Nothing for months (not that nothing interesting was happening; rather, I mean that I've just been lazy/busy and not writing anything on this blog), then POW, something interesting pops up. Gizmodo posted an article yesterday about a SXSW panel on "The New Aesthetic," a (kinda) new trend in digital design. That article linked out to a Wired article by Bruce Sterling and to several other sites, including Glitch - Designing Imperfection and a sort of manifesto on a site called Book Two, that comment on this New Aesthetic.
In part, The New Aesthetic (P.S. can't we come up with a better name than that?) is about representing the digital glitches inherent in - what to call them? - "failed" digital design. Errors sometimes created in digital design become art unto itself. Pixelation can (should) be celebrated. Googlemaps goofery is a comment on the nature of the visual form. OK, yeah, I'm oversimplifying it, but I think there are some interesting aspects of postmodernity going on in these concepts. Go read the artciles. What do you think?
