front and back
Is it interesting that the printed page is two sided while screen presentation has only one viewing surface? What different consequence is there? One is physical object which you can look at from any side and another is a graphic intended to be view from one side only.
But there is more to it. Much Western art is one sided and not much regarded from the back while the back of the computer even less well complements the screen view. The page is printed on two sides with each lending continuity to the other. The page has two counter sides or, strangely, no sides.
Such a minor, fundamental feature does play into the materiality of the text and into a larger context of possession of conceptual works. Imagine the hominid discovering its reflection in a pond and then disturbing the semblance with a thrown stone. Is that the mythic of thought conveyed to physical object?
“For making calls, the screen-side of the device can slide vertically to expose a number pad. For typing e-mail, text messages and instant messages, the
Ocean can be turned horizontal and slide up along a different track to expose a full typewriter keyboard.” (look on the other side)
beyond Orality and Literacy
” Ong’s own argument was never that the advent of a new medium in itself created modern culture. In fact, he took care to identify both
Ramism and printing as byproducts of the more fundamental history of Western attitudes to space. He took both of these – and, by extension, Copernicanism, and perspective, and even perhaps science itself – as symptoms, or perhaps as catalysts, of changes, the real cause of which ran deeper.” Adrian Johns from his Forward to the new edition of
Ramus, Method, and the Decay of Dialogue by Walter Ong.
This is the book that set the stage for implications of the shift from the logic systems of the high middle ages to the visualizations and digramatics of science with a special sidebar relating the transition from manuscript to print. This is the foundation scholarly work used by McLuhan while it also describes the invisible supposition of the visual presentation of the networked computer screen. This is the precursive text to the connected human life way.
And, of course, the story is set in the transitions and danger of the 16th century France. And as Adrian Johns points out, our hero Ramus could not be less heroic.
bound to learn
“Manifesto:
When students make books, they
collect and organize information
focus and develop ideas in writing
express themselves both verbally and visually
problem solve ó hands-on!
share ideas with an audience
participate in a ìreal worldî process
learn about other times and places
Book making is for every kind of learner. Kids love these projects!
Read on, and enjoy.”