James:
Why not? I say, WHY NOT!! Actually the question is WHO ARE WE? What is ours to know? Where does LOUNGE come from anyway? I'm reading Elevator Music by Joseph Lanza and I'm surprised by how many Canadians affected the WORLD lounge scene, most notably Percy Faith. Lounge is a world consumer phenomenon and it is not just Wayne Newton in Las Vegas. It is Muzak, Guy Lombardo, Laurence Welk, 101 Strings, Esquivel, Swingle Singers, Mantovani, Combustible Edison, Les Baxter, Yma Sumac and Julie Cruise.

Carol:
The question is - taken seriously by whom? By people in Vancouver, or other parts of the world, or by people in Los Angeles? Who are these people? Is this a relative, sliding scale of "realness" based on geographical location, or closeness to the epicenter of any particular scene? Was grunge only in Seattle, or did it have a simulated life and power after it was spread out and marketed, while the real force then moved to another unseen area? Where and when is any cultural trend actually real and valid? When acknowledged externally, or when discovered by people who live that way, or when it reaches the press? I suppose if the Vancouver site were taken seriously by the so-called definers of the lounge scene, as the lounge scene emerges globally, then the site, wherever it came from, would be considered valid. However, if the scene remains regionally based, and doesn't emerge globally, then participation is just seen as imitation.

Polly:
Yes. The Vancouver, Canada lounge web sites would be looked at as more serious but less creative!

Josepha Haveman, Berkeley, CA:
I am not familiar with what you call the "lounge scene", but whatever it is, for Pete's sake don't worry about 'competing" with things coming out of Las Vegas and Los Angeles!! After having lived and worked in California for 46 years, I'd only be too relieved to see something Canadian coming out of Vancouver. Please, use the medium to bring us something real; art that derives its inspiration from your own beautiful place and your own level of experience. Please access my website: http://www.illuminated.com/JH_ArtArchive/

Lee Feldman, Vancouver, Canada:
Why is Vancouver a legitimate place to talk about the lounge scene? To me the lounge scene represents an absence of angriness-a cool aloofness to the troubles and hardships occuring in the rest of the world. Vancouver is seen as a prosperous city that has still not realized its full potential. The natural beauty of the city, combined with a growing sense of sophistication and style has put us on the map as a very desirable place to live.
We as Vancouverites are very open to new trends and ideas as we act as a hub for Europe, North America and Asia, yet we are not burdened by high crime rates, oppressive regimes, strict cultural values, a rising sense of racism, or mass unemployment. To us, this is the most natural place for lounge music to be appreciated. We are young, exotic, worry free, and successful.
Let's have a martini and celebrate the good things in life!!!!!

Sue Campbell, Vancouver, Canada
Yes I think and I think that a lounge scene website created in Vancouver could be taken seriously as the Vancouver lifestyle is condusive to the lounge attitude. Afterall, we are the city that works to live!;not lives to work. Whereas areas like Los Angeles have many strong coexisting music scenes,(rap,rock,metal) Vancouver seems to focus on the stylized, artful sounds of lounge. No wonder considering it`s carefree playland status; the city`s fresh, young and eager attitude is in keeping with the principles of lounge music. Add to this fact that Vancouver is rapidly gaining the recognition it desereves as an international melee of Pacific Rim style and Northern cool; you have the perfect conditions to support both a scene and create a website.

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Question 2: It has been said that there is no good Canadian art. Is this true? And why do you think so? Does this have any implications for a Canadian approach to multimedia?

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Polly:
There is some good Canadian art but it is not "excellent" or "creative", therefore, Canadian art is not famous. The major reason is that Canadians are too easily satisfied. Once they are happy with what they have achieved, they tend to stop there and not go any further or look for other alternatives. Therefore, a Canadian approach to multimedia is constrained by what it has achieved now and it seems to stay there waiting for an outsider's stimulation.

James:
It was probably an American art critic who said this and I can understand why. I have not often seen the quality of tension in Canadian art that I see in American or European art and I'm troubled by this. I think there is no tension in our Canadian quality of life. To make art of consequence do we need to live in a culture or create a culture that is as good as it is bad, like American or European culture? What is missing here in Canada? When it comes to creating multimedia we Canadians need to ask ourselves what is there for us to make multimedia about? Let's make multimedia that is necessary for us to make. Let's figure it out.

