The Information Age

Introduction
Nowadays, every information is in the hand of every individuals. Johannes
Gutenberg (Born Feb 3, 1468) a German blackswithand publich who was
responsible for shaping the nature of the society by establishing the first form of
spreading information. This is called as the Guterberg Principle, where the
distribution of information become possible, but expensive and yet
institutionalized. According to researchers, this principle has been fixed and all
pervasive that it has become like a hidden foundation and standing as we are
now, in the twilight of this era, it is still difficult to appreciate the extent to which
it has shaped the fabric of our world. However, it was the advent of a new world,
where in the information does not coincide with the Gutenberg Principle.
Guterberg principle has a great impact to shape our world at the present time -
most likely characterized as the Post-Guterberg era (the world of what is
currently called social media). Identifying both the ways in which organizations
will feel its impact andalso the ways in which organizations will have to adapt in
order to survive where power will not lie in the institutionalized capability to
control access to information.
Information Age
Man has always the need for communication and continuous exchange of
information. This need is motivated by man's need of belongingness to a society,
giving, and receiving instructions and precautions, giving comfort and
encouragement and improving everyday ways and means. But it was not easy to
do this especially in the early times because of distance, time, and location that
communication and exchange of information can take a long time before it gets
to the receiving end.
Man has employed different strategies to combat this issue by using different
signals such as fire, flags, drums, and writings on clay or stone tablets. Some
even employed some animals to deliver messages like horses with a rider
messenger or a messenger pigeon. But still, waiting for the message to reached
the receiver, and waiting for the response to come was not always easy
The discoveries and inventions on communication and information technology
have greatly helped to this constant need of man. There are three distinct
historical periods for this revolution of information technology (Washington, DC.
Office of the Assistany Secretary of Defense (OASD), Command & Control
Research Program (CCRP), 1997). The first modern information revolution
began in the mid-nineteenth century and includes telegraph, telephone, and radio.
These three inventions have greatly helped in improving the people's lives.
Businesses, government, military, and foreign policy establishments were able to
communicate easier.
The second modern information revolution followed the first one and extended
until the mid-20th century and includes television, early generation computers,
and satellites. These inventions have greatly improved communication and have
bypassed even further distances in a faster time. The industrial society and
governmental affairs have greatly benefited from this, saving so much money
that was at first spent over communication and exchange of information.
The third modern information revolution probably began in the 1980s and has
surpassed the two other revolutions. This age which includes our time is now
called as the "knowledge revolution". This includes advance information
technologies and has a remarkable impact in the politics, economics, sociology,
and culture of knowledge creation and distribution.
The information age has a big impact in the society in that a lot of money usually
spent on ensuring that the message has reached the receiving end and that
deciphering the message is correct is now saved. Communication has become
more effective and efficient. Goods are easily made by the producers and easily
sold to the wholesalers then to the retailers and finally to the individual
consumers. Businesses flourished and it has greatly helped improve every
nation's economy. Governments have also improved their ways of handling their
political affairs be it locally or internationally. Military affairs have become so
much easier as well. A lot of wars were prevented because of more effective and
timely communication. Lay people also experienced the instant messaging world
that loved ones living far away can now instantly be reached by one click.
The third modern information revolution probably began in the 1980s and has
surpassed the two other revolutions. This age which includes our time is now
called as the "knowledge revolution". This includes advance information
technologies and has a remarkable impact in the politics, economics, sociology,
and culture of knowledge creation and distribution.
The information age has a big impact in the society in that a lot of money usually
spent on ensuring that the message has reached the receiving end and that
deciphering the message is correct is now saved. Communication has become
more effective and efficient. Goods are easily made by the producers and easily
sold to the wholesalers then to the retailers and finally to the individual
consumers. Businesses flourished and it has greatly helped improve every
nation's economy. Governments have also improved their ways of handling their
political affairs be it locally or internationally. Military affairs have become so
much easier as well. A lot of wars were prevented because of more effective and
timely communication. Lay people also experienced the instant messaging world
that loved ones living far away can now instantly be reached by one click.
