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Welcome!

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 11:23:54 +0100

I have started this weblog as part of my MA studies in Media Culture at the Faculty of Arts and Culture at the University of Maastricht. I see it as a platform to publish the work that I have done during my studies rather than a place for intensive blogging. Besides work from my MA in Media Culture, it also contains some work from my previous BA in European Studies, and from the Mphil in Cultures of Arts, Science and Technology which I am currently following. You can also find some information on other personal interests.

Enjoy your time here and please feel free to provide feedback and comments!

Florian Henning

e.l.m. - beat producing

Thu, 19 Apr 2007 12:40:01 +0100

This is the space which I dedicate to my musical experiments. Having been interested in electronic music for some years, in 2006 I finally started to produce my own music. I try not to limit myself to any particular style, so you'll find a variety from downbeat, drum&bass, electro and breakbeat.
All of the stuff below is work-in-progess, so expect to find more or less rough sketches of musical ideas rather than mastered hits...The purpose of posting these tunes here is to give them a platform for feedback, so please don't forget to leave your comments.
Enjoy!

e.l.m. with m.rehm - Almost (duration 3:41 min | filesize 5.1 mb)
e.l.m. - Coffeebeans (duration 5:47 min | filesize 7.9 mb)
e.l.m. - Walkers Tune (duration 3:36 min | filesize 4.9 mb)
e.l.m. - Schub (duration 4:09 min | filesize 5.4 mb)
e.l.m. - Shanghai Trumpets (duration 4:48 min | filesize 6.6 mb)

Master Thesis Final Version

Tue, 15 Aug 2006 01:37:59 +0100

Here it is! After almost half a year of work, my master thesis is finally ready to be presented to the outer world...
Please share your feedback and criticisms with me after reading it!

Download as pdf file
Download as word file

European Studies

Sat, 06 May 2006 09:59:03 +0100

From 2002 until 2005, I followed a Bachelor programme in European Studies at the Faculty of Arts and Culture at the University of Maastricht. The programme takes an interdisciplinary approach to studying European integration and covers the fields of political science, sociology, economics and legal science, but also philosophy, history and cultural science.

Below you can download some of the papers which I have written during my BA studies.

Europeanisation and the Freedom of Expression in the Turkish Media (2004)

Turkish Nationalism and its Implications for Turkish Foreign Policy - The Case of Cyprus (2005)

National Identity and Global Challenges - The Question of the Armenian Genocide in Turkey (2005)

The Invisibles - An Investigation of the EU's Public Communication (2005)

e.l.m. - Upcoming gigs

Wed, 19 Apr 2006 16:44:13 +0100

Some upcoming e.l.m. gigs:

8 July 2006 - Neue Horizonte @ Drachenflug, Braunschweig (GER)

22 June 2006 - Breakbrothers w/ Ettokun @ Offline Film Festival, Lumiere Filmtheater, Maastricht (NL)

17 June 2006 - Liquid Passion Poland Tour w/ Daradar @ Inqbator, Katowice (PL) http://www.inq.pl or bibainfo.pl [in Polish]

16 June 2006 - Liquid Passion Poland Tour w/ Daradar @ Ministrow, Cracow (PL) http://www.ministerstwo.nazwa.pl or bibainfo.pl [in Polish]

3 June 2006 - Breakbrothers w/ Ettokun @ Cafe Zondag, Maastricht (NL) http://www.cafezondag.nl

11 May 2006 - Gonzo @ Backstage, Maastricht (NL) http://www.backstage.nu

28 April 2006 - Beatplantation @ Unperfekthaus, Essen (GER) http://www.beatplantation.org

Turntablism Radio Documentary

Tue, 11 Apr 2006 14:47:52 +0100

Finally I managed to upload our radio documentary on turntablism...
Click on the radio to tune in to Sound Science Radio!

Final Research Plan

Fri, 10 Mar 2006 11:17:49 +0100

Here you can read the final version of my research plan!

Final Essay

Sun, 05 Feb 2006 18:33:00 +0100

Click below if you want to read my essay on the online discussion on the EU's data retention directive!
Searching for a European Public Sphere on the Net

Movie Review of "Wag the Dog"

Sun, 22 Jan 2006 21:59:38 +0100

Click here
to read my movie review of "Wag the Dog"!

Article Abstract

Sun, 15 Jan 2006 19:38:32 +0100

Here you can read the preliminary abstract of my final essay.

