Abstract
In the age of information overload, the primary concern for many knowledge areas becomes the organisation and retrieval of data. Artists have a unique opportunity, at this historical juncture, to play a role in the definition and design of systems of access and retrieval, and at the very least comment on the existing practices. In this article I show how some personalities have foreshadowed and indeed influenced the current practices and huge efforts in digitising our collective knowledge. This article is an effort to broadly contextualise the current atmosphere and environment that ‘information architects’ are confronted with.
Similar content being viewed by others
Explore related subjects
Discover the latest articles, news and stories from top researchers in related subjects.References
Blume, E. 1998. “On the verge of Departure from Lager 1.” In Deep Storage. Ed.
Borges, J. 1962. “The Library of Babel,” Ficciones. Trans. Anthony Kerrigan. New York: Grove Press.
Bourdon, D. 1970. “Andy's Dish.” Raid the Icebox 1 With Andy Warhol. Catalogue essay. Providence: Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design.
Bush, V. 1945. “As We May Think.” In Electronic Culture: Technology and Visual Representation.
Cimons, M. JACOBS, Paul. 1999. “Biotech Battlefield: Profits vs. Public”. Los Angeles Times. February 21.
Daniel, S. 1998. “Collaborative Systems: evolving databases and the ‘conditions of possibility’—artificial life models of agency in on-line interactive art.” AI & Society.
Engelbart, D. 1963. “A Conceptual Framework for the Augumentation of Man's Intellect” In Vistas in Information Handling. ed. HOWERTON, Paul. Washington D. C.: Spartan Books. London: Cleaver-Hume Press. FULLER, B.R. 1962. Synergetics Dictionary. Citing Oregon lecture #9, July 12.
Fuller, B.R. 1965. Vision '65. Keynote address. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University, October.
Fuller, B.R. 1967. “Bucky.” In University of Toronto Graduate. ed. McLUHAN, M. Toronto: University of Toronto.
Fuller, R. B. 1981. Critical Path. Kiyoshi Kuromiya, Adjuvant. New York: St. Martin's Press
Glave, J. 1998. “Hypertext Guru Has New Spins on Old Plans”. Hotwired. 3.06. April 17, 1998.
Hafner, K. 1996. “Picture This.” Newsweek. 24 June.
McAllister, J and WEIL, B. 1989. “The Museum Under Analysis.” In The Desire of the Museum. Catalogue essay. New York: Whitney Museum of American Art.
McLuhan, M. 1962. The Guttenberg Galaxy. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Nelson, T. 1965. “The Hypertext”. In proceedings of the World Documentation Federation.
Nelson, T. 1974. “Computer Lib/Dream Machines”. Sausalito, CA: Mindful Press.
Ninch. National Initiative for a networked Cultural Heritage. www-ninch.cni.org
Rapaport, R. 1996. “In His Image.” Wired, 4;11. November.
Rheingold, H. 1993. The Virtual Community: Homesteading the Electronic Frontier. New York: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company.
Rothstein, E. 1995. “How Bill Gates is Imitating Art.” The New York Times. October 15. E3.
Said, C. 1998. San Francsico Chronicle. May 7.
Schaffner, I. WINZEN, M. ed. 1998. Deep Storage: Collecting, Storing, and Archiving Art. Munich: Prestel-Verlag.
Smith, J. 1998. “Andy Warhol.” In Deep Storage: Collecting, Storing, and Archiving Art. Munich: Prestel-Verlag.
Stafford, B. 1991. Body Criticism: Imaging the Unseen in enlightenment Art and Medicine. Cambridge, Mass and London, UK: MIT Press.
Waldby, C. 2000. The Visible Human Project: Informatic Bodies and Posthuman Medicine, Routledge
Wells, H.G. 1938. World Brain. Freeport, New York: Books for Libraries Prees.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Vesna, V. Databases are us. AI & Soc 14, 157–175 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01205446
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01205446