The Life Of The Media

Like all concepts,"print" is not self-sufficient in meaning.It originates from ourneed to explaining a portion of the images.The common point between these images inmedia is what we commonly call the print media characteristic.Xu Bing believes that the plural and prescriptive marks are the key points that printdiffers from other kinds of paintings,and meanwhile,he points out the indirectness duringthe printing process.On the whole,plural,indirect and certain(marks)constitute themedia characteristics of print.Hence,there are different degrees of biases between printand the sole,direct and relatively arbitrary painting in the theme,express form,transmission methods and viewing methods.In other words,print is not just a passivemedia instrument.It has an uninterrupted,interdependent and mutually influencedrelationship with the art form and cultural pattern it presents.Therefore,the study of printshould not only be limited to the work itself,but should also be extended to various waysin which visual information can be exchanged.The paper will start from this demand and the media characteristics of print topropose a new study perspective:how the media characteristics of“print" affect itshistory?Based on this question,this paper will introduce the methodologies of mediaecology and cultural study to restore to the original point of historical view.Instead offocusing on the classic works,this paper will try to explore the margins of power.Furthermore,this paper will focus on the micro and macro effects of print media and itsinternal materials and symbolic structures on the shaping of print to gain new insights intoprint and its history.