Multimedia: From Wagner to Virtual Reality [Hardcover]

Randall Packer (Author), Ken Jordan (Author), William Gibson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 15, 2001

This is the untold history of the multimedia revolution. This collection shows how the interfaces, links and interactivity we all take for granted today grew out of a series of collaborations between the arts and the sciences. Randall Packer and Ken Jordan bring together the seminal documents of the multimedia age and provide a clear explanation of the core concepts behind this medium of expression. They gather articles that are frequently cited but mostly out of print and hard to find, such as the Futurists' 1916 manifesto on cinema, which declared that the new medium would unite all media and replace the book; Tim Berner-Lee's 1989 proposal for a document-sharing network, which became the basis of the World Wide Web; and William Gibson's discussion of how he came up with the word "cyberspace". Packer and Jordan's introduction to the volume and their preface to each article lead the reader through the ground breaking developments of the multimedia story.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"What we need is a computer that isn't labor-saving but that increases the work for us to do, that... turns us... not `on' but into artists," writes John Cage in his essay in Multimedia: From Wagner to Virtual Reality, edited by Randall Packer and Ken Jordan, with a foreword (and an excerpt) by William Gibson. Surveying various artistic disciplines, the editors uncover the intersections of the avant-garde and strict computer science with inclusions like Tim Berners-Lee's 1980s prospectus for the World Wide Web, titled "Information Management: A Proposal," and ignored by his colleagues until he made the software, and his fortune, independently. Contributors include Bauhaus luminary L szl¢ Moholy-Nagy, Cage prot‚g‚ and performance artist Nam June Paik, and artist Lynn Hershman. Photos and illus. (Norton, $26.95 416p ISBN 0-393-04979-5; Apr.)

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Readers interested in the history of multimedia should be enthralled by this collection of hard-to-find essays. "Outline of the Artwork of the Future," for instance, was first published in 1849, and its author was the great German composer Richard Wagner, who envisioned a new kind of stage drama that united music, visual effects, poetry, and dance. Skip forward seven decades, and here's 1924's "Theater, Circus, Variety," by Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, one of the foremost practitioners of the Bauhaus school of art. His elaboration of Wagner's ideas incorporated the revolutionary idea of removing the so-called fourth wall and involving the audience in the play. Similarly, these essays trace the evolution of electronic media, film, and books (William Burroughs' 1964 piece, "The Future of the Novel," is itself worth the price of admission). A remarkable blending of past and present, these essays remind us that today's wondrous inventions didn't just spring into existence out of nothingness. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 394 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; Reprint edition (January 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393049795
• ISBN-13: 978-0393049794
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.5 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #646,104 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The book is a must read; the web site is a must see!, June 13, 2001

By 

Kevin Teixeira (Silicon Valley, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Multimedia: From Wagner to Virtual Reality (Hardcover)

This book is a must read for anyone interested in modern art and culture, and where its going. The companion web site on www.artmuseum.net is a brilliant compliment to the book, with 50 video clips, rare photos and other treats. Finally, a publishing project that "gets it" how to use the web + printed book in a way where the sum is greater than the parts. Its amazing to see how long artists and scientists have been working (alone, and in some cases together) towards this goal. Prehaps the following decade will witness a true "waking up" by the mass culture to this new syntax, new reading-practice, of multi-media hyper-texted information. This book may mark a point in time where we started acknowledging the depth and extent of our post-Guttenburg world. Bravo to Randall Packer and Ken Jordon for pulling this project off.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Collection of Fascinating Contributors, May 27, 2002

By 

Abbie Brown (Greenville, NC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Multimedia: From Wagner to Virtual Reality (Hardcover)

Reading this collection of articles gave me a better understanding of the people and ideas that helped shape computer-based communication. The contributors are for the most part well chosen; a few that I might well have done without, I must admit -- but far more excellent choices than "questionable" ones. The organization of the book is interesting as well. I was reminded of the magazine "Mondo 2000" that I subscribed to in the early '90's (multimedia/geek chic).

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic, February 20, 2009

By 

S. Dinehart "NarrativeDesinger" (Chicago, IL, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Multimedia: From Wagner to Virtual Reality, Expanded Edition (Paperback)

This book has shaped me in ways I barely have words for. It is a must read for anyone interested in Interactive Media Design, what we used to call Multimedia. I have used it in the classroom as both a student and a teacher. It has proven invaluable in the creation of my own Interactive Narrative Design theory. While clearly in need of an update (I'm looking at you Randall), I could not be without it.