The electric light escapes attention as a communication medium just because it has no “content.” And this makes it an invaluable instance of how people fail to study media at all. For it is not till the electric light is used to spell out some brand name that it is noticed as a medium. Then it is not the light but the “content” (or what is really another medium) that is noticed. The message of the electric light is like the message of electric power in industry, totally radical, pervasive, and decentralized. For electric light and power are separate from their uses, yet they eliminate time and space factors in human association exactly as do radio, telegraph, telephone, and TV, creating involvement in depth.
In our first blog, we reflected on the writing body by making quills. For this formal blog, you will think about the reading body by replicating the light conditions of 18c readers.
For the reading material, print the preface and (at least) one chapter of The Castle of Otranto (about 15 pages). Find a darkened room (total darkness is ideal). Safely, light a candle or a bunch of candles. Do not use any form of artificial light in this experiment. Spend at least 30 minutes reading your text avoiding any interruptions as much as possible.
Your choice of types of candles, position in the room, number of candles, seating arrangement, and more will also determine your social class. More candles inevitably means an ability to purchase and burn multiple candles. An ability to be the only person in the room also indicates your social class. Consider what role you will play in this scenario and your access to the surrounding space and materials. Silence is not required for this assignment, but you might want to create some ambience.
Before you report on the experience, you’ll need to record a few details about your selections:
- Describe the physical features of the room in which you will perform your reading experiment.
- Describe the natural light and/or windows in the room (including window coverings).
- Describe your position in the room: where are you sitting in the room? what are you sitting on? where is the candle sitting in relation to your position? How close is the reading material to the candle(s)?
- How many candles are you using? Are they new candles? What are the candles made of? Embed an image of your candle set up at this point.
After you have concluded the 30 minutes of reading, consider the following questions. You don’t have to answer them in order–use them to jumpstart your reflection.
- Based on your choices, what social class did you take on to perform this experience?
- What time did you begin your reading experiment? What time did you end?
- How far away from the candles did you need to hold the reading material in order to read?
- Did the candles emit any smoke? What color was the smoke? Did the smoke interfere with your reading ability?
- How did you position the reading material? In your hands? on the table or some other device to prop it up?
- How did you position your body? Did this change throughout the time you were reading?
- How much time did it take you to read a page of text?
- How much of Otranto were you able to read in 30 minutes? How might you describe your attention span or headspace during this time?
- How close to your eyes did you place the reading materials in order to read the words?
- How did the paper quality impact your ability to clearly see the words and the images?
- How did the paper quality impact your ability to clearly read the words?
- How did this experience compare with reading on your digital device?
Your response should be at least 500 words in length and include documentation (photographs) of the room set up. Your final score for this blog will be determined by your ability to follow the above directions, the quality of reflection, the aesthetics of the post, and your engagement with the process.
Blogs are due Monday, March 26 at midnight.
