"In one sense the goal of representation has been transparent presentation. The medium is supposed to function as a window through which the viewer can see the objects represented. ... On the other hand, artists and their audiences do not always want the medium to disappear; they often want to be made conscious of and even surrounded by media. Instead of transparency, they strive for hypermediacy, an intense awareness of and even reveling in the medium" (25).
This quote by Bolter discusses the main goals behind representations and their connection to the viewer. He argues at first that media brings its viewers directly to the source and what is being represented; however, he then explains that people often aim for the opposite, wanting to be engrossed in the media entirely. Initially, one can see Bolter's first point in the use of Powerpoint. It brings its viewers straight to the information. But, when one looks closer, he or she can see people get drawn into it and it becomes more interactive with what it is presenting. Powerpoints use that sense of hypermediacy to create a situation so as to entrance the audience in what they are watching and learning, leaving them to revel in the medium through hypertext. In one sense, powerpoint as a medium is very straightforward and acknowledges its limitations in terms of creative ability. On the other hand, it does allow the writer to move through text in non-linear way.
No comments:
Post a Comment