Josepha Haveman, Berkeley, CA:
For as long as I can remember, Canada, thanks to government interest and support, has been a leading producer of short art films, documentaries as well as experimental work. With that wonderful background it is only a small conceptual step to video and from video onward to digital media. Each person and culture expands and grows from its strengths. In the U.S. the commercialization of everything, esp. film and 'media', is a big drawback to creating art for its own sake. I would expect better offerings to be forthcoming from Canada than from its southern neighbor. Please access my website: http://www.illuminated.com/JH_ArtArchive/

Jerry Whalley
ART? What is it? Whence does it come? Why is it here? There are, in my little opinion, two forms of Art. Objective Art, and Subjective Art. The latter makes up about 99.9% of the Art we see and hear. Subjective Art comes in 3 flavours, generally,i.e., Intellectual, Emotional, and Physico/Instinctual. A quick example of each would be Picasso's Instinctual works, the Expressionists emotive works, and the Intellectual forms of so called Modern Art. Of course there are various blendings of the above which speaks to each of us on the level of our personal character, hence the like/dislike quality of subjective art werk. With Objective art, like the Gothic Cathedrals of old, the Pyramids, and music such as Beethoven's 5th Symphony or Mozarts 40th, 41st and 42nd symphonies, each and every one has a similar experience. Often getting us out of our personal time/space habit patterns; lifting us in awe to the greater nature of life. So it is that Nature reflected in Art moves us beyond our tunnel realities, whilst the subjective forms chain us to our habits of seeing and hearing, or provide diversion at best.
This opinion is subject to change by cosmic coincidence and other natural factors...;) CIAO

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Question 3: Isn't it true that any differences between how men and women relate to and use new technology are related to attitudes? Are these differences gender-defined or culturally imposed?

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Jin:
the 'truth' of differences in women and men are in essence... a state of relativity. related to attitudes? that would subscribe to the notion that women and men do have irrevocable and established characters that imprison them to their gender. technology is merely a tool... anyone can be hesitant... anyone can be confident. people have always mis-judged me by my paradox of passivity and passion, reclusiveness and friendliness. as a first generation male, i've slipped through that safety net of both culture and gender enough times to wonder... ...so what if there is a difference? why do we need to value or devalue any?

Polly:
My view of how men and women differ in their attitudes to technology has already imposed by some kinds of my "cultural" background. I have always the feeling that women are more emtional while men are more rational. Therefore, women treat Pro Tools as a CD player while men treat Pro Tools as a calculator!!!

Natalie:
Of course it's about attitudes, but the real question is what do these attitudes ultimately mean? Do they help us or hinder us? We could do the nature versus nurture debate until we're blue in the face and still not know where they come from. It irritates me beyond belief when people think we need to make men and women have the same attitudes or approaches to things. The differences between men and women are valuable, as long as we're all on a level playing field (so to speak).

MGeorge:
I hold that these differences are culturally imposed. Girls are still taught to foster their maternal, protective skills and leave the rough stuff (fighting, climbing trees, mowing the lawn, taking things apart to see how they work) to boys, and boys are still taught to emulate heroes, take risks, and learn hunter/gatherer skills they will need to support a family. These and other rules laid down in one's youth settle into the unconscious and steer from the back seat all one's life. There are those who ignore these cultural imperatives, challenge the status quo, and often suffer ridicule for doing so. The other excepion may occur when there occurs some unpredictable need to examine one's motives, determine a need to change, and make those changes.

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Question 4: Are women naturally better at simultaneity? If so, how does this impact the role of women in creating multimedia? simultaneity: the ability to process multiple experiences, sensations at the same time.

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Natalie:
I highly doubt it. We might like to think so (women would be flattered, men would be relieved of the pressure for simultaneity) but I think it's a mistake to make such broad statements. Men are like this, women are like that. Its like saying Chinese people know how to make your whites whiter than white. O.k,, maybe in general they have developed this ability through practice and necessity but its not GENETIC or anything. I hate these black and white statements, I think they get people into a lot of trouble.

MGeorge:
Women from which current cultures? I am mostly familiar with women living in Western, Judeo-Christian cultures, and I think this reveals the fault in the generality of the question. Marshall Mcluhan said of simultaneity: "Electric simultaneity ends specialist learning and activity, and demands interrelation in depth, even of the personality." I cannot disregard cultural impositions even though they lead me to employ generalizations myself. In Western culture, men are taught to reveal no weakness that an enemy may use against them, and so we have the bulk of the male populace experiencing great difficulty "interrelating in depth," especially "of the personality." Conversely, women seem able to react more spontaneously than do men. Perhaps their imaginations have been left more intact than men's, who are encouraged throughout their formative years to wrangle their imagination into the career pasture that seems greenest. I think spontaneity and simultaneity are closely related. So, those who have followed the sheepdog into the safest career pasture are less likely to react without alarm and with curiosity to a series of stimuli.

