New Criticals


Much of what we are seeing can be examined as a continuation of what Rolande Barthes described in his essay 'Death of the Author'. For Barthes, the 'death of the Author' signified the 'birth of the Reader'. Indeed, as I have shown the human author has been diminished significantly, present only in his or her evolving transition towards software programmer. Herein, the Reader is most obviously privileged and pleasantly obliged to interface with a growing number of interactive artworks. The role of the author is simply to plug in parameters for a reader to transfigure into any number of self- pleasing results. Any author that positions himself or herself within these confines sees their ego diminished to the level of a 'user', to use a computer term. In effect the Author himself becomes a Reader, pathetically trying to peck out an understanding of his own fantastic creation. Here the only narcissist is unwaveringly confident Machine.