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Does digitalia feature a new aesthetic? Posted on 10/26/2001.

As an unabashed formalist, I found "Flow: The New Form?" to be an intriguing point/counterpoint on whether new media has developed a truly new aesthetic, or is merely updated modernism. It's becoming clear that I'm going to have to simply breakdown and by Prof. Manovich's The Language of New Media. In the article, Manovich's notions are exciting and thoughtful, whereas Betsky's seem reactive and stuffy. Manovich states a view I've expressed on this page, which I feel to be a clarion call for designers:

"Perhaps what is important about our society now is not forms but processes – cell phones are new cultural forms; so are flows of information."

For the field of Design to remain relevant, it must become less obsessed with artifacts, and more concerned with interactions and processes.

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