Reflections on the third module

Sat, 26 Nov 2005 02:44:12 +0100

It seems that I tend to realize the relevance of the ongoing module for my personal field own interest, the interaction media and politics always in retrospective, when I go over my notes. Or, as this time, somebody suggested to me how I could translate the module’s material - narrativity, interactivity, and performance in relation to digital games to political communication.
So only towards the approaching paper deadline I realized that there is an enormous potential for political communication in digital games, and finally had found an interesting and fun-to-write paper topic (that made up for the lack of sleep): the use of narrative interactivity in ideological and political video games in order to stimulate public participation, be it generating public support or to inspire critical thinking. As it happens so often when you finally find a missing link, suddenly many concepts that existed before just a big question mark in my head came together and made sense: narrativity appears to be a way to foster identification of the reader/user with a certain issue, interactivity seems to work in the same direction but in addition also enhances the user's immersion in a narrative and strengthens his feeling of identification. And the concepts of performance and agency take user participation and engagement with the digital environment to yet another level: while agency does not quite equal authorship, it allows for a creative modelling of the pre-authored narrative structures and can thus be used as a highly useful and effective tool for stimulating critical thought by functioning as a sandbox for political experimentation. Especially online games are very useful tools for conveying democratic messages as the internet is a fundamentally democratically-structured medium itself (of course, unequal access to the net in this respect is an essential problem that has to be solved). The "modding" culture (i.e. the modification of games for different purposes) for example can serve as a corrective to any propagandistic game that is issued. One of my favourites is Velvet Strike (a website where you can download anti-war graffiti for use in the online ego-shooter Counter Strike). But still the issue of propagandistic games definitely poses a problem that would be an interesting and important field for further research. While modding can be a corrective, I am doubtful as to whether it can serve the public interest sufficiently. Of course, it is a highly normative question what is propaganda and what not, as it is thin ice to walk on when classifying one thing as “bad” propaganda and the other as “good” persuasion. But exactly this problematic makes for an interesting field for further research.

For now, I want to finish this module’s blog with a link to a political online-game on the last German elections, Bundesdance. Here, everybody can construct his or her own meaning. Go (con)figure!

Final essay of the third module

Sat, 26 Nov 2005 02:43:01 +0100

Here you can read my essay on interactivity in ideological video games

I've also made a short movie on the gameplay of Food Force (.zip | 4,3 MB)

Useful Glossaries of Gaming Terms

Wed, 23 Nov 2005 20:49:07 +0100

Not sure about the difference between Wallhacks and Walkthroughs? Or confused about the meaning of terms such as Modding, FPS, MUDs, Skinning, God Mode, Flaming, n00b, Power Gaming, Exploits etc...?? Well if you are as confused about videogame terms as I am then you might want to check on these websites, they're quite useful walkthroughs for the jungle of gaming terms...

http://www.game-research.com/dictionary.asp
http://vgstrategies.about.com/od/strategyglossary/
http://www.acmi.net.au/EB3485116EBD4FCE9ABF4C4DDCE41832.htm
http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=598967

Some Academic Websites on Digital Games

Tue, 22 Nov 2005 21:15:44 +0100

During this module I've come across some interesting academic websites that are (partly) devoted to digital games. In case you're interested in the topic or on the search for academic articles dealing with digital games than you could browse the following links:
Game Research (gives an overview of research, news and development in the computer games area)
DIGRA - Digital Games Research Association (association for academics and professionals who research digital games: links and articles)
Game-Culture (academic game site: currently under construction but provides links to other sources)
Ludology (Gonzalo Frasca's online resource for videogame researchers)
Gamestudies (crossdisciplinary journal dedicated to games research)
5th MelbourneDAC (5th International Digital Arts and Culture Conference: archive of all contributors' full articles)

e.l.m. - DJing

Sat, 19 Nov 2005 13:28:46 +0100

Out of my passion for electronic music, I started DJing in 2001. Still my favourite party music today, my early DJing was strictly confined to Drum & Bass. But having had a passion for Jazz music and Funk long before, these genres have always been the backbone of my DJing style. Over the years, with a growing record collection, I extended my DJing style and today, depending on the location and the crowd, my Dj sets can include anything from Hiphop to Funk, Electro to TechHouse, Breakbeat to Grime, and NuJazz and Headz.

For a promo mix, please visit http://www.liquid-passion.com (under "Audio")