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databases as works of art
Had a long, caffeinated discussion about databases this morning with CJO. What makes an effective database, what databases could be used for, etc.
This afternoon I find myself wondering: why is it that the database is not widely recognized as a form for artistic expression? There are certainly times when I feel like the index card file will end up being the best piece of creative output I will ever produce. And databases, in general, are oriented towards fragmentation, discontinuity, heterogeneity, montage, collage, and systematics—major governing principles of contemporary art.
Guy Davenport writes "A work of art is a form that articulates forces, making them intelligible." The database is literally designed to be such a form. So where are the artists striving out in that direction? Milorad Pavic has produced at least one book that points the way...
I suspect there are hypertexts that qualify—almost all hypertexts have, as their back-end, arrays of lexia that could basically be thought of as existing in a sort of database form—although I'm hard-pressed to think of many hypertext works that actually function like databases. Where are the creative works that open within, say, Access, rather than running as independent programs with their own interfaces (such as those generated by a hypertext authoring tool like StorySpace)? Labels: databases, hypertext, indexing |
Saturday, August 21, 2004
2:29 PM
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