1、Michele White is Assistant Professor in the Department ofCommunication at Tulane University.The cover art includes two digital photographic details from KenGonzales-Day, Untitled # 94, 1999.new media/cultural studies“The literature on new media is abundant, but few humanities scholars have directly
2、interrogated thespecific kinds of practices and aesthetics that the Internet makes possible. The Body and theScreen does precisely this. Whites sustained focus on technological mediation, informed by femi-nist and queer-theory approaches, makes a significant and needed contribution to the literature
3、.”Ken Hillis, Associate Professor of Media Studies, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill“The Body and the Screen is a highly nuanced critical examination of the junction of the virtual andthe real. By engaging cyberspace and the body together (and by not participating in the game oftheir
4、free disassociation, as many media theorists do), White offers important arguments for themateriality of the experience of new media. This much-needed book marks an important step for-ward in critical studies of new media and the Internet.”Steve Jones, Department of Communication, University of Illi
5、nois at ChicagoThe MIT PressMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyCambridge, Massachusetts 02142http:/mitpress.mit.edu0-262-23249-9978-0-262-23249-4Internet and computer users are often represented onscreen as active and empoweredas in AOLs striding yellow figureand the interface hand that appears to
6、 manipulate software andhypertext links. In The Body and the Screen Michele White suggests that users can more properly be understood as spec-tators rendered and regulated by technologies and representa-tions, for whom looking and the mediation of the screen aresignificant aspects of engagement. Dra
7、wing on apparatus andfeminist psychoanalytic film theories, art history, gender studies,queer theory, critical race and postcolonial studies, and othertheories of cultural production, White conceptualizes Internetand computer spectatorship and provides theoretical modelsthat can be employed in other
8、 analyses. She offers case studiesand close visual and textual analysis of the construction of spec-tatorship in different settings.White shows that despite the onscreen promise ofempowerment and coherence (through depictions of materialitythat structure the experience), fragmentation and confusion
9、are constant aspects of Internet spectatorship. She analyzesspectatorship in multi-user object-oriented settings (MOOs) by examining the textual process of looking and gazing, con-trasts the experiences of womens webcam spectator and oper-ator, describes intentional technological failures in net art
10、, and considers ways in which traditional conceptions of artistry,authorship, and production techniques persist in Internet andcomputer settings (as seen in the creation of virtual environmentavatars and in digital imaging art). Finally, she analyzes the phys-ical and psychic pain described by male
11、programmers inInternet forums as another counternarrative to the common taleof the empowered user. Spectatorship, White argues, not onlyaffects the way specific interfaces are understood but alsohelps shape larger conceptions of self and society.the body and the screenTHEORIES OF INTERNET SPECTATORS
12、HIPmichele whitethe body and the screenTHEORIES OF INTERNET SPECTATORSHIPmichele whitewhitethe body and the screenThe Body and the ScreenThe Body and the ScreenTheories of Internet SpectatorshipMichele WhiteThe MIT PressCambridge, MassachusettsLondon, England2006 Massachusetts Institute of Technolog
13、yAll rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic ormechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval)without permission in writing from the publisher.MIT Press books may be purchased at special quantity discounts for b
14、usiness or sales promotion-al use. For information, please email special_salesmitpress.mit.edu or write to Special SalesDepartment, The MIT Press, 55 Hayward Street, Cambridge, MA 02142.This book was set in Stone Sans and Stone Serif by The MIT Press.Printed and bound in the United States of America
15、.Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication DataWhite, Michele.The body and the screen : theories of Internet spectatorship / Michele White.p. cm.Includes bibliographical references and index.ISBN 0-262-23249-9 (alk. paper)1. InternetPhilosophy. 2. Cyberfeminism. 3. Art and technology. 4. Human-c
16、omputer inter-action. I. Title.TK5105.875.I57W5275 2006004.678dc22200604200510 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1ContentsList of Illustrations ixThe Body, the Screen, and Representations: An Introduction to Theories of Internet Spectatorship 11Making Internet and Computer Spectators 17IntroductionRendering Liveness,
17、 Materiality, and SpaceNotions of the Empowered UserAddressing the SpectatorStabilizing IdentityErasing the InterfaceConclusion: Active Users by Design2Visual Pleasure through Textual Passages: Gazing in Multi-user Object-orientedSettings (MOOs) 35IntroductionMOOsThe Look and the GazeCharacter Creat
