Claude Debussy famously said, “Music is the silence between the notes.” In this same way, Wolfgang Ernst expresses a need for us to remember that in the digitization of the Archive, we will experience a lossiness of intention implied by the creating body.
Even in expressing through new media there is a “lossiness” of intention. In texts, or Twitter and Facebook posts, or even the “arcane” email – often it is difficult TO READ INTENTION. there is a removal of latency tone body language (see what i did there)?
Just this weekend, John Oliver on Last Week Tonight, implored people to read through transcripts of No. 45’s speeches to see the lack of linear thought and coherent expression in his use of language.
I agree that tone, intention, the space between the notes, is difficult to express and difficult to digitize.
I love the idea of considering what we *lose* — intention, the embodied expression that escapes codification — through digitization and compression. I hope we can talk about this today: what are the various kinds of *loss* implied in “lossiness,” aside from loss of fidelity? Thanks, LoriBeth!