Jin:
the modern woman... the farm house wife... the girl next door... the mother... the mentor... the friend... who imprisons these women with these labels? we all do... for we all recognize the terms... the nomeclature... the inference. have we truly recognized their potential... their being... have we recognized them for themselves. i have known both cruel unfeeling mothers and nurturing men... so i cannot support that only women who give birth can understand the value of creation. fortunately, i have known more nurturing women than naught... and even i... with my dreams... as a male will never approach the unity of creation in both the physical and spiritual realm. my hope is that multimedia will give birth to language... art... and life; and by default, and by honour... women, and their simultaneity as an aspect of their being, would have a profound affect in shaping multimedia's finality.

Polly:
I am not quite sure what the word "simultaneity" means. Maybe it refers to the idea that women are always better than men in being a housewife while working. In the multimedia production, work can be done at home which means that such special characteristics of women is just fit for the industry!! WATCH OUT! MAN!!!

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Question 5: Marshall McLuhan said that war is a natural outcome of rapid and unassimilated change. What can we do about this?

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James:
I'm unable to be aware of all the effects of my environment on my brain. We must make art.

MGeorge:
Be ever vigilant, and seek the truth. "The truth shall set you free" isn't a platitude. The lack of assimilation and not the rapidity of change leads to imbalance. Rarely if ever have humans made war where each opponent was equally prepared; that is, balanced. The truth of change is that it is a constant. If we are vigilant we will see when change is not being assimilated well. Our responsibility then is to discover (not invent!) the true reasons for the lack, acknowledge the truth without blame and regain balance.

Jin:
'communicate truth'.

Peter Desmet
Our dependence on tradition forbids us to accept change without a clear understanding of how difference establishes itself.Trying to assimilate change is in istself futile. Freeing ourselves from this dependence will permit us then to explore, to define ourselves, to learn without the veiling prejudices of the past.

Michael Sigal
The fact is that things change. The line is drawn between who or what is controlling the change. If it's a personal choice, there's obviously no conflict (or "war" as McLuhan puts it). If it's forced on us -- or we perceive it to be forced on us -- hostility is bound to follow. McLuhan says "war is a natural outcome..." I think an "innate outcome" might be more appropriate. As for what we can do about it, it's simple; stand up for what you believe in and fight, or accept it and roll with the punches. Things change; that's life.

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Question 6: Huxley, McLuhan and Chomsky all attempt to have us consider the effects of ignoring how technology shapes society. Is this true or is technology merely another word for "power"?

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Jin:
technology... is not unlike potentiality of energy states in nature; dormant and benign until acted upon. its relative position in society based on necessity and survival... but in turn, on those aspects of necessity and survival that perpetuate the few; the few that can conceive the power and influence that goes hand-in-hand with the responsibility of yielding such knowledge. Therein lies the fulcrum of how technology translates to a means of shaping society: the knowledge, the responsibility and the 'few'. if the statistical cross-section of societal compassion is mirrored by the distribution amongst the 'few', the proportion of the 'few' that abuse the privilege through selfish and 'irresponsible' utility of knowledge outweighs and outnumbers the 'good'. history is a record... a record of our conscience... there has always been and will be 'knowledge' and the ingenuity to reflect and create it through 'technological know-how'. ...and history shows, more often than not, 'power' is merely nomenclature for the manifestation of 'potentiality to practice' of 'technology', through the ignorance of its essential and umbilical responsibility by the 'few': 'power' is the active state... 'society'... the aftermath.

James:
Yes, it is true that Huxley, McLuhan and Chomsky attempt to have us consider the effects of ignoring how technology shapes society. Technology is an extension of my body and it empowers me. I do need to keep in mind how technology can help me find what I'm looking for.

MGeorge:
If this means, "Is it important we consider the effects of ignoring how technology shapes society," my response is yes. If I were to hear from someone I trust, face to face, delivered in a caring, empathetic manner, that another dear to me has died, I would process that information in a very different manner than if I were to hear it broadcast via radio as I drive home from work. Technology is a force unto itself, and is not under the effective control of those who misunderstand it. News media's exposure of Gary Hart's supposed moral lapse ruined his career. Bill Clinton's similar behaviour, revealed through the same media, has not had such an effect. Content seems irrelevant here; whether intended or not, the news media seem not to have the power to bring the public to a foregone conclusion.