18、ion and Attributes in MOOsThe Look and the Gaze in MOOsGendered Gazing in MOOsGraphical MOOsConclusion: Between Multiple and Coherent Identity3Too Close to See, Too Intimate a Screen: Men, Women, and Webcams 57IntroductionFeminism and SpectatorshipCritical and Journalistic Considerations of WebcamsW
19、ebcamsWomen and WebcamsRegulating the SpectatorWomen Webcam Operators and AuthorityVisibility and WebcamsMaking Texts RealSome Problems with Webcam ViewingJust a GuyConclusion: The Politics of Being Seen4 The Aesthetic of Failure: Confusing Spectators with Net Art Gone Wrong 85IntroductionAesthetics
20、 and Net ArtNet ArtAn Aesthetic of FailureJodiPeter LuiningMichal SamynConclusion: The Limits of Failure and Repetition5 Can You Read Me? Setting-specific Meaning in Virtual Places (VP) 115IntroductionVirtual PlacesAvatarsPainters and Avatar GalleriesOwning TextsCriteria for OriginalityTheories of I
21、nternet AuthorshipGender, Race, Sexuality, and the AvatarMaking Differences in Virtual PlacesConclusion: Authorship in Other Internet Settings6 This Is Not Photography, This Is Not a Cohesive View: Computer-facilitatedImaging and Fragmented Spectatorship 147IntroductionMaking the Digital Imaging Spe
22、ctatorPhotographyDigital or Post-photographyThe Scanner as CameraCarol Selters Animalia and PunctumSusan Siltons Self Portraits and Images of the Partial SelfKen Gonzales-Days Skin Series and the CutThe New Media GridConclusion: The Morphed Spectatorvi ContentsAfterword The Flat and the Fold: A Cons
23、ideration of Embodied Spectatorship 177IntroductionCarol Selter, Susan Silton, Ken Gonzales-Day, and the FoldThe Body Folded and EvacuatedHierarchy and ControlThe Spectator in PainThe Fat and the FoldMen and the Weight Loss “Challenge”Erotic FoldingConclusion: A Technology of WasteAcknowledgments 19
24、9Notes 205Selected Bibliography 273Index 297Contents viiIllustrationsFiguresI.1 American Association for the Advancement of Science, “Ethical and LegalAspects of Human Subjects in Cyberspace,” 1999, 15 Sept. 2004, . 2I.2 Logitech, “LogitechLeading Web Camera, Wireless Keyboard,” 15 Aug. 2004,. 3I.3
25、Microsoft, “Microsoft Corporation,” 14 Aug. 2004, . 51.1 Garnet Hertz, “Desktop_10jpg. 832x264 Pixels,” 21 Nov. 2003, . 181.2 Jack Desrocher, “Salon|21st: Be There Now,” Salon, 7 Aug. 1997, 27 Sept. 2004,. 311.3 Apple, “Apple,” 23 Mar. 2002, . 331.4 Computer Bargains, “Flat Screen,” 16 Jan. 2003, .
26、343.1 Jennifer Ringley, “JenniCam: Life, Online,” 21 Nov. 2003, . 663.2 Aimee, “A Cam Girl Dot Com, a Free Live Web Cam Site,” 21 Nov. 2003,. 753.3 Hippyflip, “Looky Here,” 20 Dec. 2000, . 763.4 CamGirls Ring, 21 Nov. 2003, . 794.1 Jodi, %20Wrong, 27 Sept. 2004, . 984.2 Jodi, %20Wrong, Rhizome, 1 Ja
27、n. 1996, 27 Sept. 2004, . 1004.3 Peter Luining, D-TOY 2.502.338, Lifesavers, 9 Mar. 1999, 21 Nov. 2003, . 1024.4 Peter Luining, “VPRO Aflevering,” VPRO, 3 Dec. 2003, . 1054.5 Michal Samyn, The Fire from the Sea, Lifesavers, 26 Jan. 2000, 28 Nov. 2003,. 1074.6 Michal Samyn, The Fire from the Sea, Lif
28、esavers, 26 Jan. 2000, 25 May 2000,. 1084.7 Michal Samyn and Auriea Harvey, “S,” Sixteenpages, 10 Apr.2002, . 1095.1 Excite, “VPlaces-: San Francisco,” 31 May 2000, . 1165.2 poor.lady, “Excite ChatExcite Talk!: Ings AV and Gesture LinksOver 2100Links!,” 13 Mar. 2001, . 1305.3 AngelPaints, “AngelPain
29、ts Megas they are instructed to personalize things and follow rules. They are also encouraged to interact, find commu-nity, and identify with representations that “live” within Internet “space.” Forinstance, an instant messenger client offers the “ICQ Universe,” Cheap Tickets directsthe viewer to “j
30、ust click, youre there,” and a webcam site is “just my little space onthe web which houses me.”1Through these devices, Internet sites and computer inter-faces address the individual, depict the kinds of bodies that are expected to engage,and render and regulate the spectator. Spectatorship affects h
31、ow settings and interfacesare understood and helps to shape larger conceptions of self and society. The signifi-cance of such positions should encourage academics to further incorporate spectator-ship into Internet and new media studies. Academics, journalists, programmers, andusers might also consi
32、der these forms of spectatorship because hardware, software, andInternet settings increasingly facilitate communication and analysis. Nevertheless, fewextended critical considerations exist in this area. This book introduces Internet andcomputer spectatorship and provides theoretical models that rea
33、ders can employwhen considering other settings. Internet and computer spectatorship is conceptual-ized through apparatus and feminist psychoanalytic film theories, art history, genderstudies, queer theory, race and postcolonial studies, and other theories of cultural production. I provide general co
