DigitMaaln tras CopyrigMhatteedr ial DigitMaaln tras TheL anguageosfA bstraacntd V irtuWaolr lds SteveRn. H oltzman The MPIrTe ss CambridMgaes,s achusetts LondoEnn,g land CopyrigMhatteedr ial Fourtphr inti1n9g9,6 FirMsItT P respsa perbaecdki tio1n9,9 5 © 1994M assachuseItntsst itouftT ee chnology Allr igh!5r eservedN.o parto ft hibso okm ay be reproduceda niyfn o rmb y any electroonri mce chanicmaela ns( includpihnogt ocopyirnegc,o rdionrg ,i nformation storaagned r etriewviatlh)o upte rmissiinow nr itifnrgo mt hep ublisher. Thibso okw ass eti nS tonSee riafn dS tonSea nsb yA scoT radTey pesettLitndg.H ,o ng Konga, ndw asp rintaendd b oundi nt heU niteSdt ateosfA merica. Libraoryf C ongreCssa taloging-in-PuDbaltiac ation HoltzmaSnt,e veRn. Digitmaaln tratsh:e l anguagoefsa bstraacntd v irtuwaolr ld/s SteveRn. H oltzman. p. cm. Includes bibliographicaanldi nrdeefxe.r ences ISBN0 -262-0822(8H-B4) 0,- 262-5814(3P-B4) 1.C omputer2s..V irturaela liIt.Ty i.t le. QA76.H27861 994 001.3'0285-dc20 94-9631 ClP CopyrigMhatteedr ial Contents Prefacev ii PreludJei:s pa Structur3e s Piif)ini5 2 TheC ircolfeF ifths 15 3 Niigiirjuna3 5 4 TheS econVdi enneSsceh ool5 3 5 Kandinsk6y9 6 PostwarS erialis8m5 7 Chomsky 97 8 Coda 113 Interlude: P1o1k7a ra /I StructMuarnei pulato1rs2 1 9 CalculRuast iocinat1o2r3 CopyrigMhatteedr ial vi Contents 10 "Natural Langu1a4g1e " 11 ComposiMnagc hines1 59 12 TheV isual Wo1r7l1d 13 TheV irtuWaolr ld 193 14 Reflection2s1 3 InterlAu dCeo:m pa 223 11/ Vibratio2n2 5 15 CCDL 227 16 A DigitAaels theti2c3 5 17 Dissonanc2e5 3 18 DeepS tructur2e6 1 19 Vibratio2n7 9 PostluBdaer:aL achaL a 295 Notes 299 Bibliograp3h1y1 Index 317 Copyrighted Material Preface Thereh asb eena growinign tereisntc omputerasnd t hea rtasn d, morer ecentvliyr,t uraela liTthye.r ei sa growinsgu bcultoufra er t­ istcso,m puter hacvkierrtsur,ae la lietnyt husiassctise,n ficcet iofno l­ lowerasn,d otherrse adtyo e xplorteh en ew worldtsh atc omputer technoloigsmy a kingp ossible. We areo n thev ergoef a newa gei nc reatievxep ressitohned: i gital age.W itht hed evelopmeonftt hec omputefru,n damentcahla nges areo ccurriinngt hew aysw e communicatcer,e ataen,d e xpreosusr ­ selveAss. a resulwte, n eedt ot hinvke ryd ifferenatbloyu tt hep ro­ cessebys w hichw e communicatcer,e ataen,d e xpreosusr selves. Thisb ooka imst oe stablains ahe stheftoiucn datifoonrt heu seo f computefrosr c reatievxep ressiinol na nguagmeu,s ic, aanrdtv ,i rtual realiTthye.u seo fc omputeirnst hec reatipvreo cemsasn datetsh at we thinok fc ommunicatiavned c reatipvreo cessienst ermso fa b­ strascttr uctuarnedst hem anipulatoifos nu chs tructuAr ecse.n tral themeo ft heb ooki st hatc omputearrse t heu ltimamtaen ipulators ofa bstract strAuncottuhreeirsst . h acto mputearrse u,l timatemlay­, nipulatoofra sb strascttr uctures. PartI ," Structurleasy,sa" f oundatifoonrs ucha n approacIht. lookast e stablisthreadd itiionnw sh ichl anguagmeu,s ica,n da rta re thoughotf i nt ermosf a bstrascttr uctuTrheeo. b jectiisvt eo d emon­ stratteh ate merginnge w techniquoefs c reativwiittyhc omputers represean cto ntinuwiittyh t raditifoonramls o fe xpressiionnf ;a ct, witht radititohnastd atet ot hev eryd istapnats tT.h at'wsh y the bookb eginasn,d e ndsi,n a ncient India. Copyrighted Material viii Preface The viewo fl anguagaesa formasly steims t racefdr omt hefi rst concepotfsa grammari nt heA ryanc ultuorfea ncienItn ditao the worko fF erdinadnedS aussuarned fi nalltyh eg eneratgirvmaem arso f Noam ChomskyC.e rtaifno rmaals pecotfst raditiomnuasli Ct heory andt wentieth-cesnetruirmayul s ica ree xplainiendt ermosf s imple numericraell ationsSheirpisma.ul s ict heoriysi llustrwaittehed x am­ plefsr omt hew orkso fA rnolSdc hoenberAgl,b anB erga,n dA nton Weberna,n d from PBioeurlreeaz n do thepro stwacro mposerWsa.s ­ sily Kandinsky, ctohnefis risdateb rsetdr act daervteilsotp,ae fdo rmal ande xplilcaintg uaogfev isuahla rmoniaensd d issonancheissi; n flu­ ential irdeegaasr dianbgs traacrtta rea lspor esentAeldl.o ft hesfeo r­ mala pproachteosl anguagmeU,S iCa,n d artf orma foundatifoonr developienxgp resssiyvset emwsi thc omputers. ParItI ",S tructMuarnei pulatoerxsp,l"o rheosw ,w itht hed evelop­ mento ft hec omputear ,f ormavli ewo fe xpressliavneg uagseusp ­ porttsh ea pplicatoifoc no mputerfso rb uilding abasntdrv aicrtt ual worldisn l anguagmeu,s ica,r ta,n dn ew medias ucha sv irturaela l­ ityT.h ed evelopmeonftt hec omputeirs f ollowferdo mL eibnitoz thet wentiectehn turTyh.e w orko fa numbero fp eoplien d ifferent discipliisnd eiss cussiendc,l udianrgt ificiinatle lligpeinocnee eTre rry Winogracdo,m poseGrost tfriMeidc hael KoaenndiI ga nniXse nakis, anda rtiHsatr olCdo hen. Inp artI II",V ibratioIn d,i"s cussosm eo ft hec reatiavees,t hetic, and mysticiamlp licatioofn tsh esen ew meanso f expressiaonnd new worldIs .o utlianne aesthevtiiecw t hatp roposeexsp loritnhge idiomaptoitce ntoifac lo mputers-tihsaw,th atc anb ed onea ndc on­ ceiveodf onilnyl ighotft hec omputeIrg .o o n tod iscuasns u nusual viewo ft her elationship bsettrwuecetnau nrdem eaningI.c onclude theb ookb y placitngh ee xploratoifos nt ructwuirteh c omputeirns thec ontexotfm ystictarla dition. A synthesoifis d eaissb uilftr oma broasde to fd isciplilniensg:u is­ ticmsu,s ica,r tv,i rturaela lictoym,p uterasn,d m ysticaanld r eligious philosophSieevse.r dailff eretnhtr eaddse velowpe,a vinagn intricate web froma pparentulnyr elattehde mesA.s theb ookp rogresstehse, differendti sciplianneds t hemesb ecomem ore and more tightly linketdo providae p erspectfirvoem w hicht o viewc omputerisn creative processes. Copyrighted Material ix Preface Int hee nd,t heb ookd ocumentas p ersonjaolu rneayn dr epresents a personaaels thetTihca.ti sw hy iti sa ccentweidt he xcerpftrso mm y diarDyi.g itMaaln trasi sm eanta sa stakien t heg round-rae ference pointto i nitidaitsec ussiTohnej. o urneiysb rieIf i.n vityeo ut oj oin me. Acknowledgments Whilet hei deapsr esentiendt hibso okd ateb ackt ot he1 970sm,a ny peoplhea veh elpetdo d eveloapn ds hapteh ems incteh enT.h ea ccu­ racyo ft hem aterifarlo mt heb readtohf d isciplirneepsr esenitse d duet ot hep atienocfea numbero fd iligernetv ieweprasr,t icularly MichaeJla mesO,l iveMru irheadL,a rryBr iskmaPna,u lW illiams, GottfriMeidc haeKlo enigC,l iveB ennettH,a roldC ohen,T rudy EdelsoSnt,e pheTnr aviPso pea,n dR oberJta cobson. Otherr eviewearlss hoe lpewdi tht h�b ooki,n cludiTnegr rWyi no­ gradH,a rriPeatr celRlosb, G emmellM,i chaeRli chmanL,i saC ort, StacSyt yleKse,n KrichJ,e ffH udsonM,a rinaB osiH,a rryB oadwee, MariaG agliarRdaiy,L auzzanWaa,y neO lerM,i chaeSli ebraLsisn,d a Jacobsoann,d B enD elaneEyv.e rrye viewmeard ea contributtioo n thefi nals hapoef t hibso okB.o bA ngus's pr(ianntdee nrtsh usiasm) let me seei td evelop. Theg raphiicl lustraotfik oenysc oncep(tssu cahs t hem usic-clocks andt hec ubesa)r et hew orko fI lenSea ndlaenrd B radE igen. RandyS tickrwoads i nstrumenItnaa ld.d ititoonh ise ncouragement andf eedbachki,sh elpl edd irecttloyK athleTeinb betwthso,s ee n­ thusiasamn d supporptl ayead critircoalle a,n du ltimatteol Byo b Priomry, editoartt heM ITP ress. I wantt ot hanke veryonaett heM IT Presfso rt heihre lpS.p ecial thanksh,o wevera,r ed ue to Bob.H e stimulatmeadn y ideatsh at helperde finteh ibso okt oi tfisn alf ormA.n di fr eadehrasv ea clearer understandoifnw gh atI havew ritteinti, s d uet oM attheAwb bate, who editetdh eb ooka,n dt oh isp assionaatttee ntitoodn e tail. I wantt o gratefully ackntohwels eudpgpeo ratn d confidencoef ProfessBoerr narMde ltzewrh,o providmeed theo pportuntiotd yo my doctorraels earch-whfiocrhm tsh ef oundatifoonrt hibso ok-at theU niversoiftE yd inburgJhe.a nP ollocJke,ffT ansleayn,d P rofessor SidneMyi chaelsaolns por ovideesds entsiuaplp orwth ilIew ast here. CopyrigMhatteedr ial x Preface FinalJlayy,W eilm,y mothera,n dm y sisteprrso vidtehde e ncour­ agementth ath elpemde seet he botohkr ougtho c ompletion. Thanky ou. StevHeo ltzman Novembe1r9 93 CopyrigMhatteedr ial DigitMaaln tras CopyrigMhatteedr ial