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<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8"/>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="styles.css">
<script src="https://code.jquery.com/jquery-3.5.0.min.js"></script>
<script
src="https://code.jquery.com/ui/1.12.1/jquery-ui.min.js"
integrity="sha256-VazP97ZCwtekAsvgPBSUwPFKdrwD3unUfSGVYrahUqU="
crossorigin="anonymous"></script>
<script src="scripts.js"></script>
<Title>Geocitis</Title>
</head>
<body>
<img src="cursor.svg" id="loop" alt="Loop cursor">
<div id="console">
<p><b>User Log</b></p>
</div>
<header id="top">
<h1 class="firstessay">Geocitis</h1>
<div class="writing">
<p><b>[NOTE ON THE TITLE] </b>“Geocitis” is the name of a tumblr blog I ran during my undergraduate thesis year. I used it to collect artists, artworks, readings, phenomena, and memes related to the subject of art & technology—or more specifically, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Aesthetic" class="bib" target="_blank">New Aesthetic</a> (sidenote: the subhead for the blog was “The New Assthetic”), a term coined by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Bridle" class="bib" target="_blank">James Bridle</a> to refer to the increasing appearance of the visual language of digital technology and the Internet in the physical world, and the blending of virtual and physical. The New Aesthetic was cutting edge in 2012, for the same reasons it feels dated today, where the “newness” of digital technology’s encroachment onto the physical world has given way to ubiquity.</p>
<p>So why revive the title of a defunct blog dedicated to an obsolete movement? To explain, I turn to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahoo!_GeoCities" class=
"bib" target="_blank">Geocities (1994–2019)</a>, the dead web hosting service from which the name “Geocitis” was derived. With the invention of the web browser by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Berners-Lee" class="bib" target="_blank">Tim Berners-Lee</a> in 1990, the general public could finally access the Internet, heretofore the purview of the military or large commercial enterprises. However, the absolute novelty of a digital existence made the concept difficult for many to grasp—that is, until Geocities provided a spatial metaphor for the scale and power of the Web.</p>
<p>Geocities operated around the premise of 29 “neighborhoods” categorized by interests, i.e. “HotSprings” for health and fitness, or “Area51” for sci-fi and fantasy. In order to establish a web presence, users (known as “homesteaders”) were tasked with finding an empty lot in one of these “locales.” As the userbase ballooned, these neighborhoods spread outwards into thematic suburbs, <a href="https://www.citylab.com/life/2019/01/geocities-archive-netscape-browser-first-web-suburbs-aol/580285/" class="bib" target="_blank">reflecting the American sprawl inhabited by many of the Internet’s early adopters in the physical plane</a>. The largest community amidst this growth was known as “Heartland,” which—due to its declared function as the “Main Street [of] cyberspace ”—encouraged its digital inhabitants to make a general, rather than subcultural, homepage.</p>
<p>However, the supposed neutrality of Heartland was anything but. With a stated emphasis on “parenting, pets, and hometown values,” Heartland reflected the interests of a specific demographic, the same demographic that had the disposable income to become early adopters of the net: wealthy, white, and American. Coupled with the Manifest Destiny-esque language of homesteading, which turned the Internet into unoccupied territory for claiming, Geocities (and the early Web as a whole) mirrored the settler-colonialist trajectories of Western history.</p>
<p>To return to the obsoleting of the New Aesthetic, the pervasiveness of digital technology in contemporary existence discourages critical suspicion even as it shares the skewed lineage of Geocities. At the time of writing, COVID-19 has exacerbated the condition of digital entrenchment. Due to the monopolization of Internet traffic by a handful of tech giants, we interface with the Web as a breeding ground for non-neutral social positioning.</p>
<p>The “-itis” in “Geocitis” is the suffix of infection. Its inclusion here is an acknowledgement of current circumstances as well as a call to action for design-as-virus, elaborated below. The title of a defunct blog dedicated to an obsolete movement serves here as a sigil, imbued with the desire for this work, too, to be obsoleted at its fulfillment.</p>
</div>
<div id="down"><a href="#non-" class="start"><img src="orientation.svg" alt="Jump down page"></a></div>
</header>
<section class="blank">
<p>This section intentionally left blank.</p>
</section>
<section id="non-" class="negation">
<h1 class="title">Non-[]</h1>
<div class="writing">
<h2>Concepts</h2>
<p class="subhead"><b>1.</b> <a class="keyterm anthropological-machine">Machine</a></p>
<p>Anthropologist <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_L%C3%A9vi-Strauss" target="_blank"
class="bib">Claude Lévi-Strauss</a>, in his 1978 book <a
