information.
this week's topic is Design and the Digital Aesthetic
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"It is difficult to distinguish today's computer-aided designer from the designer-aided computer. This is because thanks to the DTP industry's furious development efforts, the computer has surpassed the designer's expressive abilities and imagination and has come to govern the majority of visual development." John Maeda
What is good and bad art and design on the Net? How do we agree a critical framework, and common language, within which we can discuss that issue? To what extent does the technology itself determine the form and aesthetic of the work? Is the artist or designer merely a choreographer who sets the parameters for the work - the series of steps by which the user engages with the system? Is the system itself the artwork?
featured products.
erroneous404
Stanza argues for a networked national virtual media centre, and for recognition of the error404 page as an artwork in itself
Soundtoys
a showcase for artists at the forefront of audiovisual work on the net
www.sodaplay.com
build and animate your own creatures using sodaconstructor
www.low-fi.org
check out this artist run system for locating art projects on the net
www.jodi.org
revisit this seminal piece of net art
featured product :: www.sodaplay.com.
www.sodaplay.com - soda
"As technology increasingly permeates and mediates our daily activities, we feel it crucial as artists to adopt such developments as the medium for resonant artistic expression"Soda
sodaplay was devised by a london based company called soda creative ltd. The project contributed to soda's ongoing ideas generation, research and development process, but mainly they made it just for fun. Since the site's inception, literally thousands of users have used sodaplay to build sodacontructor creations. The project won a 2001 Interactive Arts BAFTA Award.
soda has been pioneering new experiences through digital media since 1996. They combine an arts and research practice with a broad range of commercial activities, encompassing ideas generation, digital design, content creation, software production, art commissions and research and development.
Recommended Links
Top five best selling products
- 'Handmade Code' from Web Environments
- 'www.sodaplay.com' from Design and the Digital Aesthetic
- 'www.low-fi.org' from Design and the Digital Aesthetic
- 'erroneous404' from Design and the Digital Aesthetic
- 'Soundtoys' from Design and the Digital Aesthetic
Lewis Miller Recommends
www.sodaplay.com customer reviews.
Art meets Science - Sue Owen
Sunday, Mar 07, 2004 
This site is amazing. I first came across it about three years ago and I've still never seen anything which comes close to it. I teach teenagers with learning difficulties and behavior issues, and some of them have had a lot of fun with this. We all enjoy throwing the creatures around.
i'm biased but reckon it's brilliant - ben hyde
Thursday, Mar 04, 2004
having met one of the members of soda (who i thought was a really nice and very inteligent) i admit to being biased in voting for this - but i knew of sodaplay a long time before that i think it is good as it combines learning/skill with aesthetics and sharing - something that is pretty rare if you haven't sodaplayed - you don't know what you are missing *warning* it is not as easy as it seems - the challenge is another thing that makes it stand out!
simple, but ingenious - impossible dreamer
Tuesday, Mar 02, 2004 
Sodaconstructor is a brilliant little device. There's hours of fun to be had making your own little beasties and watching them move. I'm getting into zero gravity now, and enjoy switching on to manual and throwing the creatures from one side of the screen to another. Do you think I need help?
The IdeasMart is now closed
Digest was open during March 2004 - PLEASE NOTE it is now closed and available for browsing only... we hope you enjoy your visit.
mark cosgrove Recommends
http://www.v2.nl
The website for the brilliantly named Centre for Unstable Media in Rotterdam, full of riches.
http://www.mediachannel.org
US site which uses the web to counteract the stories from from the mainstream broadcast media.
http://www.squidsoup.com
squidsoup's work make the argument for the unique creative qualities of the web.
http://www.expectingrain.com
For obsessives only (and lets face it that's what the web exploits), approach with caution!
http://www.oddobjects.info
Artist website with eclectic selection of links into worlds of art, music, cultural politics and the downright odd.