he Fl eur and The Explorer Why is navigable space such a popular construct in new media?

? What are the historical origins and precedents of this form? In his famous 18 ! essay "The #ainter of $odern %ife"& 'harles (audelaire documented the new modern male urban sub)ect the fl eur*1 +n anonymous observer& the fl eur navigates through the space of a #arisian crowd& recording and immediately erasing the faces and the figures of the passers,by in his memory* From time to time& his ga-e meets the ga-e of a passing woman& engaging her in a split,second virtual affair& only to be unfaithful to her with the next female passer,by* The fl eur is only truly at home in one place moving through the crowd* (audelaire writes. "To the perfect spectator& the impassioned observer& it is an immense )oy to ma/e his domicile amongst numbers& amidst fluctuation and movement& amidst the fugitive and infiniteTo be away from home& and yet to feel at home0 to behold the world& to be in the midst of the world and yet to remain hidden from the world*" There is a theory of navigable virtual spaces hidden here& and we can turn to Walter (en)amin to help us in articulating it* +ccording to (en)amin& the fl eur navigation transforms the space of the city. "The 'rowd is the veil through which the familiar city lures the fl eur li/e a phantasmargonia* In it the city is now a landscape& now a room*"1 The navigable space thus is a sub)ective space& its architecture responding to the sub)ect movement and emotion* In the case of the fl eur moving through the physical city& this transformation of course only happens in the fl eur perception& but in the case of navigation through a virtual space& the space can literally change& becoming a mirror of the user sub)ectivity* The virtual spaces built on this principle can be found in such films as Walic-/y2s The 3arden and The 4ar/ 'ity 5+lex #royas& 16687* Following European tradition& the sub)ectivity of the fl eur is determined by his interaction with a group even though it is a group of strangers* In place of a close,/nit community of a small,scale traditional society 53emeinschaft7 we now have an anonymous association of a modern society 53esellshaft7* 3 We can interpret the fl eur behavior as a response to this historical shift* It is as though he is trying to compensate for the loss of a close relationship with his group by inserting himself into the anonymous crowd* 8e thus exemplifies the historical shift from 3emeinschaft to 3esellshaft& and the fact that he only feels at home in the crowd of strangers shows the psychological price paid for moderni-ation* 9till& the sub)ectivity of the fl eur is& in its essence& intersub)ectivity. the exchange of glances between him and the other human beings* + very different image of a navigation through space and of sub)ectivity is presented in the novels of nineteenth century +merican writers such as :ames Fenimore 'ooper 51;86,18<17 or $ar/ Twain 518!<, 161=7* The main character of 'ooper2s novels& the wilderness scout >atty (umppo& alias %eatherstoc/ing& navigates through spaces of nature rather than culture* 9imilarly& in Twain2s 8uc/leberry Finn& the narrative is organi-ed around the voyage of the two boy heroes down the $ississippi ?iver* Instead of the thic/ness of the urban human crowd which is the milieu of a #arisian fl eur& the heroes of these +merican novels are most at home in the wilderness& away from the city* They navigate forests and rivers& overcoming obstacles and fighting enemies* The sub)ectivity is constructed through the conflicts between the sub)ect and nature& and between the sub)ect and his enemies& rather than through interpersonal relations within a group* This structure finds its ultimate expression in the uni@ue +merican form& the Western& and its hero& the cowboy a lonely explorer who only occasionally shows up in town to get a drin/ at the bar* ?ather than providing the home for the cowboy& as it does for the fl eur& the town is a hostile place& full of conflict& which eventually erupts into the inevitable showdown* (oth the fl eur and the explorer find their expression in different sub)ect positions& or phenotypes& of new media users* $edia theoretician and activist 3eert %ovin/ desribes the figure of the present,day media user and >et surfer whom he calls the 4ata 4andy* +lthough %ovin/2s reference is Ascar Wilde rather than (audelaire& his 4ata 4andy exhibits the behaviors which also @ualify him to be called a 4ata Fl eur*
1

'harles (audelaire& "The #ainter of $odern %ife&" in $y 8eart %aid (are and Ather #rose Writings 5%ondon. 9oho (oo/ 'ompany& 168 7* 1 Walter (en)amin& "#aris& 'apital of the >ineteenth 'entury&" in ?eflections 5>ew Bor/. 9choc/en (oo/s& 168 7& 1< * ! The distinction between 3emeinschaft and 3esellshaft was developed by T nies in 'ommunity and 9ociety*