href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/100664/myth-and-meaning-by-claude-levi-strauss/"
class="bib" target="_blank">Myth and Meaning</a>, recounts a Canadian First
Nations story about a skate who, by nature of its morphology, plays an important role in capturing the
South Wind. A skate, for those unfamiliar, is a flat fish that appears extremely wide when viewed from
above and extremely thin when viewed from the side. In this story, the skate leverages its shape to
escape its adversaries’ arrows simply by turning sideways. <a
href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_L%C3%A9vi-Strauss" target="_blank"
class="bib">Lévi-Strauss</a> describes the use of the skate
in terms of <a class="keyterm computer">cybernetics</a>: its two states, considered from one point of
view or from the other, functions
in the manner of <a class="keyterm binary">binary</a> code, which, in <a class="keyterm computer">computers</a>,
solves all sorts of problems beyond those presented by a seasonal gale.</p>
<p class="subhead"><b>2.</b> <a class="keyterm anthropological-machine">Ghost</a></p>
<p>If <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_L%C3%A9vi-Strauss" target="_blank"
class="bib">Lévi-Strauss</a> considers science a <a
class="concept power">manifesting force</a>, sociologist and philosopher
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Baudrillard" target="_blank" class="bib">Jean
Baudrillard</a> approaches it as <a class="concept negation">a mode of disappearance.</a> In his 2007
book, <a
href="http://www.tedhiebert.net/classes/archive/bisia450/books/Baudrillard_WhyHasn'tEverything.pdf"
class="bib" target="_blank">Why Hasn’t
Everything Already Disappeared?</a>, he writes:</p>
<blockquote>If we look closely, we see that the real world begins, in the modern age, with the decision to
<a class="concept power">transform the world,</a> and to do so by means of science, analytical
knowledge, and the <a class="concept power">implementation of
technology</a>—that is to say, it begins in Hannah Arendt’s words, with the invention of an
Archimedian
point outside the world (on the basis of the invention of the telescope by Galileo and the discovery of
modern <a class="keyterm math">mathematical</a> calculation) by which the natural world is
definitively <a class="keyterm anthropological-machine border">alienated.</a> This is the
moment when human beings, while setting about analyzing and transforming the world, take their leave of
it, while at the same time <a class="concept power">lending it force of reality</a>. …<a class="concept negation">to ‘analyze’ means literally
‘to dissolve.’</a></blockquote>
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Baudrillard" target="_blank" class="bib">Baudrillard</a>
argues that by understanding the world through our ability to transform it, we have begun its
process of disappearance. Through defining a reality utilizing the parameters of the virtual and the
scientific, we call a world into being in which we, as “natural beings” have disappeared. In observing
the world, we haunt it.</p>
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Baudrillard" target="_blank" class="bib">Baudrillard</a> died
just two months after completion of this work.</p>
<p class="subhead"><b>3.</b> <a class="keyterm anthropological-machine">Animal</a></p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=5305" class="bib" target="_blank">The Open: Man and
Animal</a>, philosopher <a id="agamben" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giorgio_Agamben" class="bib"
target="blank">Giorgio Agamben</a> presents an analytical distance from the
world not as the disappearance of the <a class="keyterm anthropological-machine" id="human1">human</a> but rather as its defining feature. He coins the term <a
class="concept anthropological-machine">“anthropological machine”</a> to describe the separation of man and animal as a
working construct used to ascribe worth to certain humans (and nonhuman animals) to the exclusion of
others. Man, from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannah_Arendt" class="bib"
target="_blank">Hannah Arendt’s</a> Archimedian point, is able to comport themself towards themself
and
view something as something, which makes them “open” to their world. The Animal is only captivated,
subject to <a class="concept adversarial interaction anthropological-machine">experience without analysis,</a> thus making them “poor” in the world. What then of the skate,
surrounded by its man-animal comrades, a ghost in the anthropological machine? </p>
<h2>Methodologies</h2>
<div class="diagram"><img id="binaryhuman" src="images/FP_BinaryHuman.png" alt="CAPITALISM WILL NOT AND WAS NEVER GOING TO SAVE US"></div>
<p>Let’s turn to methodologies. The diagram above illustrates the reason for all the writing, which is to
create a conceptual loop. The loop is a <a class="keyterm border">border</a>; it <a class="keyterm border">delineates</a> a territory of inquiry. <a class="keyterm myth">Excavating</a> this
area yields the shared invariant across different components (the structure). Questioning how they are
shared reveals their valences (the details).
