Technology and text

The term electronic art does not carry the same meaning as when NOTAM was established in 1994. Even so, knowledge about technology and its uses is elementary in modern artistic practice because we are completely surrounded by technology; it is ubiquitous in the daily life of both artists and the audience. Therefore, one of NOTAM's central tasks is to contribute to the development of both theoretic and practical knowledge among broad groups so that the relationship to technology can become alive and reflected, thus making technology a tool for realizing ideas rather than an aid for consumption.

Since our establishment we have built both hardware and software, and we continually contribute to the development of music technology. One of NOTAM's hallmarks in this field is that the developmental work almost always is based on an artistic point of view, and the results are immediately useful for composers, musicians and artists. A large share of the technical work consists of solutions to project-specific problems raised by artists, which at a later point could become general tools useful on a global basis. It is first and foremost on the software side of things that our work has had such breakthroughs, and NOTAM's software has thousands of users all over the world.

As electronics and technology gradually have become more embodied into art, the focus naturally shifts toward an artistic discourse where technology no longer is the driving force, and NOTAM's text production will increasingly be supplemented with texts of this kind - examples are abundant in NOTAM's contributions to periodicals such as Organised Sound, Computer Music Journal and to conferences such as Electronic Music Network Conference, International Computer Music Conference, etc. Many of these contributions will be made available on our web site in upcoming years.

In Norway we have a lamentably small amount of available text on technology for all educational levels, and NOTAM will - in addition to the work that has already been done - make available many texts that would be useful in elementary, middle and high school, as well as in higher education.