images are still the most prevalent
mediation-modalities, but also video, audio and
other means such as hyperlinks, automated search
(dynamic content) and interactive applications /
visualizations are used.
 Text is in part used as hypertext  non-linearity

13. Documented Layers of Interactive Installations
13.10.2010Wiencek, Seizov, Müller - Multimodal Online Mediation @ ECREA 2010
Concept Setup
Technology
Space
Elements/
Component
s of the
Artwork
Interface
Interaction
between
Hard- &
Software
Possible
Experience
Interactive
Process
Realm of
Possibilities
Exhibition /
Performance
Situation(s)
User
Experience
Context
History
History of
Technology
Art History
Archive-
Context
Institutional
Context
External
Sources
Exhibitions
Literature
Project
History
Versioning
Partial
Projects
Specific
Exhibited
Version
Additional
Information
Artist‘s Bio
Archive-
Specific
Additional
Information
Metadata
Title
Artist
Year
Keywords
Type
Archive-
Specific
Metadata
Layers of the projects translated in other
modalities than text.

14. f.wiencek@jacobs-university.de
o.seizov@jacobs-university.de
m.mueller@jacobs-university.de
Thank you for your attention!
13.10.2010Wiencek, Seizov, Müller - Multimodal Online Mediation @ ECREA 2010

15. 13.10.2010Wiencek, Seizov, Müller - Multimodal Online Mediation @ ECREA 2010
References (1):
Assmann, A. (2004). Zur Mediengeschichte des kulturellen Gedächtnisses. In A. Erll & A. Nünning, . Berlin, New York.
Bolter, J. D., & Grusin, R. A. (1996). Remediation. Configurations, 4(3). Retrieved from http://muse.jhu.edu/
journals/configurations/v004/4.3bolter.html.
Caianiello, T., & Giebeler, J. (2010). Conserving Interactivity. imai Case Study on Bill Seaman's "Exchange Fields."
ISEA 2010, Panel "Still Accessible? Rethinking the Preservation of Media Art 1, 24.08.2010. Dortmund.
Daniels, D. (2004). Das Vermittlungsparadox der Medienkunst – Thesen und Modelle zur multimedialen Vermittlung.
In G. J. Lischka & P. Weibel, Die Medien der Kunst – die Kunst der Medien (pp. 90-104). Wabern, Bern: Benteli.
Ernst, W. (2002). Das Rumoren der Archive : Ordnung aus Unordnung. Internationaler Merve-Diskurs ; 243. Berlin:
Merve-Verl.
Haber, P. (2006). Gegenwart dokumentieren – Eine Annäherung aus historischer Sicht. In L. Reddeker, gegenwart
dokumentieren. handbuch zur erschließung moderner und zeitgenössischer kunst in archiven und datenbanken (pp.
17-26). Wien: basis wien - Kunst, Information und Archiv.
Kampman, M. (2009). YouTube's Flagging System. Retrieved from http://www.minkekampman.nl/index.php/
2009/09/04/index/.
Lemke, J. L. (2002). Travels in hypermodality. Visual Communication, 1(3), 299-325. doi:
10.1177/147035720200100303.
Lovink, G., & Niederer, S. (Eds.)(2008). Video Vortex Reader – Responses to Youtube. Amsterdam: Institute of
Network Cultures. Retrieved from http://networkcultures.org/wpmu/portal/files/2008/10/vv_reader_small.pdf.
Ludwig Boltzmann Institut Medien.Kunst.Forschung. (2009). Abschlussbericht 09 des Ludwig Boltzmann Institut
Medien.Kunst.Forschung. Retrieved from http://mediaartresearch.at/de/news.php?iMenuID=35&iNewsID=98.

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References (2):
Ludwig Boltzmann Institute Media.Art.Research. (2009). Visualization Showcase - Projects. Retrieved from http://
vis.mediaartresearch.at/webarchive/public/view/mid:1.
Manovich, L. (2001). The language of new media. Leonardo. Cambridge, Mass. [u.a.]: MIT Press.
Manovich, L. (2008). Software takes command. Retrieved from http://softwarestudies.com/softbook/
manovich_softbook_11_20_2008.doc.
Morville, P., & Callender, J. (2010). Search Patterns (1 ed.). O'Reilly Media. Retrieved from http://
www.amazon.de/dp/0596802277.
Mulder, A. (2007). The Exercise of Interactive Art. In J. Brouwer & A. Mulder, (pp. 52-69). Rotterdam: V2 Pub./NAi
Publishers.
Rogers, R. (2009). The End of the Virtual – Digital Methods. Retrieved from http://www.govcom.org/
rogers_oratie.pdf.
Snickars, P., & Vonderau, P. (Eds.) (2009). The YouTube Reader. Stockholm: National Library of Sweden.
V2_ Institute for Unstable Media. (2004). Capturing Unstable Media. Retrieved from http://
capturing.projects.v2.nl/recomm.html.
Wiencek, F. (2009). Gedanken zur Online-Vermittlung von Medienkunst. In A. Rotert, H. Nöring, & R. Sausmikat,
Katalog des European Media Art Festival Osnabrück 2009 (pp. 216-217). Osnabrück.
netzspannung.org. (2009). netzspannung.org – Werkzeuge zur Wissenserschließung. Retrieved from http://
netzspannung.org/about/tools/.

17. 13.10.2010Wiencek, Seizov, Müller - Multimodal Online Mediation @ ECREA 2010
References (3):
Sample:
Ars Electronica Archive: http://90.146.8.18/de/archives/index.asp; http://90.146.8.18/de/archives/
prix_archive/prix_projekt.asp?iProjectID=2475#
Daniel Langlois Foundation: http://www.fondation-langlois.org/html/e/; http://www.fondation-langlois.org/
html/e/page.php?NumPage=2186
GAMA: http://www.gama-gateway.eu; http://www.gama-gateway.eu/index.php?
id=search&workdetail=gama:ars-electronica:main:Work:966
Medien Kunst Netz: http://www.medienkunstnetz.de; http://www.medienkunstnetz.de/werke/very-nervous-
system/
netzspannung.org: http://www.netzspannung.org; http://netzspannung.org/cat/servlet/CatServlet?
cmd=document&subCommand=show&forward=%2fnetzkollektor%2foutput
%2fproject.xml&entryId=147823&section=base&lang=de
Virtualart: http://www.virtualart.at; http://www.virtualart.at/database/general/work/very-nervous-system.html
V2_archive: http://www.v2.nl/archive; http://framework.v2.nl/archive/archive/node/work/default.xslt/
nodenr-162937