</p>
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_L%C3%A9vi-Strauss" target="_blank"
class="bib">Lévi-Strauss</a>, also in <a
href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/100664/myth-and-meaning-by-claude-levi-strauss/"
class="bib" target="_blank">Myth and Meaning</a>, examines how myth and history blur together in
oral
traditions, allowing different kinship <a class="keyterm system">networks</a> to describe the same story in an array of ways. The
event in question might be <a class="keyterm myth">historical</a> (as in, actually happened), but the details are different
(therefore, <a class="keyterm myth">mythic</a>). The details comprise an explanatory <a class="keyterm virus">cell</a>. The basic structure
of the cell is the same across stories, making it recognizable as belonging to the same event type,
despite its varying content. To use design terminology, myth and history follow the principle of
“<a class="concept system">constant and variable.</a>” A <a class="keyterm system">system</a> is a narrative.</p>
<p>The subtitle for <a
href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/100664/myth-and-meaning-by-claude-levi-strauss/"
class="bib" target="_blank">Myth and Meaning</a> is “Cracking the <a class="keyterm lexicon">Code</a> of
Culture.” The first
process is one of <i>de-</i>coding.</p>
<div class="diagram"><img id="package" src="images/FP_Package.png" alt="CAPITALISM WILL NOT AND WAS NEVER GOING TO SAVE US"></div>
<p>The second process is one of <i>en-</i><a class="keyterm hidden">coding</a>. Each explanatory <a class="keyterm virus" >cell</a> is a complete circuit, a <a class="keyterm myth">mini-myth</a>
capable of standing on its own. The process of decoding uncovers the underlying structure dictating the
cells’ <a class="keyterm interaction">interactions</a>; the process of encoding ascribes meaning to this internal logic. </p>
<p>“Meaning” packages the internal logic into a qualitative unit that can then <a class="keyterm interaction">interact</a> with semantics outside itself. A narrative is a system.
</p>
<div class="diagram"><img id="triangle" src="images/FP_Triangle.png" alt="CAPITALISM WILL NOT AND WAS NEVER GOING TO SAVE US"></div>
<p>The third process is one of simultaneous <a class="keyterm lexicon hidden">encoding</a> and <a class="keyterm lexicon ">decoding</a>. As befitting a methodology beginning with
a <a class="keyterm border">border</a> and a territory, I turn to the <a class="keyterm nonlinear">triangulation</a> technique used in surveying. Triangulation
determines the location of a new point by measuring the angles between it and two known points on a
fixed baseline. If meaning units or explanatory cells are known (to me) points, then the angles are
<a class="keyterm lexicon">lexicons</a> brought in by an audience to act as partial ciphers. These parameters together locate the
“work”—a <a class="concept lexicon interaction">collaborative semantic map</a> codifying a shared experience.</p>
<h2>Analysis</h2>
<div class="diagram"><img class="infection" src="images/FP_MicroMacro.png" alt="CAPITALISM WILL NOT AND WAS NEVER GOING TO SAVE US"></div>
<p>The work exists only through <a class="keyterm nonlinear">inference</a> and intersection; here is the building of <a class="keyterm negation">Outopos</a>, the No Place. I
deliberately use “Outopos,” the Greek root of “utopia,” to avoid the saccharine positivity of the
latter. However, I can’t say I’m not drawn to the utopian potentiality of an <a class="keyterm open-closed">open system</a> defined by
<a class="concept interaction virus">presentation, invitation, and exchange</a>.</p>
<p><a class="keyterm interaction">Interaction</a> is the test of a <a class="keyterm system">system</a>. When I work on a project, I often ask myself whether I am making an
<a class="concept open-closed">open or a closed system</a>, with an open system defined as one that can be changed by user input. Both have
their uses, and both have their challenges, as any world-building exercise should. I ask to better
situate myself as a creator, <a class="keyterm anthropological-machine">user</a>, hacker, and/or <a class="keyterm computer adversarial negation">hack</a>, which in turn informs my approach to existing
systems as consumer, citizen, victim, or <a class="keyterm adversarial">antagonist</a>.</p>
<p>I ask to understand <a class="concept system hidden power">what systems have to say</a> and <a class="concept lexicon math">how they say it</a>, to seed them with
connective <a class="keyterm lexicon nonlinear">language</a> like <a class="keyterm binary">binary</a> for a skate’s operation. How can the <a class="keyterm negation">negated</a> space of Outopos offer
multiple points of access? Where can a <a class="keyterm hidden adversarial">Trojan Horse</a> be opened and still remain a gift? I resist <a class="keyterm border">borders</a>,