"The >et is to the electronic dandy what the metropolitan street was for the historical dandy*"C + perfect aesthete& the 4ata 4andy loves to display his private and totally irrelevant collection of data to other >et users* "Wrapped in the finest facts and the most senseless gadgets& the new dandy deregulates the time economy of the info D money managers*** if the anonymous crowd in the streets was the audience of the (oulevard dandy& the logged,in >et,users are that of the data dandy*"< While displaying his dandyism& the data dandy does not want to be above the crowd0 li/e (audelaire2s fl eur& he wants to lose himself in its mass& to be moved by the semantic vectors of mass media icons& themes and trends* +s %ovin/ points out& a data dandy "can only play with the rules of the >et as a non,identity* What is exclusivity in the age of differentiation?***4ata dandyism is born of an aversion of being exiled into a subculture of one2s own*" +lthough %ovin/ positions 4ata 4andy exclusively in data space 5"'ologne and pin/ stoc/ings have been replaced by precious Intel"7& the 4ata 4andy does have a dress code of his own* This loo/ is popular with new media artists of the 166=s. no labels& no distinct design& no bright colors or extravagant shapes a non, identity which is nevertheless paraded as style and which in fact is carefully constructed 5as I learned while shopping in (erlin in 166; with ?ussian net*artist +lexei 9hulgin*7 The designers who exemplify this style in the 166=s are 8ugo (oss and #rada& whose restrained no,style style contrasts with the opulence of Eersace and 3ucci& the stars of the 168=s* The new style of non,identity perfectly corresponds to the rise of the >et& where endless mailing lists& newsgroups& and sites delude any single topic& image or idea "An the >et& the only thing which appears as a mass is information itself*** Today2s new theme is tomorrow2s 1! newsgroups*"; If the >et surfer& who /eeps posting to mailing lists and newsgroups and accumulating endless data& is a reincarnation of (audelaire2s fl eur& the user navigating a virtual space assumes the position of the nineteenth century explorer& a character from 'ooper and Twain* This is particularly true for the navigable spaces of computer games* The dominance of spatial exploration in games exemplifies the classical +merican mythology in which the individual discovers his identity and builds character by moving through space* 'orrespondingly& in many +merican novels and short stories 5A enry& 8emingway7 narrative is driven by the character movements in the outside space* In contrast& in the 16th century European novels there is not much movement in physical space& because the action ta/es place in a psychological space* From this perspective& most computer games follow the logic of +merican rather than European narrative* Their heroes are not developed and their psychology is not represented* (ut& as these heroes move through space& defeating enemies& ac@uiring resources and& more importantly& s/ill& they are "building character*" This is particularly true for ?ole #laying 3ames 5?#37 whose narrative is one of self,improvement* (ut it also holds for other game genres 5action& adventure& simulators7 which put the user in command of a character 54oom& $ario& Tomb ?ider7* +s the character progresses through the game& the user herself or himself ac@uires new s/ills and /nowledge* 9he learns how to outwit the mutants lur/ing in 4oom levels& how to defeat the enemies with )ust a few /ic/s in Tomb ?ider& how to solve the secrets of the playful world in $ario& and so on*8 While movement through space as a means of building character is one theme of +merican frontier mythology& another is exploring and "culturing" un/nown space* This theme is also reflected in computer gamesstructure* + typical game begins at some point in a large un/nown space0 in the course of the game& the player has to explore this space& mapping out its geography and unraveling its secrets* In the case of games organi-ed into discrete levels such as 4oom& the player has to systematically investigate all the spaces of a given level before he can move to the next level* In other game which ta/es place over one large territory& the game play gradually involves larger and larger parts of this territory 5+dventure& War 'raft7* This is one possible theory& one historical tra)ectory. from fl eur to >et surfer0 from nineteenth century +merican explorer to the explorer of navigable virtual space* It is also possible to construct a different tra)ectory which will lead from the #arisian flaneurie to navigable computer spaces* In Window 9hopping film historian +nne Friedberg presents an archeology of a mode of perception which& according to her& characteri-es modern cinematic& televisual& and cyber cultures and which she calls a obili-ed virtual
C <

