MEDIAART 1A03 Vocabulary & Key Concepts

Vocabulary and key conceptual flashcards covering lecture slides and readings for MEDIAART 1A03.

Constitutive Technology

The concept that digital technologies do not merely assist human daily life, but actively structure and shape personal interactions, relationships, values, and self-presentation.

The Medium is the Message

Marshall McLuhan's theory (1964) stating that the medium's form and underlying rules govern creation and consumption, influencing society and human thought more than the specific content delivered.

Twitter (X) as a Mold

Ezra Klein's characterization of Twitter as an information medium that nudges users toward context-free ideas under 280 characters, constant crowd awareness, and validation via response metrics.

Removed

A photography series by Eric Pickersgill documenting everyday situations with personal electronic devices edited out, highlighting screen addiction, split attention, and device integration into the physical body.

Sweetheart Roller Skating Rink 1972-1973

A photographic series by Bill Yates documenting youth interaction and social spaces in the early 1970s before the advent of personal digital communication technology.

Algorithmic Children

A photographic series by Wendy McMurdo documenting primary school students following the introduction of wireless tablets into the school curriculum, depicting 24/7 access to a networked world.

Neil Postman

Author of "Amusing Ourselves to Death" who analyzed how television transformed public discourse into entertainment, asserting that no medium is excessively dangerous if users understand its dangers.

Nicholas Carr

Author of "The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains," whose work examines how internet consumption alters human attention spans and cognitive processing.

Digital Society

A societal state where everyday life, work, politics, and culture are profoundly mediated by digital data and information technology, making technology usage necessary for full participation.

Multimedia

The combination of diverse media—especially digital media such as audio, video, graphics, web pages, and installations—into a unified communicative or expressive object or experience.

Distinctive Features

The unique physical, structural, and technical attributes of a media technology that influence how a message is conceived, presented, and received.

Electronic Superhighway: Continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii

A 1995 fifty-one channel video installation by Nam June Paik featuring custom electronics, neon lighting, and square television monitors arranged into a map of the United States.

Observation (Media Project #1)

A passive, attentive method of documenting external phenomena, rhythms, or changes in the world without performing, manipulating, or acting as the subject in front of the camera or microphone.

Constant

An artwork series by Liss Platt centered on a floating raft photographed in a fixed position over time, exploring temporal cycles, environmental transformations, and grid presentation structures.

Frederick Franck

An author and artist who posited that relying on viewfinders, TV tubes, and screens causes humans to regress from deep "seeing" to mere "looking," numbing awareness to the experience of living.

Franco "Bifo" Berardi

A theorist who argued that accelerating the flow of information in a digital economy eliminates meaning, because meaning requires time to be produced, elaborated, and understood.

Seven-Day Grace Period

The course policy permitting media project assignments to be submitted up to 7 days after the official due date without receiving a grade penalty.

Generative AI Policy (MEDIAART 1A03)

A strict course rule prohibiting the use of generative AI or AI translation tools for producing text, images, sounds, or videos, categorizing AI usage as contract cheating and academic dishonesty.

Arts of Attentiveness

A concept cited from Thom Van Dooren, Eben Kingsley, and Ursula Münster highlighting that deep observation and paying attention serve as the foundation for shared life and understanding.

Prothonotary Warbler

A bright yellow songbird documented in Dr. Andrew Mactavish's wildlife photography and environmental humanities research.

Baltimore Oriole

A black and bright orange songbird documented as part of Dr. Andrew Mactavish's observational studies of wildlife in southern Ontario.

Louisiana Waterthrush

A striped songbird photographed carrying prey as part of Dr. Andrew Mactavish's photographic study of species interactions.

Communication Chain

The formal order for student course inquiries: Student to Teaching Assistant to Super TA (Tyler Matheson) to Course Instructor (Dr. Andrew Mactavish).

Sustained

A student project example that uses grid-arranged photographs of a trail barricade with a larger central image of a broken fence post to explore human vulnerability and community support.