|
This is why Lawrence Lessig in his book »Code and other laws of cyberspace« claims that program code increasingly tends towards becoming law. This is his by now almost famous short motto: »Code is Law.« Today control functions are being build directly into that very architecture of, for example, the net, which means into its code. Taking as an example the online service America Online (AOL) Lessig poignantly makes clear how code directly enables or disables freedom of movement, of speech and of behavior. Code should - even if it remains largely invisible - not be accepted as something natural or as god given fact. It is rather written by humans and can therefore be changed or conceived differently.
Code works or software art deals with this code and software structures underlying and generating visible surfaces. Software art focuses our attention on the all pervasive raw program code which our increasingly digitized working and living environment is based upon and uses this code or this software as its artistic material.
(inke arns:
Software Art Panel - Media Arts Lab at Künstlerhaus Bethanien
In cooperation with transmediale.03
February 4th, 2003, Studio II
)
|
