Digital Mantras: the Languages of Abstract and Virtual Worlds

Holtzman, Steven R

ISBN 10: 0262581434 / ISBN 13: 9780262581431

Published by Cambridge: MIT Press, 1996

About this Item

An exploration of the intersection of computers & technology and the visual arts. Slight foxing to page edges (not effecting text or page margins) otherwise a clean, unmarked, complete very good+ paperback book in decorative wrappers (soft cover book).

Seller Inventory # 655314

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Digital Mantras: the Languages of Abstract and Virtual Worlds
• Publisher: Cambridge: MIT Press
• Publication Date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0262581434
• ISBN 13: 9780262581431
• Binding: Soft cover
• Edition: 4th printing.

About this title

Synopsis

Steven Holtzman synthesizes ideas from a number of different disciplines to arrive at a new philosophy of creativity for the digital age.

Computer technology is making possible new worlds of expression that are already being explored by a growing subculture of artists, musicians, virtual reality enthusiasts, and cyberpunks. In Digital Mantras, Steven Holtzman synthesizes ideas from a number of different disciplines to arrive at a new philosophy of creativity for the digital age. Blending ideas from music, computing, art, and philosophy, with biographical and historical anecdotes and a thread of mysticism, Holtzman gives us new ways to think about the integration of computers into the creative process. He shows how computers will change the way we create, and reveals the exciting potential for entirely new forms of expression. Running throughout the book are episodes from Holtzman's own sometimes mystical journey in search of the personal aesthetic he presents. Holtzman explores the presence and use of structure in fields as diverse as the development of ancient human languages, the philosophy of the Buddhist monk Nagarjuna and the linguist Ferdinand de Saussure, the music of Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern, the paintings of Wassily Kandinsky, and the pioneering grammars of Panini and Noam Chomsky. He then turns to the use of computers for building abstract and virtual worlds in language, music, and art as well as virtual reality, and surveys the work of AI pioneer Terry Winograd, composers Gottfried Michael Koenig and Iannis Xenakis, and artist Harold Cohen. Holtzman concludes by discussing the aesthetic implications of these new worlds. He introduces the concept of digital expression, along with examples that hint at its far-reaching possibilities.

About the Author

Steven Holtzman, who holds both an undergraduate degree in western and eastern philosophy and a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Edinburgh, is a founder and Vice President of Optimal Networks in Palo Alto. Using digital as well as analog techniques, he has composed a number of musical works that have been performed in Europe and the United States.