Brad Barstow
I feel cursed to be living in an age where information is currency and culture is meaningless. An age where Community is invisable bits while corporation determine the future. Where Vision is tied to money and the Creators cling to a myth. An age where life is meaningless and the war is lost before it was started. Everything is wrong.
Today a TRILLION dollars was traded on currency markets worldwide.
Today Education was cut again.
Capitalism is out of Control, where do we go from here?
Stay tuned friends and neighbours the revolution is coming... don't touch that dial.
bbastow@multmedia.edu philosopher/envelope stuffer @ large

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Question 7: Are we bypassing, augmenting or transcending our humanity through technology?

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Jin:
espiritu novae et non corpus...
what judgement lies in 'humanity' which is separate from flesh and spiralling into the mind... or is it the spirit?
is this existance and disattachment 'a-la-bypassing nos corpus' an evolution 'augmentative' to a higher level?
technology overwhelmingly alienates our bodies from the world around us, pacifying the innate brutishness, clumsiness, and endearment of touch that make us so dangerous, laughable, frail and beautifully human. we have substituted genuine experience through our bodies' limitations; its trials and journeys of transcendance. for bodhi dharma... enlightenment came through the whole being... the 'body of dharma' transcended that which we try to cheat with technology.
our 'material' and 'electric' technology does not present itself for transcendance. no... in the semantics of circuitry, we seek the 'transformer' of our 'current' state that 'amperes' us for a quick 'bypass-switch' to... what? to what end?
we have 'cheated' our trial by trancendance... judgement would not grant us the privielage of saying we have reached a higher state... not for falsely 'augmenting' what we perceive as our humanity.
but 'current' only flows through a closed circuit... a circle; we still reach the same place... because along with 'us' who apply technology through ignorance and naivete... we bring the innocents... who in turn... bring us to the beginning.

James:
No more or less than ever before. This always has and always will depend on the quality of our psychic lives.

Carol:
We are doing all three, bypassing our humanity, augmenting our humanity, and transcending our humanity. We are also degrading our humanity, ignoring it, and paradoxically fulfilling it, evolving. What is "humanity" - it is more than the corporeal being - perhaps we are just extending the definition, redefining. But there is a correspondent devolution as the evolution is occuring, and we are too numb to feel what it is that is being lost, and has already been lost.

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Question 8: Will electric living make us nervous or sick ? Should we dare become one with it or is it better to separate from it in order to control it?

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Jin:
anyone who wishes to 'control' does so because they exist out of fear that they are not in control... a whisper of truth leaked from their psyche and metamorphosed into an illusion... that true 'control' is neither possible... nor attainable. our sickness (and we are ailing greatly...) is our societal adherence to this illusion.
what use is 'becoming one with' or essentially manipulating 'electric-living', when ultimately it is merely a mirage... something we wanted to see so desperately.
...are we a nervous wreck or what?

James:
Electric living will make us sick if science says so. We always have and we always will just take what we need from electric living and from nature simultaneosly. Let's do this poetically.

Carol:
Electric living will make us nervous or sick if we are resistant to it. But the blue glow of the phosphorescent beam, the red trail of fire in the conduits and all the other electric phenomena we are bathing within are affecting us whether we are aware of them or not - the subtle currents in the human system, which are refreshed and restored through the natural currents of earth, water, fire and air are being activated, overstimulated, and supressed. This can cause a sort of nervous sickness. As if our hair were sticking straight out at a science centre - we are in a massage of agitation. As McLuhan said, "The medium is the massage". We don't need to become separate from it to control it, because that is not the activity we need. What we must do is assess our own reactions, and learn to balance the new electric field which overlays the standard body field.

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Question 9: Should any regulatory body affect multimedia content or delivery systems... or both?

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Jin:
should? could? ...would; inevitable and end of story.

James:
Information, bowling and parking want to be free. However, aesthetic and technical standards can be important and necessary to suggest, maintain or enforce for a stable communityof hardware and software producers.

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Question 10: What social or cultural patterns are we repeating in our current adoration of technology?

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Jin:
story telling... and the fascination of connection to something beyond ourselves. innately we are social creatures... and socialization takes many forms. as detached technology seems to direct us at times, it is grounded in the exchange of stories, driven by the need to perpetuate, investigate...
...communicate.

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