Gabriel and Wagmister collaborated on this piece while working at UCLA. Gabriel, was born in Ethiopia and moved immigrated to the United States in his mid-twenties. He used his experiences growing up in a “third world” country to become an expert in the academic community on third world cinema. Wagmister is also part of UCLA’s academic community. Born in Argentina, his place of birth has greatly influenced his area of study as well. His work is film focused as well, with a focus in Latin American Culture and Art.
The piece we read focuses on less developed countries and how technology relates to that. To do so, they compared technology to weaving, a craft that many people in these developing countries are familiar with. At the same time, it simplifies technological terms and interfaces for people like me who have grown up with all of this technology but have not necessarily known it on a deeper level. We know how to use the internet, but only on a superficial level. I really liked the comparison of Photoshop to the actual physical process of developing and editing images. When you think of the tools and terminology used in both in relation to the physical processes they were modeled after it is a lot easier to obtain a broader understanding of the technology and also how to educated people in less developed countries about technology.
Barbrook and Schultz are both European scholars. Barbook has a doctorate degree in political science, and supplements media studies into his work. He is currently working and researching at the University of Westminster. Schultz on the other hand is German. He studied political science as well at the University of Amsterdam and earned a PhD from the University of Melbourne. He took an interest in media studies as well, and has lectured throughout eastern and central Europe. He seems to be big on community building and open-source information.
The Manifesto Barbrook and Schultz collaborated on has three sections, each focusing on a main idea. The first stresses the importance of creative labor in the creation and maintenance of the internet. The second analyzes the current media environment, leading up the creation of the European Digital Artists Network or EDAN for short. EDAN stresses collaboration and activism within the digital creative community. They hope to provide citizens with the tools and education needed to participate in a thriving digital community, including government installed broadband internet for all.
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