SI28-Radio-Worm/Week2
This was the second radio show from Special Issue 28, and we discussed many topics in relation to writing machines and authorship.
Hosts
Tommi, Barbara, Kiki, Daan (producer)
Broadcast
Listen to our broadcast here
Shownotes
Pad of class notes during radio show
Full interview with Brewster Kahle
Full interview with Mary Kahle
Recap of the show
Introduction
The second show at Radio WORM was a playful yet hectic one. Many topics flew around the room, with accompanying sounds. Samples of XPUB1 were gathered which Daan flipped into a jingle. Several writing machines were presented. Language and surveillance capitalism became leading themes. Tommi introduced the show to a backdrop of algorythmic music.
Session 1 | Protocols & Publishing Freedom
- ♫ Surveillance Capitalism - Evan Greer
- We played an excerpt of the Brewster Kahle interview specifically about his views on mega-publishing-corporations and how we can fight back against them.
- Barbara: Katherine Hayles argued that you cannot analyze a piece of media without its medium and I think Brewster Kahle’s examples show it also can’t be removed from the systems in which it’s published. DRM (digital rights management) in games is like putting a lock on your files that you can only open by connecting to the storefront, its a license not ownership. Alternative DRM-free storefronts in the games industry: itch.io and GOG.com. But even they can’t escape outside pressure from mastercard to censor “violent or pornographic content” from their stores. How do we protect protocols from this outside corporate influence?
- We played Ursula K Le Guin's speech about defending art over profits.
- Barbara: Brewster Kahle and Le Guin both signal major problems with the publishing industry but while Kahle sees a regulated market and competition as a good thing but the monopolies as a problem, Le Guin argues profit incentives are inherently against making art and wants us to think outside of the capitalist system.
- ♫ De Machine - Sef ft. Abel
- Barbara: The song is about feeling frustrated to have to participate inside this system’s “machine” and the passivity of everybody with it. But in the last verse, they add a twist, saying: "Throw a coin in my mouth and then the show will start. But that’s how I get by and make a living. That’s the irony, I AM the machine."
Session 2 | Alphabets
- Kiki talked about the history of Chinese typewriters. These typewriters are super complex and hold thousands of characters. Translation from English or western languages has been made possible for quite some time now. But not without any damage, since the Chinese language and in particular typeset is so much more complex. As a symbolic system where characters signify the physical world, Chinese characters more focus on real-world objects rather than abstract human sounds. It means Chinese characters are more like meme or emoji. This art of writing may be understanding both as a means of interacting with reality and as a form of self-cultivation. Different nations have different writing systems, or “protocols.”
The protocol here is that language is no longer just a transparent medium. It becomes the rule that builds the world.
- Daan later gathered several children ABC songs. The ones every kid learn to get their alphabet right. Every country seems to have similar ones. Which hold the same pattern and similar melodies. Therefore is was very easy to mix them together. During the radioshow this resulted in a overlapping and organic mix of four languages in dialogue with each other. Showcasing their similarities and differences at the same time.