+dil/no& The $edia +rchive 5(roo/lyn& >ew Bor/. 16887& 66* Ibid*& 1==* Ibid* ; Ibid*
8

This narrative of maturation can be also seen as a particular case of an initiation ceremony& something which traditionally was a part of every human society*

ga-e*F6 This mode combines two conditions. received perception mediated through representationand a travel n an imaginary flanerie through an imaginary elsewhere and an imaginary elsewhen*F1= +ccording to Friedberg archeology& this mode emerged when a new nineteenth century technology of virtual representation photography merged with the mobili-ed ga-e of tourism& urban shopping and flanerie*11 +s can be seen& Friedberg connects (audelaire2s fl eur with a range of other modern practices. he same impulses which send fl eurs through the arcades& traversing the pavement and wearing thin their shoe leather& sent shoppers into the department stores& tourists to exhibitions& spectators into the panorama& diaroma& wax museum& and cinema*F11 The fl eur occupies the privileged position among these practices because he embodied most strongly the desire to combine perception with motion through a space* +ll that remained in order to arrive at a obili-ed virtual ga-ewas to virtuali-e this perception something which cinema accomplished in the last decade of the nineteenth century* While Friederg account ends with television and does consider new media& the form of navigable virtual space fits well in her historical tra)ectory* >avigation through a virtual space& whether in a computer game& a motion simulator& data visuali-ations or a !,4 human,computer interface& follows the logic of a irtual mobile ga-e*Instead of #arisian streets& shopping windows and the faces of the passers,by& the virtual fl eur travels through virtual streets& highways and planes of data0 the eroticism of a split,second virtual affair with a passer,by of the opposite sex is replaced with the excitement of locating and opening a particular file or -ooming into the virtual ob)ect* :ust as the original fl eur of (audelaire& the virtual fl eur is happiest on the move& clic/ing from one ob)ect to another& traversing room after room& level after level& data volume after data volume* Thus& )ust as a database form can be seen as an expression of atabase complex&an irrational desire to preserve and store everything& navigable space is not )ust a purely functional interface* Ii is also an expression and gratification of psychological desire0 a state of being0 a sub)ect position or rather& a sub)ect tra)ectory* If the sub)ect of modern society was loo/ing for refuge from the chaos of the real world in the stability and balance of the static composition of a painting& and later in cinema image& the sub)ect of the information society finds peace in the /nowledge that she can slide over endless fields of data& locating any morsel of information with the clic/ of a button& -ooming through file systems and networ/s* 9he is comforted not by the e@uilibrium of shapes and colors& but by the variety of data manipulation operations at her control* 4oes this mean that we have reached the end of the tra)ectory described by Friederg? While still en)oying a privileged place in computer culture& flanerie now shows its age* 8ere we can ma/e an analogy with the history of 3GI 53raphical Gser Interface7* 4eveloped at Herox #arc in the 16;=s and commerciali-ed by +pple in the early 168=s& it was appropriate when a typical user hard drive contained do-ens or even hundreds of files* (ut for the next stage of >et,based computing in which the user is accessing millions of files it is no longer sufficient*1! (ypassing the ability to display and navigate the files graphically& the user resorts to a text,based search engine* 9imilarly& while a obili-ed virtual ga-e&described by Friederg& was a significant advancement over earlier more static methods of data organi-ation and access 5static image& text& catalog& library7& in the information age its andwidthis too limited* $oreover& a simple simulation of movement through a physical space defeats a computer new capabilities of data access and manipulation* Thus& for a virtual fl eur such operations as search& segmentation& hyperlin/ing and visuali-ation and data mining are more satisfying than )ust navigating through a simulation of a physical space* In the 161=s 4-iga Eertov already understood this very well* + $an with a $ovie 'amera is an important point in the tra)ectory which leads from (audelaire2s flanerie to +spen $ovie $ap& 4oom and E?$% worlds not simply because Eertov film is structured around the camera active exploration of city spaces& and not only because it fetishi-es the camera mobility* Eertov wanted to overcome the limits of human vision and human movement through space to arrive at more efficient ways of data access* 8owever& the data he wor/ed with is raw visible reality not reality digiti-ed and stored in computer
6

+nne Friedberg& Window 9hopping. 'inema and the #ost,modern 5(er/eley. Gniversity of 'alifornia #ress& 166!7& 1* 1= Ibid* 11 Ibid*& 18C* 11 Ibid*& 6C*
1!

