Publics in Process
Casey Reas just announced the release of Processing 1.0!
Why is this exciting if you're not a geek? First, the associate professor in the department of Design | Media Arts at UCLA has been working on the free, open source programming language for seven years, in collaboration with his former MIT classmate Ben Fry. The release of version 1.0 marks a new stage of stability for the program.
Second, Processing was designed for people without much experience with programming. Casey and Ben, who were part of the Aesthetics + Computation Group at the MIT Media Lab, wanted a language that was easy to use and would let them create images, animation and interaction, but without a degree in computer programming. In an interview last year, Casey explained, "Ben and I both studied graphic design so we didn't come at this from engineering or computer science background. We came to it as designers and the language thus has been built differently." They often describe Processing as a "software sketchbook," and they advocate its ability to promote "software literacy within a visual context." This is very cool. And third...
Processing isn't just about software. It's also about the community that can spring up around free and open source applications, and indeed, Processing boasts an incredibly generous and creative family, as is evident on the Processing.orgsite - the community of users and the array of projects created with Processing is nothing short of stunning.
Proof? Take a look at the Exhibition space, and some examples of work that was made using Processing:
Articulate, by GroupC (Casey's earlier incarnation): "Structure emerges through the interactions of autonomous elements." Just click, and watch things unfold.A piece by an artist named Lia, titled withoutTitle, is described as "a software machine exploring the boundaries of control." Let your cursor dance across the white frame, and watch what happens.
With Bees, by Julia Stanat, just gaze at the screen for a few moments. You won't see change, but the image will change dramatically. The description notes that "particle collisions generate a familiar structure."
Why does any of this matter for those of us who might not use Processing? Because Processing is part of a larger movement that is affecting the basic structures of power and knowledge in our culture. I've been reading Christopher Kelty's book Two Bits: The Cultural Significance of Free Software. In it he argues that "the significance of Free Software extends far beyond the arcane and detailed technical practices of software programmers." He explains that for the last decade, the free software movement has had a dramatic impact on everything from music and film to engineering, politics and education. It has engendered passionate debate about intellectual property and the basic parameters of a civil society. In short, free software is rewriting the foundation of much of what we do and think, especially with regard to anything related to the Internet.
Kelty uses the notion of a "recursive public" to capture the impact of free software. He defines a recursive public as "a public that is vitally concerned with the material and practical maintenance and modification of the technical, legal, practical, and conceptual means of its own existence as a public." A recursive public, then, is always aware of the ways in which it structures itself. He adds that it is "a collective independent of other forms of constituted power and is capable of speaking to existing forms of power through the production of actually existing alternatives." His book goes on to explore the multiple instances of this form of a public and the ways it crafts new ways for sharing knowledge.
Kelty concludes his introduction to the book with a question: "Is it possible that recursive publics represent a reemergence of strong, authentic publics in a world shot through with cynicism and suspicion about mass media, verifiable knowledge, and enlightenment rationality?" I'm still reading, so I don't know how Kelty answers this question. But I think Processing and the good work of Casey, Ben and their community points to a positive answer.
First image: from the cover of Casey and Ben's book Processing: A Programming Handbook for Visual Designers and Artists; second image: from Articulate; third image: from Bees