<a class="keyterm border">delineation</a>, and <a class="keyterm anthropological-machine">classification</a>, hence why I engage them. Perhaps the moving target of a constantly
redefined No Place can facilitate the <a class="concept negation nonlinear">non-binary articulation</a> of a non-binary practice. What does
designing from here look like?</p>
</div>
</section>
<div class="spacer"></div>
<section id="viral-vulnerable" class="vulnerable virus">
<h1 class="title">Viral/<br>Vulnerable</h1>
<div class="images">
<div class="vv"><a href="images/viral-vulnerable.png" target="_blank"><img src="images/viral-vulnerable.png" alt="CAPITALISM WILL NOT AND WAS NEVER GOING TO SAVE US"></a></div>
</div>
<div class="writing">
<p>How does a diary differ from a dossier? Both contain similarly sensitive information on a person, but from opposite points of agency. With the rise of the search engine, <a href="http://google.com" class="bib" target="_blank">Google’s</a> <a class="concept vulnerable hidden interaction">input box has become a modern-day diary</a>, privy to confessions we may not speak even to the closest of friends. But though we write these confessions freely, their content is collected and/or sold in a manner more akin to a dossier. The diary is a space of emotional <a class="keyterm vulnerable">vulnerability</a>. However, diary-as-data makes us vulnerable in far less contained ways.
</p>
<p>In <a class="keyterm computer">computer</a> security, a vulnerability is a weakness which can be exploited by a <a class="keyterm adversarial virus">threat actor</a>, such as an attacker, to perform unauthorized actions within a computer system. To exploit a vulnerability, an attacker must have at least one applicable tool or technique that can connect to a system <a class="keyterm vulnerable virus">weakness</a>. At this point, "Big Data" is a household term, and how Big Data knows us—the <a class="keyterm interaction anthropological-machine">users</a> and consumers—is also common knowledge. Big Data knows us to sell us stuff (mostly). <a class="keyterm desire vulnerable">Desire</a> is our system vulnerability.</p>
<p><i>Viral/Vulnerable</i> is a website featuring a modified version of ELIZA, an early chatbot made in the 1960s that simulates the strategies of a Rogerian psychotherapist. ELIZA's creator, Joseph Weizenbaum created the program to show the superficiality of communication between <a class="keyterm anthropological-machine">man</a> and <a class="keyterm anthropological-machine computer">machine</a>, as ELIZA could only use pattern-matching and substitution along strict rules—not true understanding—to respond to user input. However, Weizenbaum was surprised by the number of individuals who <a class="concept anthropological-machine">attributed human-like feelings to her</a> (see my own use of a human pronoun here).</p>
<p><i>Viral/Vulnerable</i>’s chatbot is named Kit Son Lee and asks leading questions to encourage users to engage in the emotional openness of therapy. Any time a user enters a “<a class="keyterm desire open-closed lexicon interaction">desire</a> word”—i.e. “want,” “need,” “wish,” or “aspire,” discerned through <a class="concept vulnerable virus hidden">keylogging</a> (a technique often used in <a class="keyterm virus vulnerable computer hidden adversarial">malware</a> to steal passwords or credit card information, also used by sites such as <a href="http://facebook.com" class="bib" target="_blank">Facebook</a> to save status updates one may have deemed too sensitive to actually post)—an image appears in the window. These images are <a href="http://google.com" class="bib" target="_blank">Google</a> Image search results for words pulled from my own personal dossier: the full list of advertisement key terms associated with my <a href="http://facebook.com" class="bib" target="_blank">Facebook</a> and <a href="http://instagram.com" class="bib" target="_blank">Instagram</a> profiles. Clicking on an image leads to an automated <a href="http://amazon.com" class="bib" target="_blank">Amazon</a> search for the associated term, and because the user has now “searched” for that term, <a class="concept vulnerable virus adversarial system">my ad becomes their ad</a>. <a class="keyterm desire">Desire</a> is the <a class="keyterm virus">viral</a> channel; the user’s emotional <a class="keyterm vulnerable adversarial">vulnerability</a> has become the avenue for a non-consensual change in personal data.</p>
<p>This project will be completed with the addition of an option to upload your own Facebook/Instagram adwords and a function to <a class="concept virus interaction">share the website en masse</a> with your contact list.</p>
</div>
</section>
<div class="spacer"></div>
<section id="chaos-agent">
<h1 class="title">Chaos Agent</h1>
<div class="images">