9ee 4on 3entner and :a/ob >ielson& "The +nti,$ac Interface&" 'ommunications of the +'$ !6& no* 8 5+ugust 166 7& ;=,81* +vailable online at http.IIwww*acm*orgIcacmI+G36 Iantimac*htm*

memory as numbers* 9imilarly& his interface was a film camera& i*e* an anthropomorphic simulation of human vision not computer algorithms* Thus Eertov stands half,way between (audelaire2s fl eur and computer user. no longer )ust a pedestrian wal/ing through a street& but not yet 3ibson data cowboy who -ooms through pure data armed with data mining algorithms* In his research on what can be called ino,eye interface&Eertov systematically tried different ways to overcome what he thought were the limits of human vision* 8e mounted cameras on the roof of a building and a moving automobile0 he slowed and speed up film speed0 he superimposed a number of images together in time and space 5temporal montage and montage within a shot7* + $an with a $ovie 'amera is not only a database of city life in the 161=s& a database of film techni@ues& and a database of new operations of visual epistemology& but it is also a database of new interface operations which together aim to go beyond a simple human navigation through a physical space* +long with + $an with a $ovie 'amera& another /ey point in the tra)ectory& from the navigable space of a nineteenth century city to the virtual navigable computer space& is flight simulators* +t the same time when Eertov was wor/ing on his film& young +merican engineer E*+* %in/& :r* developed the first commercial flight simulator* 9ignificantly& %in/ patent for his simulator filed in 16!= refers to it as a ombination Training 4evice for 9tudent +viators and Entertainment +pparatus*F 1C Thus& rather than being an after,thought& the adaptation of flight simulator technology to consumer entertainment which too/ place in the 166=s was already envisioned by its inventor* %in/ design was a simulation of a pilot coc/pit with all the controls& but& in contrast to a modern simulator& it had no visuals* In short& it was a motion ride without a movie* In the 16 =s& visuals were added by using new video technology* + video camera was mounted on a movable arm positioned over a room si-e model of an airport* The movement of the camera was synchroni-ed with the simulator controls0 its image was transmitted to a video monitor in the coc/pit* While useful& this approach was limited because it was based on physical reality of an actual model set* +s we saw in the ompositingsection& a filmed and edited image is a better simulation technology than a physical construction0 and a virtual image controlled by a computer is better still* >ot surprisingly& soon after interactive !,4 computer graphics technology was developed& it was applied to produce visuals for the simulators by one of his developers* In 16 8& Ivan 9utherland& who already pioneered interactive computer, aided design 5 /etchpad&16 17 and virtual reality 516 ;7& formed a company to produce computer,based simulators* In the 16;=s and 168=s simulators were one of the main applications of real,time !,4 computer graphics technology& thus determining to a significant degree the way this technology was developed 5see ynthetic ?ealism as (ricolage* For instance& simulation of particular landscape features which are typically seen by a pilot& such as flat and mountain terrain& s/y with clouds& and fog& all became important research problems*1< The application of interactive graphics for simulators has also shaped the imagination of researchers regarding how this technology can be used* It naturali-ed a particular idiom. flying through a simulated spatial environment* Thus& one of the most common forms of navigation used today in computer culture flying through spatiali-ed data can be traced bac/ to the 16;=s military simulators* From (audelaire2s fl eur strolling through physical streets we move to Eertov2s camera mounted on a moving car and then to the virtual camera of a simulator which represents the viewpoint of a military pilot* +lthough it was not an exclusive factor& the end of the 'old War played an important role in the extension of this military mode of perception into general culture* Gntil 166=& such companies as Evans and 9utherland& (oeing and %oc/heed were busy developing multi,million simulators* +s the military orders dried up& they had to loo/ for consumer applications of their technology* 4uring the 166=s& these and other companies converted their expensive simulators into arcade games& motion rides and other forms of location,based entertainment* (y the end of the decade& Evans and 9utherland list of products included image generators for use in military and aviation simulators0 a virtual set technology for use in television production0 'yber Fighter& a system of networ/ed game stations modeled after networ/ed military simulators0 and Eirtual 3lider& an immersive location,based entertainment station*1 +s the military budgets continued to diminish and entertainment
1C 1<

