The Official SPECFLIC Website
SPECFLIC Schematic
PDF of the Essay
SPECFLIC 2.0 Video
Moving in Place: The Question of Distributed
Social Media
This essay was centered around
an exchange between Adriene Jenik, the director and creator of SPECFLIC and
Sarah Lewison, and observer and participant of the production.
SPECFLIC 2.0 is an ongoing
creative research project in a new storytelling form called distributive social
cinema. It was a production integrating pre-recorded and live performance with
audience interaction. The event, which took place at the Martin Luther King Jr.
branch of the San Jose Public Library, encouraged all forms of technology in
experiencing this high-tech futuristic world.
SPECFLIC has two versions, 1.0
and 2.0. With the interaction between Jenik and Lewison took place after the
2.0 production, the majority of the information given deals with the
aforementioned version.
Version 2.0 is a
researched-backed speculation of the near future of books, written word and
public library.
SPECFLIC takes place in 2030,
where hardcopy books are considered a “special collection” and the majority of
them are housed in the public library. The library itself has become something
of a relic in this futuristic world, as its purpose is served something of a
museum.
Because books are essentially a
thing of the past in 2030, books aren’t generally read cover-to-cover, but
instead the pieces needed are extracted using the InfoSpherian.
The InfoSpherian is the 2030 equivalent of the information or reference
desk librarian. The primary function of the infospherian is overseeing the
issuing and enforcing or reading licenses to the public. Upon accepting a
request from the public, the infospherian sends the searcher to find the ‘book
object.’
Reading Licenses are issued to the public in order for them to
access various tiers of knowledge.
The Searcher is one of the few library functionaries permitted in
the interior of the library. When the infospherian accepts a request from the
public, it is the searcher’s task to locate the hard copy of the book in
question. When the request for the book has been fulfilled, it is then the
stacker’s duty to reshelf the books.
The Stacker is another library functionary allowed within the
interior of the library. When the request for the book has been fulfilled, it
is the stacker’s duty to reshelf the books. As such, the stacker is often seen
shadowing the searcher to reshelf the books.
A small working piece within
this futuristic world is the Foolbook
and her dog, both whom can be found wandering aimlessly within the library
passing out chapbooks and spouting incantations to any who listen.
Other pieces detrimental to the
understanding of this futuristic world are vaguely outlined. For example, this
future is the outcome of the Great
Silverfish Attack of 2012, a fictional point of history that made books
somewhat of a relic with the advent of eBooks.
The Software Protection Authority can be best explained as Jenik’s
vision of digital rights as libraries move away from their “historical role in
defending ‘free open access to knowledge.’” Many libraries are in the process of instituting tiered
access to information. The Software Protection Authority essentially keeps the
tiers in check by use of reading licenses.
The Sousveillance Grid serves the Software Protection Authority as a ‘most
wanted’ grid. The authority encouraged the public to snapCapture images of
public they suspect is in violation of their reading license.
The Black Market, although many have a basic concept for what it is,
serves as an alternate means of gathering books and information, illegally.
Those suspected of being in possession of a black market item are found by the
authority.
Questions:
1. SPECFLIC was a production that had many working parts. With this model in mind, how could we have used this to better prepare for our presentations on first friday?
2. While SPECFLIC is an interesting, indepth project, several of it's pieces lacked definition, i.e., what the Silverfish Attack of 2012 was. Is there anything in our own stories that should be better defined?
3. This futuristic world is research-backed, so it's possible that some form of this could be our future. Do you think this is plausible? Do you think that multimedia works are more attention-grabbing with plausibility or without? What could we do to make out stories more plausible, if not already?
Questions:
1. SPECFLIC was a production that had many working parts. With this model in mind, how could we have used this to better prepare for our presentations on first friday?
2. While SPECFLIC is an interesting, indepth project, several of it's pieces lacked definition, i.e., what the Silverfish Attack of 2012 was. Is there anything in our own stories that should be better defined?
3. This futuristic world is research-backed, so it's possible that some form of this could be our future. Do you think this is plausible? Do you think that multimedia works are more attention-grabbing with plausibility or without? What could we do to make out stories more plausible, if not already?