<div><a href="images/DISRUPT_user.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="images/DISRUPT_user.jpg" alt="CAPITALISM WILL NOT AND WAS NEVER GOING TO SAVE US"></a></div>
<div><a href="images/bubble.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="images/bubble.jpg" alt="CAPITALISM WILL NOT AND WAS NEVER GOING TO SAVE US"></a></div>
<div><a href="images/spread_1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="images/spread_1.jpg" alt="CAPITALISM WILL NOT AND WAS NEVER GOING TO SAVE US"></a></div>
<div><a href="images/spread_2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="images/spread_2.jpg" alt="CAPITALISM WILL NOT AND WAS NEVER GOING TO SAVE US"></a></div>
<div><a href="images/spread3_jpg"><img src="images/spread_3.jpg" alt="CAPITALISM WILL NOT AND WAS NEVER GOING TO SAVE US"></a></div>
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<div class="writing">
<p><i>Chaos Agent</i> takes the <a class="keyterm desire power myth">will-to-power</a> practices of Chaos <a class="keyterm power myth">Magic</a> to make sigils from venture capitalist tweets, themselves an embodiment of will-to-power philosophies. Silicon Valley is built atop <a class="concept power">magical thinking</a>, but implementation of <a class="keyterm power">imagination</a> is only possible through immense amounts of <a class="keyterm power">capital</a>, a caveat that is largely absent in the hubristic posturing of the “innovation economy.” </p>
<p>The book features a “Pop-O-Matic” container, modified to include a d6 and d10 die and embedded in the center. The reader can “pop the bubble” to navigate through the pages. If the instructions are followed correctly, the reader will arrive at the same sigil on every pop, giving them the feeling of <a class="concept power myth">preordination or fate</a>. However, what the instructions fail to mention is that the <a class="keyterm system interaction">mechanism</a> in play is based on an <a class="concept adversarial">old parlor trick</a>, most recently popularized by the now-defunct website <a href="https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/lady-esmereldas-crystal-ball/" class="bib" target="_blank">Lady Esmerelda’s Crystal Ball</a>, which was so convincing that <i>Snopes</i> had to debunk rumors of “<a class="concept computer power">computer possession</a>” or other such system <a class="keyterm vulnerable adversarial virus">vulnerabilities</a> amongst unsettled users.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/lady-esmereldas-crystal-ball/" class="bib" target="_blank">Lady Esmerelda’s Crystal Ball</a> and <i>Chaos Agent</i> both operate using “<a class="keyterm power hidden">forcing</a>,” a technique in (stage) magic wherein a participant is seemingly given a wide array of choices and is therefore astounded when their choice is correctly identified. In actuality, there is only one possible choice, dictated by the equation (10X + Y) – (X + Y) = 9X. All multiples of 9 yield the same result, and only multiples of 9 can be chosen. Behind <a class="keyterm power">magic</a> lies <a class="keyterm math power">numbers</a>.</p>
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</section>
<div class="spacer"></div>
<section id="warren">
<h1 class="title">Warren</h1>
<div class="images">
<div><a href="images/warren-1.png" target="_blank"><img src="images/warren-1.png" alt="CAPITALISM WILL NOT AND WAS NEVER GOING TO SAVE US"></a></div>
<div><a href="images/warren-2.png" target="_blank"><img src="images/warren-2.png" alt="CAPITALISM WILL NOT AND WAS NEVER GOING TO SAVE US"></a></div>
<div><a href="images/warren-3.png" target="_blank"><img src="images/warren-3.png" alt="CAPITALISM WILL NOT AND WAS NEVER GOING TO SAVE US"></a></div>
<div><a href="images/warren-4.png" target="_blank"><img src="images/warren-4.png" alt="CAPITALISM WILL NOT AND WAS NEVER GOING TO SAVE US"></a></div>
<div><a href="images/warren-5.png" target="_blank"><img src="images/warren-5.png" alt="CAPITALISM WILL NOT AND WAS NEVER GOING TO SAVE US"></a></div>
</div>
<div class="writing">
<p>The phrase “go down the rabbit hole” first appeared in Lewis Carroll’s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice%27s_Adventures_in_Wonderland" class="bib" target="_blank">Alice in Wonderland</a> but did not enter into widespread use until the <a class="keyterm system open-closed">Internet</a> provided a seemingly endless void of distraction to fall into. <i>Warren</i> draws from these <a class="concept nonlinear interaction">nonlinear navigational practices</a>, as exemplified in <a href="http://wikipedia.org" class="bib" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a> and in <a href="http://apple.com" class="bib" target="_blank">Apple</a>’s early <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HyperCard" class="bib" target="_blank">HyperCard</a> program, to create its own interconnected database of burrows, dens, and false ends.</p>