(en)amin Wooley& Eirtual Worlds 5Axford& GJ and 'ambridge& G9+. (lac/wel& 16617& !6& C!* For more on the history of !,4 computer graphics& see my article "$apping 9pace. #erspective& ?adar and 'omputer 3raphics&" 9I33?+#8 26! Eisual #roceedings& edited by Thomas %inehan& 1C!,1C;* >ew Bor/. +'$& 166!*
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http.IIwww*es*comIproductKindex*html& accessed :anuary 1;& 1666*

budgets soared& entertainment and military often came to share the same technologies and to employ the same visual forms* #robably the most graphic example of the ongoing circular transfer of technology and imagination between the military and the civilian sector in new media is the case of 4oom* Ariginally developed and released over the Internet as a consumer game in 166! by id software& it was soon pic/ed by the G*9* $arine 'orps who customi-ed it into a military simulator for group combat training* 1; Instead of using multi,million dollar simulators& the +rmy could now train soldiers on a L<= game* The $arines& who were involved in the modifications& then went on to form their own company in order to mar/et the customi-ed 4oom as a commercial game* The discussion of the military origins of navigable space form would be incomplete without ac/nowledging the pioneering wor/ of #aul Eirilio* In his brilliant 168C boo/ War and 'inema Eirilio documented numerous parallels between military and film cultures of the twentieth century& including the use of a mobile camera moving through space in film in military aerial surveillance and cinematography*18 Eirilio went on to suggest that while space was the main category of the nineteenth century& the main category of the twentieth century was time* +s already discussed in eleaction&for Eirilio& telecommunication technology eliminates the category of space altogether as it ma/es every point on Earth as accessible as any other at least in theory* This technology also leads to real time politics& which re@uire instant reactions to the events transmitted at the speed of light& and ultimately can only be handled efficiently by computers responding to each other without human intervention* From a post,'old War perspective& Eirilio theory can be seen as another example of the imagination transfer from the military to civilian sector* In this case& techno,politics of the 'old War nuclear arms e@uilibrium between the two super powers& which at any moment were able to stri/e each other at any point on Earth& came to be seen by Eirilio as a fundamentally new stage of culture& where real time triumphs over space* +lthough Eirilio did not write on computer interface& the logic of his boo/s suggests that the ideal computer interface for a culture of real time politics would be the War ?oom in 4r* 9trangelove or. 8ow I %earned to 9top Worrying and %ove the (omb 59tanley Jubric/& 16 C7 with its direct lines of communication between the generals and the pilots0 or 4A9 command lines with their military economy of command and response& rather than the more spectacular but inefficient E?$% worlds* Bet& uneconomical and inefficient as it may be& navigable space interface is thriving across all areas of new media* 8ow can we explain its popularity? Is it simply a result of cultural inertia? + left,over from the nineteenth century? + way to ma/e the ultimately +lien space of a computer compatible with humans by anthropomorphi-ing it& superimposing a simulation of a #arisian flanerie over abstract data? + relic of 'old War culture? While all these answers ma/e sense& it would be unsatisfactory to see navigable space as only the end of a historical tra)ectory& rather than as a new beginning* The few computer spaces discussed here point toward some of the aesthetic possibilities of this form0 more possibilities are contained in the wor/s of modern painters& installation artists and architects* Theoretically as well& navigable space represents a new challenge* ?ather than only considering topology& geometry and logic of a static space& we need to ta/e into account the new way in which space functions in computer culture. as something traversed by a sub)ect& as a tra)ectory rather than an area* (ut computer culture is not the only field where the use of the category of navigable space ma/es sense* I will conclude this section by loo/ing at two other fields anthropology and architecture where we find more examples of navigable space imagination* In his boo/ >on,places* Introduction to an +nthropology of 9upermodernity French anthropologist $arc +uge advances the hypothesis that upermodernity produces non,places& meaning spaces which are not themselves anthropological places and which& unli/e (audelairean modernity& do not integrate with earlier places*F16 #lace is what anthropologists have studied traditionally0 it is characteri-ed by stability& and it supports stable identity& relations and history* 1= +uge2s main source for his distinction between place and space& or non,place& is $ichel de 'erteau. pace& for him& is a re@uent place& n intersection of moving bodies it is the pedestrians who transform a street 5geometrically defined as a place by town planners7 into a
1;

