Collage As Interface
In response to my previous post, a friend sent me this link:
Cultronix - The Conceptual Space of Collage
Collage is a critical paradigm of the information age because it opens the range of possibilities through which we interpret information artifacts. Cut and paste enables semiotic construction that simultaneously leverages and detourns the means of production embodied by particular media elements. The recombination of genetic codes of meaning creates hybrid forms. Through these cross-currents, culture, and even knowledge, evolve.
I got to thinking about a few online news sites that rely heavily on a collage effect to transmit many news items in a visual way:
- Yahoo! Buzz Images and News – splays out a bunch of photos for you; mouse over them to get the textual summary
- 10 x 10 – an array of 100 keywords and 100 pictures
- newsmap – no pictures, but relies on size and placement of textual elements to convey importance or magnitude of coverage for a particular news item
Are we going to rely more on interfaces like this to cope with information overload? When are we going to get RSS aggregators that look this?