<p>The content of the site maps Aristotle’s ten categories to the ten techniques of stage <a class="keyterm power system">magic</a> and demonstrates each with an illustration of a magician’s rabbit. Clicking into different parts of the rabbit leads the viewer into elaborations on different magical topics, ranging from props to Sacred Geometry, with each page containing a definition or elaboration of the term. These writings are themselves populated with <a class="concept system">hyperlinks</a>, and as the reader clicks through, the topics spiral deeper and outwards to encompass subjects as diverse as Orientalism, nootropics, <a class="keyterm border computer system">machine learning</a>, and object-oriented ontology.</p>
<p>Though the path permutations created by following different hyperlinks suggest an infinite scope, the <a class="keyterm system">system</a> is in fact <a class="concept open-closed">closed</a>, designed to <a class="concept open-closed nonlinear">loop</a> back into surface-level magical topics, and sometimes just acting as an unexpected exit to the homepage. This technique once again uses “<a class="keyterm power interaction">forcing</a>,” as seen in <i>Chaos Agent</i>, to craft a contained series of <a class="keyterm system nonlinear">interconnections</a> between disparate fields. By virtue of the consecutive nature of clicking-through, an intentional narrative arises, dictated by the choices I’ve made to <a class="concept nonlinear lexicon border">bridge disparate topics</a> to each other, their relationship further reinforced by the written “definitions” on each page.</p>
</div>
</section>
<div class="spacer"></div>
<section id="machine-in-the-ghost" class="anthropological-machine">
<h1 class="title">Machine in the Ghost</h1>
<div class="images">
<div><a href="images/MITG-1-2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="images/MITG-1-2.jpg" alt="CAPITALISM WILL NOT AND WAS NEVER GOING TO SAVE US"></a></div>
<div><a href="images/MITG-2.PNG" target="_blank"><img src="images/MITG-2.PNG" alt="CAPITALISM WILL NOT AND WAS NEVER GOING TO SAVE US"></a></div>
<div><a href="images/MITG-3.PNG"><img src="images/MITG-3.PNG" alt="CAPITALISM WILL NOT AND WAS NEVER GOING TO SAVE US"></a></div>
</div>
<div class="writing">
<p><i>Machine in the <a class="keyterm anthropological-machine">Ghost</a></i> is a library-building <a class="keyterm tool">tool</a> disguised as a performative-<a class="keyterm interaction utility">interactive</a> installation. Upon priming the audience with a claim to a <a class="keyterm power">magical</a> means of <a class="concept power desire">manifesting will</a>, I act as a medium to guide them through a tarot-esque process of summoning voices of <a class="keyterm power">futurity</a> into conversation. An “offering” of a personal future-oriented reading reference is required to proceed to the next step, wherein one can input their own vision of futurity into the <a class="keyterm computer">computer</a>. The <a class="concept anthropological-machine power">screen comes alive</a> and outputs text pulled from previously-included voices, at the end of which a “contract” is initiated. Within a salt pentagram behind the computer, a hologram of a sigil appears, customized based on the input vision + generated text as a unique graphic container for that specific version of the future. This sigil is then to be memorized and implanted into the subconscious in order to guide one’s actions towards the building of that future.</p>
<p>I originally started <i>Machine in the Ghost</i> to make a point about how all <a class="keyterm power myth">magic</a> is a combination of <a class="keyterm math">math</a> and <a class="keyterm anthropological-machine utility">engineering</a>, how unnatural phenomena often have logical explanations. The code of the project still reflects this ethos: for all its spectral aesthetics, the sigils are vectors generated using pseudorandom numbers, which are derived by mapping the letters of the <a class="keyterm anthropological-machine">user</a>’s input to certain values. The ghostly auto-generation of text following the user’s input is simply a Markov chain, wherein the probability of one word following another is calculated by analyzing frequency of appearance within a corpus of text (the library).</p>