18

Eli-abeth 9i/orovs/y& "Training spells 4oom for $arines&" Federal 'omputer Wee/& :uly 1<& 166 & available online at http.IIwww*fcm*comIpubsIfcwI=;1<Iguide*htm* #aul Eirilio& War and 'inema 5%ondon and >ew Bor/. Eerso& 16867*

16

$arc +uge& >on,places* Introduction to an +nthropology of 9upermodernity& translated by :ohn 8owe 5%ondon and >ew Bor/. Eerso& 166<7& ;8* 1= Ibid*& <!,<!*

space it is an animation of a place by the motion of a moving body*11 Thus& from one perspective we can understand place as a product of cultural producers& while non,places are created by users0 in other words& non,place is an individual tra)ectory through a place* From another perspective& in supermodernity& traditional places are replaced by e@ually institutionali-ed non,places& a new architecture of transit and impermanence. hotel chains and s@uats& holiday clubs and refugee camps& supermar/ets& airports and highways* >on,place becomes the new norm& the new way of existence* It is interesting that as the sub)ect who exemplifies the condition of supermodernity& +uge pic/s up the counterpart to the pilot or a user of a flight simulator an airline passenger* lone& but one of many& the user of a non,place has contractual relations with it*This contract relieves the person of his usual determinants* e becomes no more than what he does or experiences in the role of passenger& customer or driver*F11 +uge concludes that s anthropological places create the organically social& so non,places create solitary contractuality&something which he sees as the very opposite of a traditional ob)ect of sociology. ry to imagine a 4ur/heimian analysis of a transit lounge at ?oissyMF1! +rchitecture by its very definition stands on the side of order& society and rules0 it is thus a counterpart of sociology as it deals with regularities& norms and "strategies" 5to use de 'erteau term7* Bet the very awareness of these assumptions underlying architecture led many contemporary architects to focus their attention on the activities of users who through their "speech acts" "reappropriate the space organi-ed by the techni@ues of sociocultural production" 5de 'erteau7*1C +rchitects come to accept that the structures they design will be modified by usersactivities& and that these modifications represent an essential part of architecture* They also too/ up the challenge of "a 4ur/heimian analysis of a transit lounge at ?oissy&" putting their energy and imagination into design of non,places such as an airport 5Jansai International +irport in Asa/a by ?en-o #iano7& a train terminal 5Waterloo International Terminal in %ondon by >icholas 3rimshaw7 or a highway control station 59teel 'loud or %os +ngeles West 'oast 3ateway by +symptote +rchitecture group7*1< #robably the ultimate in non,place architecture has been one million s@uare meter Euralille pro)ect which redefined the existing city of %ille& France as the transit -one between the 'ontinent and %ondon* The pro)ect attracted some of the most interesting contemporary architects. ?em Joolhaas designed the masterplan while :ean >ouvel built 'entre Euralille containing a shopping center& a school& a hotel& and apartments next to the train terminal* 'entered around the entrance to the 'hunnel& the underground tunnel for cars which connects the 'ontinent and England& and the terminal for the high speed train which travels between %ille& %ondon& (russels and #aris& Euralille is a space of navigation par excellence0 a mega,non,place* %i/e the networ/ players of 4oom& Euralille users emerge from trains and cars to temporarily inhabit a -one defined through their tra)ectories0 an environment "to )ust wander around inside of" 5?obyn $iller70 "an intersection of moving bodies" 5de 'erteau7* l l

11 11

Ibid*& ;6,8=* Ibid*& 1=1& 1=!* 1! Ibid*& 6C* 1C 4e 'erteau& The #ractice of Everyday %ife& HIE* 1< :ean,'laude 4ubost and :ean,Francois 3onthier& eds*& +rchitecture for the Future 5#aris. ditions #ierre Terrail& 166 7& 1;1*