IAINBAXTER&raisonnE: A Media Ecology Perspective for Visual Resources

This article explores the creative philosophy of information developed by conceptual artist IAIN BAXTER& (Joseph Iain Wilson Baxter; b. 1936) since the mid-1960s, in tandem with the artist's personal information management (PIM) behaviors, as influences on the design of the experimental IAINBAXTER&raisonnE. In particular, it investigates the extent to which the ideas of Canadian media theorist Marshall McLuhan (1911–1980)—a perennial influence on BAXTER& since at least 1965—have in turn shaped the media ecology perspective adopted by IB&raisonnE developers. The article reviews the main features of McLuhan's media ecology and gives a summary of the methods and instruments deployed by IB&raisonnE participants to develop an innovative metadata structure for this resource that is adapted to the unique requirements of BAXTER&'s McLuhanesque information art and information behaviors.