<p>I began to lose conviction in this original intention, however, when I realized that—regardless of the back end of its mechanisms—the project was first and foremost a <a class="keyterm utility">tool</a> to <a class="concept power lexicon">expand an audience’s capacity</a> to <a class="keyterm power">imagine</a> <a class="keyterm power myth">futures</a> of all kinds. This is the point at which I added the “offering” component. The original library included in the project was curated by myself, and though I tried to be expansive in the types of futures included, whether in genre, political positions, or subject matter, it was inherently limited by my own knowledge. <a class="concept open-closed system">Opening the system</a> to allow additions to the library <a class="concept vulnerable">relinquished control</a> over the visions of futurity that could be created, thus also opening the possibilities I myself could imagine. In that sense, the critical stance of <i>Machine in the Ghost</i> lay not in the debunking of magic wholesale but in expanding 1) the base capacity for magical thinking, and 2) the potential for a user to <a class="concept power myth desire">fulfill one of the offered prophecies</a>.</p>
</div>
</section>
<div class="spacer"></div>
<section id="National-Treasure" class="hidden myth border">
<h1 class="title">National Treasure</h1>
<div class="images">
<div><a href="images/national-treasure.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="images/national-treasure.jpg" alt="CAPITALISM WILL NOT AND WAS NEVER GOING TO SAVE US"></a></div>
</div>
<div class="writing">
<p><i>National Treasure</i> features a collection of amorphous shapes rendered in VR using Oculus Medium and skinned with textures derived from an early <a class="keyterm border computer anthropological-machine">machine learning</a> dataset. Portions of the shapes are pixelated to flatten them into the vernacular of the digital <a class="keyterm myth">artifact</a>. Interspersed between the shapes are various QR codes leading to the aforementioned dataset, various Nicolas Cage <a class="keyterm virus system">memes</a>, and a prototype website that "<a class="keyterm lexicon hidden">decodes</a>" the shapes into various parts of the script for <i>National Treasure</i> (2004).</p>
<p>This poster began with a <a class="keyterm utility">tool</a> study of a Structure Sensor, a 3D scanner for use with iPads. Deconstructing the resulting scans yielded texture maps reminiscent of <a class="keyterm myth">archaeological</a> object <a class="keyterm border lexicon binary">taxonomies</a>, while experiments with scanning moving images (such as a video) revealed captured frames that were not visible in the final render. Both the textured maps and the moving scan experiments suggested the existence of <a class="keyterm hidden">hidden</a> data in the Structure Sensor’s output. <i>National Treasure</i> plays on this idea of hidden data by utilizing <a class="keyterm hidden">steganography</a>—the process of concealing a file within another file (oftentimes a jpeg or video)—and <a class="keyterm hidden">Easter Eggs</a>—messages, images, or features hidden in a video game, film, or other (usually electronic) medium. The VR shapes are rendered in the nebulous aesthetics of <a class="keyterm border computer anthropological-machine">Machine Learning</a> generated imagery, another form in which source data is made <a class="keyterm hidden open-closed">opaque.</a></p>
<p>If archaeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture, <a class="keyterm system">Internet</a> archaeology faces the challenge of recording the <a class="concept anthropological-machine virus">increasingly immaterial ways in which contemporary culture is created</a>. The movie <i>National Treasure</i> is one such example, where the film, itself couched in archaeological and <a class="keyterm hidden lexicon">cryptographic</a> tropes, has found traction online in meme format. How can a poster, rendered digitally, <a class="concept virus">circulate in the substrate</a> of the recent Web to preserve and encourage archaeological curiosity? What <a class="keyterm lexicon">literacies</a> emerge when the average meme viewer knows to investigate underlying data in this way?</p>
</div>
</section>
<div class="spacer"></div>
<section id="outopos-project" class="power">
<h1 class="title">Outopos</h1>
<div class="images">
<div><a href="images/outopos-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="images/outopos-1.jpg" alt="CAPITALISM WILL NOT AND WAS NEVER GOING TO SAVE US"></a></div>
<div><a href="images/outopos-2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="images/outopos-2.jpg" alt="CAPITALISM WILL NOT AND WAS NEVER GOING TO SAVE US"></a></div>
<div><a href="images/outopos-3.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="images/outopos-3.jpg" alt="CAPITALISM WILL NOT AND WAS NEVER GOING TO SAVE US"></a></div>
</div>
<div class="writing">
