Writing/Constructing Virtuality (spatial metaphors)
Real Time, Real Life (the aesthetics of immersion)
Metaphors We Shop By (interaction and consuming)
The topics will be illustrated by a survey of the development of a particular spatial metaphor: that of the internet as highway. The discussion will relate this model to diverse issues - minimalist aesthetics, the politics of speed, consumer ideology, the tourist gaze and the discourse of empowerment - in order to highlight the aesthetical and ethical dimensions in the design of spaces for interaction.