34、mments and detailed case studies of how spectator-ship is constructed in synchronous MOO settings, womens webcams, net art websites, the Virtual Places graphical “chat” setting, digital imaging, and sites that describe programmers bodies.The bodies of Internet and computer spectators are rendered th
35、rough a variety ofvisual and textual strategies. An active and empowered Internet “user,” who is in con-trol of the interface, situated within the screen, and moves actively through Internet“space,” is suggested by AOLs striding yellow figure and the interface hand, whichappears when manipulating so
36、ftware and hypertext links. “Welcome” messages andThe Body, the Screen, and Representations: An Introduction toTheories of Internet Spectatorshiplinks that are labeled “enter” indicate that there is a way for the spectator to get intothe setting. For instance, the American Association for the Advanc
37、ement of Sciencesreport on the “Ethical and Legal Aspects of Human Subjects in Cyberspace” uses animage of Leonardo da Vincis Vitruvian Man, which employs geometry to indicate thatall aspects of the body are rational and knowable, and directly maps him onto thecomputer screen (figure I.1).2The image
38、 supports the reports claim that there are sub-jects “in” or within Internet “space,” suggests that the gender of this subject is male,depicts his arms and legs encompassing the whole screen, and indicates that he con-trols the technology. Gateways depiction of a young male student, who is standing
39、infront of a chalkboard, drawing a laptop, and preparing to materialize his every tech-nological desire, evokes Harolds creation of a world in Harold and the Purple Crayonand also suggests a male control of the technology.32 The Body, the Screen, and RepresentationsFigure I.1 American Association fo
40、r the Advancement of Science, “Ethical and Legal Aspects of HumanSubjects in Cyberspace,” 1999, 15 Sept. 2004, .Web sites that market computer technologies address particular kinds of Internetand computer spectators by suggesting what they look like. For instance, the IBM sitefeatures an overhead im
41、age of a white man working with his laptop and a depictionof a white man standing confidently in the doorway, while some undifferentiated fig-ures sit in the background.4The images and texts on the IBM site suggest that it isoffering “Resources” for “Business,” “Government,” “Education,” “Investors,
42、” and“Journalists” and “Jobs at IBM” to white men. In a similar manner, Logitech presentsa businessman who is standing, suited, slipping a mouse into his briefcase, and on themove (figure I.2).5When images of women appear in these advertisements, they areoften lounging and reclining, ignoring the te
43、chnology, engaged socially rather than inbusiness transactions, and available for the visual contemplation of the spectator.Standing or squarely sitting male figures suggest authority, coherence, control, andengagement while reclining females, who are often positioned on a diagonal, provideThe Body,
44、 the Screen, and Representations 3Figure I.2 Logitech, “LogitechLeading Web Camera, Wireless Keyboard,” 15 Aug. 2004, .a way for the viewer to look upon the women, visually enter the picture plane, andsuggest her immobility, laziness, and reduced control. For instance, below Logitechsimage of the ma
45、le businessman is an advertisement for webcams and video dating thatfeatures a woman sitting near the computer, her head tipped to the side and hermouth open in laughter, performing for the camera and a prospective date, and notworking with mouse, keyboard, and screen. The Dell computer web site als
46、o representsa white woman lounging in the grass and looking-up expectantly, with her laptopalmost cut out of the picture.6Her similarly tilted head and welcoming smile suggestthat she is greeting the spectator and welcoming “his” view of her. Representations of these available women situate white he
47、terosexual men in afamiliar spectatorial position. Other individuals may find it more difficult to engage.Risks exist in identifying what race and ethnicity look like, but it is important to notethat there are few images of people of color working with computers or standing in anauthoritative way on
48、 web sites marketing computer technologies.7Women and peopleof color are more likely to be depicted lounging together in social and leisure settingsand using such technologies as stereo systems, headphones, and boom boxes. Theseimages threaten to perpetuate stereotypes about unruly urban behavior be
49、cause thegroups depicted with stereo equipment are often comprised of people from the Africandiaspora, Asians, Latinos/as and other people of color. Microsoft does depict a whitewoman, a white man, and a black man arranged on a diagonal, which directs the spec-tators attention to the question: “Are you ready for the new school year?” (figure I.3).8The white woman in the foreground is half cropped out by three edges of the image,so close that her face becomes blurry, and she is looking down
