Re: LIFESCIENCE: Gods and Monsters 8

[Eugene Thacker <maldoror@eden.rutgers.edu>]

---------------------------------------------------------
ARS ELECTRONICA FESTIVAL 99
LIFESCIENCE
Linz, Austria, September 04 - 09
http://www.aec.at/lifescience
---------------------------------------------------------
hello Lorenzo,

Lorenzo Taiuti wrote:
> Dear Eugene
> one of the challenges of Media Art it has been the close position to the ( d=
> eclared ) main target of art in this century: passing from methafore to acti=
> on through getting inside comunication technologies.

Yes I would agree here, but I would also add two modifications: first, I
don't think this is a challenge exclusive to the arts, but in any
activity engaging w/ new communications technologies. The classic
formulations of information theory and cybernetics are all about
languages, messages, codes, information, and the difficulty of
adequately defining their differences and relationships to each other.

Second, in some important way metaphor is action. Or, there are always
multiple relationships of potentiality between the slippery slope from
one to the other. For example, for a long time (at least since 19th
century germ theory) the ruling metaphor in immunology has been the
"war" metaphor - invading viruses, defending borders, armies of Killer T
cells, "battling" a disease, etc. This is not simply description, or
language operating on a meta-level, but the materialization of metaphor
in directing research, clinical methods, medical practice, and the
possible range of questions that can be brought up because of the way in
which modern immunology is structured by the "war" metaphor. By
contrast, Emily Martin has provided (in _Flexible Bodies_) a mix of
immunological theory with patient interviews, and has revealed the
discrepancies between them. Also, for a number of years autopoiesis has
been opening new ground by thinking of the immune system not as a
war/boundary, but as the "other" already inscribed in "self" (this is a
_very_ reductive summary though...)

> Two proposals:=0D
> 1) Let's project a videoconferencing mailing list for next Linz =0D

sounds good

> 2) Why dont we begin to make a group project on genetics for next Linz?=0D
> .Moholy Nagy did project a painting by telephone, we can make a a project by =
> mail.=0D

also sounds good - a way to get more specific on our topics too


eugene


-- 
]]]] bioinformatic bodies ]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]] _
]]]]]]]]]]]]] http://gsa.rutgers.edu/maldoror/index.html
]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]] _ ]]]]]] ftp_formless_anatomy ]]]]]]]]
http://www.formless.org ]]]]]]]] _ ]]]]]]]]]]]]]]
maldoror@eden.rutgers.edu ]]]]]]]]]]]]]]] _ ]]]]]]]]]]]] _
]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]] _ ]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]] _
]]]]]]]]]]] Fake_Life Platform ]]]]
http://web.t0.or.at/fakeshop/fake_life.html ]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]] _ ]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
You are subscribed to the English language version of LIFESCIENCE
To unsubscribe the English language version send mail to
lifescience-en-request@aec.at (message text 'unsubscribe')
Send contributions to lifescience@aec.at
--------------------------------------------------------------------------