Pre-Gutenberg Period
In early times, books were created manually by hand. They were transcribed
through clay, papyrus, wax, and parchment. Besides, governments chose only to
whom will be given the education to read. They were scared that the influence of
mass communication will be the hindrance in their ruling. The transmission of
information relied only through "word-of-mouth" channels. In 1440, the first
printing press was built through Johannes Guterberg which heralded the start of
mass communication. However, it took hundred years for this to spread.
Gutenberg Revolution
"The printing press was an important step towards the democratization of
knowledge" - Eisenstein, 1969.
According to the researchers, Gutenberg Revolution is a term used to express the
democratizing effects of the invention of the printing press among society. The
invention of the printing press allowed for worldwide changes to take place.
Democracy was born through the invention of the printing press and the effects it
had on society. It allowed people to have a voice who couldn't spread their
messages before. Although the distribution of information becomes possible, it is
expensive and only a few can afford it. Hence, to satisfy the needs of everyone,
distribution of information was institutionalized and mediated.
Printed Materials as Agent of Change
Introduction
Agents of Change, we explore developments and innovations, both technical and
technological, that had a seismic impact on artistic production and consequently
changed it in keyways, forever. We learn how artists and the tools at their
disposal evolved over the years and gave rise to new forms of art and ways of
making them. In this edition, we learn about the history of printmaking in all its
different shapes and forms, and how it allowed artists to create original copies of
their own work.
Description of print making
Printmaking is an art form consisting of the production of images by various
techniques of multiplication. It is usually done on paper, but other materials such
as parchment, fabric, or plastic are also used. Printmaking is done either directly
by the artist, or under the direct supervision of the artist.
A print is created by engraving an image into a surface like a metal plate, a block
of wood or a stone. The image is then covered with ink and run through a press
onto the material of choice. Printmaking offered a way to easily reproduce works
and was revolutionary for artists and thinkers who were working before the
invention of cameras, scanners, and copy machines and wanted to be able to
widely disseminate their work. As time passed, printmaking developed into an art
form in its own right. By choosing a fine art print medium, an artist can make
several identical images, each one qualifying as a hand-made original.
Description of print making
Artists who have become extremely well-known for working with printmaking in
their art include Katsushika Hokusai, Rembrandt van Rijn, Pablo Picasso,
Albrecht Dürer, Francisco Goya, Käthe Kollwitz, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, and
Andy Warhol.
Origin of print making
Printmaking is said to have originated in the 1st century AD during China’s Han
Dynasty. Paper was invented in 105 AD, and printmaking followed soon after. In
order for Chinese scholars to study their scriptures, their texts and holy images
were carved into stone slabs. Next, damp paper was pressed and moulded on the
surface. They applied ink and then removed the paper. What appeared was an
image of white lines on a black background, and this formed the foundation of
printmaking. With the spread of Buddhism from India to China, a method was
developed combining text and image, called block book printing.
Different strands of printmaking
There are many different types of printmaking, using different materials and
producing different outcomes:
• Relief printing
• Intaglio
• Lithography
• Monoprint
• Screen printing
Relief Printing
In relief printing, an image is printed from the raised portion of a carved, etched,
or cast block. The Chinese stone rubbings can be seen as the first forms of relief
printing. In the 9th century, woodcuts were developed in China, following in the
14th century in Europe. Artists would draw a design on a piece of wood, sawn
lengthwise across the grain, and then cut away the lines of the design. Next, oil-
based ink was rolled over the block and the image was printed on paper or
textiles. Starting in the 1400s, artists would make woodcuts in order to portray
religious subjects, decorate books, and make playing cards. In the period known
as the German Renaissance (1430-1580), Albrecht Dürer produced many
woodcut prints. In the period of the 1700s and 1800s, Japanese artists created
woodcut prints that would inspire many European artists like Degas, Toulouse-
Lautrec, Van Gogh and Manet. Expressionists like Kirchner and Munch also
explored the woodcut method in the 1900s.
