User: Infotechnodemo

by Peter Lunenfeld and Mieke Gerritzen

Book Overview

Doing theory and criticism in real time: essays on subjects ranging from art and industrial design to The Matrix and Web porn.

In these essays, Peter Lunenfeld does theory and criticism "in real time," looking at (among other subjects) art, video games, book design, "techno-masturbation," The Matrix, and life extension diets. "Readers will have to determine for themselves," he writes, "if this range is symptomatic of pluralism...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0262621983
• ISBN13: 9780262621984
• Release Date: January 2005
• Publisher: MIT Press
• Length: 171 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 4.6" x 6.9"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

A fun read with great graphics!

I bought this book on a whim at the Armand Hammer museum's gift shop; the bright colors on the cover and the refreshing lingo and hip visuals--which almost give it the aura of a VGA monitor--throughout the book had enticed my curiosity, and I figured that in the worst case, USER:INFOTECHNODEMO would at least make for a decent coffee table book. As it turns out, USER was a fun read, and Mieke Gerritzen's creatively designed and ever-changing fonts and graphics forced me to slow down my reading pace and to soak up Lunenfeld's speculative-but-illuminating theories. USER is composed of fifteen essays which were originally written for the international magazine artext. In the introduction, Lunenfeld declares that he has "an obsession with doing theory and criticism in real time," and that these essays are to be approached as "utilities, not manifestoes," which synthesize digital technology, pop culture and visual design. As for the diversity of his essay topics, Lunenfeld says that readers will "have to determine for themselves if this range is symptomatic of pluralism or promiscuity." While the essays are, at times, tangential and cover a range of topics from video games, pop culture, visual design to life extension diets, at no time, however, did USER seem self indulgent. In For Ever, Lunenfeld criticizes our desire to indefinitely extend our lives, as he mocks health zealots and other member of the "anti-death league" who believe that they can significantly increase their life spans through nutritional supplements and other such alternative options. As he points out, the only strategy that has stood up to scientific scrutiny, is extremely reduced caloric intake--an option which Lunenfeld finds unrealistic in our super-size-me society. In a cynically dark tone--emphasized by the black and grey color scheme on the essay's last page--Lunenfeld advocates for French fries and milkshakes while we wait for nanotechnology that will eventually be able to repair our DNA. Extrusion Vertigo's color scheme is limited to a simple black and white, which in Eisensteinian-like opposition, allows the reader to easily read the chaotically dizzying topics addressed. The essay begins with the native L.A. malady that Lunenfeld suffers from whenever he sees stars such as Stallone whose normally flat-screen-existence dizzies his three-dimensional perceptual apparatus. Unlike his neighbors, Lunenfeld would prefer not to meet any stars in real life, and is ill-tempered towards our culture's obsessions with stars. He wonders why the industry grips, PAs, 2nd unit ADs and effects producers don't grow tired of celebrities, and comes to the conclusion that below-the-line toilers are fans first and foremost, which is why they're in showbiz. Also, Lunenfeld points out that the profit-driven "Entertaindom's global reach" and tesseracted media commodities--from URLs on lunch boxes to personal fragrance products mentioned on Xmas albums--have increased the pressure to develop, susta