The Cosmic Zoom

Scale, Knowledge, and Mediation

Zachary Horton (Autor)

Buch | Hardcover

288 Seiten

2021
University of Chicago Press (Verlag)
978-0-226-74230-4 (ISBN)

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In The Powers of Ten by Charles and Ray Eames, a view of two people enjoying a picnic zooms up and away to show their surroundings, moving progressively farther into space, then zooms back in for a close-up of the hand of the picnicker, travelling deep into the microscopic realm. This is one of the most iconic examples of the “cosmic zoom,” a trope that has influenced countless media forms over the past seventy years.

Horton uses the cosmic zoom as a starting point to develop a cross-disciplinary theory of scale as mediated difference. He considers the origins of our notions of scale, how scalar mediation functions differently in analog and digital modes, and how cosmic zoom media has influenced scientific and popular views of the world. Analyzing literature, film, digital media, and database history, Horton establishes a much-needed framework for thinking about scale across multiple domains and disciplines.

Zachary Horton is assistant professor of English and media studies at the University of Pittsburgh. He is a game designer, filmmaker, camera designer, and the founding director of the Vibrant Media Lab.

1   Scale Theory

2   Surfaces of Mediation: Cosmic View as Drama of Resolution

3   An Analog Universe: Mediating Scalar Temporality in the Eameses’ Toy Films

4   Shaping Scale: Powers of Ten and the Politics of Trans-Scalar Constellation

5   Scale and Difference: Toward a New Ecology

6   A Digital Universe? Database, Scale, and Recursive Identity

Coda   Dwelling in the Scalar Spectrum

Acknowledgments
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Erscheinungsdatum	30.03.2021
Zusatzinfo	40 halftones
Sprache	englisch
Maße	152 x 229 mm
Gewicht	513 g
Themenwelt	Sonstiges ► Geschenkbücher
Themenwelt	Sozialwissenschaften
ISBN-10	0-226-74230-X / 022674230X
ISBN-13	978-0-226-74230-4 / 9780226742304
Zustand	Neuware