Abstracting Craft
Subtitle: The Practiced Digital Hand
Publisher: The MIT Press; MIT Press
Published: March 15, 1997
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 329
ISBN-13: 9780262133265
Subjects: Computer graphics software; Cultural studies; Human-computer interaction; Software engineering; Computer Simulation; Design; Crafts & Hobbies; Science; Hobbies/Crafts; Computer Graphics - General; General; Interactive & Multimedia; Architecture / General; Digital computer simulation; Virtual reality
Description: The love of making things need not be confined to the physical world - electronic form giving can also be a rewarding hands-on experience. In this investigation of the possibility of craft in the digital realm, Malcolm McCullough observes that the emergence of computation as a medium, rather than just a set of tools, suggests a growing correspondence between digital work and traditional craft.

Chapter by chapter, McCullough builds a case for upholding humane traits and values during the formative stages of new practices in digital media. He covers the nature of hand-eye coordination, the working context of the image culture, aspects of tool usage and medium appreciation, uses and limitations of symbolic methods, issues in human-computer interaction, geometric constructions and abstract methods in design, the necessity of improvisation, and the personal worth of work.

For those new to computing, McCullough offers an inside view of what the technology is like, what the important technical issues are, and how creative computing fits within a larger intellectual history.