Relief Printing
Another type of relief printing that became popular among artists is the linoleum
cut. Instead of carving the image into wood, it is carved into linoleum. Easier to
manipulate than wood, linoleum cuts do produce a different effect as it is more
difficult to carve delicate lines in linoleum, creating a rougher result.
Intaglio
With the intaglio printing method, an image is incised into a metal plate using
various tools or acids. The two basic types of intaglio printing are engraving and
etching. In engraving, the image is cut into the plate using specific tools: needles,
burnishers, scrapers or rockers. In etching, the image is created by cutting into
the metal plate with acids.
Lithography
Lithography was the first fundamentally new printing
technology since the invention of relief printing in the
15th century. It was invented in Germany in 1798 by Alois
Senefelder. In lithography, the printing and non-printing surfaces
are all at the same level, the opposite from relief or intaglio,
where the design is cut into the surface block. The designs are
drawn or painted on a porous surface with a greasy material, for
example crayon or grease pencil, and then the surface is
dampened, and ink is applied with a roller. The greasy lines of
the image repel the water and hold the ink, and the final stage is
pressing this image onto paper. Lithography started out as a
commercially successful method used for printing books,
magazines and newspapers. It took a while for it to be accepted
as a legitimate art form, but it eventually became a favourite
method of printing for many artists including Marc Chagall,
Edvard Munch, Pablo Picasso, Willem de Kooning, Jasper
Johns, and Robert Rauschenberg, among others.
Monoprint
A monoprint refers to any type of print made in one version, which cannot be
exactly duplicated. Using slow-drying paint or ink, the artists paint designs
directly onto a plate. The image then must be printed before the paint or ink dries
and the artist is left with one strong impression. It is possible to reuse the plate,
but the next print will never be exactly the same as the first.
Screen Printing
Screen printing, also known as serigraphy, was
developed in the United States in the 20th century. The
process involves forcing ink through a stencil that is
embedded in or attached to silk or synthetic mesh
screen. The screen is tightly stretched on a metal or
wooden frame. Next, viscous ink is squeezed through
and ends up on the paper under the frame. For each
different color, a separate frame is used. In the 1930s
and 1940s, many artists used the touche-washout
method, in which the artist painted directly onto the top
surface of the screen fabric with either touche or grease
crayon. Artists like Andy Warhol, Robert Motherwell,
Frank Stella, and Robert Rauschenberg are all known for
having worked a lot with screen printing.
Screen Printing
Today, many artists employ photographic techniques to
make stencils directly on the screen. Printmaking
remains a popular method for artists to experiment with
creating copies of their work, which are nonetheless
regarded as originals in their own right.
Post Gutenberg Period
On the other laws, the dispersal of information took a long time through printing
press. In 1920, the radio broadcasting was introduced. It marked a significant
jump in the speed of communication. It made the spreading of information even
more quickly and widely. However, in the 1970s, the Information Age
accelerated global communication. It started when the microprocessor began and
took it as the introduction to the Internet Browser, which made the Information
Age significant to up to this day
In the early time of the internet, it still follows Gutenberg Principle. Both money
and expertise are required for you to be able to access the internet and spread
information and was therefore still the greater access to information was not
fulfilled. However, the speed in accessing the information through internet was
great. For that reason, many investments appears to serve and create
opportunities with ecommerce as the major new web - based phenomena.
According to Stacy (2008), the development of internet in our world, changed 2
major expansion:
First, uploading and downloading of different forms of media, such as image,
videos, and audios, were now possible through internet access. Second, spreading
and publishing of information were now much easy because of different tools.
This time, information can now be on the hand of every individual and all the
potential individuals. This is called as the Post - Gutenberg Principle or Social
Information Principle (Stacy, 2008).