<p><a class="keyterm power myth"><i>Outopos</i></a> is a "poetic database" presented in book form, navigable via four overarching systems: Ambient (Image Clusters), Informative (Texts), Supportive (B+W Images, themed by chapter), and Interludial (Full Bleed color images between chapters). The collection explores the ways in which <a class="keyterm power">utopian</a> concepts are <a class="concept border">spatially constructed</a> and features writing by <a href="http://www.bratton.info/" class="bib" target="_blank">Benjamin H. Bratton</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fredric_Jameson" class="bib" target="_blank">Frederic Jameson</a>, <a href="https://glasgow.academia.edu/LucyHewitt" class="bib" target="_blank">Lucy Hewitt</a>, and <a href="https://www.versobooks.com/books/2524-vertical" class="bib" target="_blank">Stephen Graham</a> amidst imagery from <a class="keyterm myth">mythology</a>, <a class="keyterm border">cartography</a>, architecture, videogames, contemporary art, <a class="keyterm myth">Koreatown</a>, <a class="keyterm anthropological-machine">ghost</a> malls, and Prepper subculture, amongst others.</p>
<p>The book opens with a quote by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_Mies_van_der_Rohe" class="bib" target="_blank">Mies van der Rohe</a>: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_Mies_van_der_Rohe" class="bib" target="_blank">“Architecture is the will of an epoch translated into space.”</a> An underlying thread in the writings suggest that this “<a class="keyterm desire power">will</a>” is often <a class="concept power anthropological-machine">imposed by those who build onto those who must live within</a>, whether in the patrilinearity of <a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/dispute-plan-prevent-future-luxury-constitution" class="bib future archaeology" target="_blank">Bratton’s vampire architecture</a>, the enforced exile in <a href="https://www.versobooks.com/books/243-archaeologies-of-the-future" class="bib" target="_blank">Jameson’s exposition</a> of Vonda McIntyre’s <a href="https://www.handheldpress.co.uk/shop/fantasy-and-science-fiction/vonda-n-mcintyre-the-exile-waiting/" class="bib" target="_blank"><i>Exile Waiting</i></a>, or the physicalized social stratification of <a href="https://www.versobooks.com/books/2524-vertical" class="bib" target="_blank">Hewitt and Graham’s vertical cities</a>. The form of the book attempts to <a class="concept nonlinear">subvert these linear hierarchies</a> through use of interjectory spreads, grid-breaking typographic blocks, and tab-based captioning to encourage jumping between pages.The cover is faux-concrete in shrink-wrap plastic with an open spine, playing on <a class="keyterm binary">binaries</a> of <a class="concept hidden">transparency/opacity</a> and <a class="concept virus">penetration/obfuscation.</a></p>
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</section>
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<section id="screenthumb" class="anthropological-machine">
<h1 class="title">ScreenThumb</h1>
<div class="images">
<div><a href="images/ScreenThumb-hero.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="images/ScreenThumb-hero.jpg" alt="CAPITALISM WILL NOT AND WAS NEVER GOING TO SAVE US"></a></div>
<div><a href="images/prototype_1.gif" target="_blank"><img src="images/prototype_1.gif" alt="CAPITALISM WILL NOT AND WAS NEVER GOING TO SAVE US"></a></div>
<div><a href="images/prototype_2.gif" target="_blank"><img src="images/prototype_2.gif" alt="CAPITALISM WILL NOT AND WAS NEVER GOING TO SAVE US"></a></div>
<div><a href="images/ipad_prototype.gif" target="_blank"><img src="images/ipad_prototype.gif" alt="CAPITALISM WILL NOT AND WAS NEVER GOING TO SAVE US"></a></div>
<div><a href="images/SCREENTHUMB_still.png" target="_blank"><img src="images/SCREENTHUMB_still.png" alt="CAPITALISM WILL NOT AND WAS NEVER GOING TO SAVE US"></a></div>
</div>
<div class="writing">
<p>Inspired by the <a href="https://www.media.mit.edu/projects/elowan-a-plant-robot-hybrid/overview/" class="bib" target="_blank">Elowan project</a> at MIT Media Lab, <i>ScreenThumb</i> adapts the cutting-edge research into plant-<a class="keyterm interaction">interface</a> communication for a mass audience by proposing a speculative consumer app. The project takes the form of a pitch video as a parody of the storytelling tropes seen in many tech product introductions.</p>
<p>ScreenThumb (the app) supposedly works by <a class="keyterm lexicon">translating</a> the electrical impulses of a plant into natural <a class="keyterm anthropological-machine">human</a> <a class="keyterm lexicon">language</a> to convey its needs to its caretakers. The copywriting imbues the plant with a personality similar to that of a petulant child, and in tandem with the bright colors and <a class="keyterm desire">need</a> alerts, the effect is altogether in the realm of a baby monitor. Suggesting this confluence taps into our species’ <a class="concept vulnerable">caretaking instinct</a>; by giving human <a class="keyterm lexicon">language</a> to a <a class="keyterm anthropological-machine border">non-human</a> entity, we are <a class="concept virus">implicated in liability</a> for it.</p>
<p>The plant’s voice does not come from a vacuum. Translation requires two <a class="keyterm lexicon">lexicons</a>, and therefore, the plant can be said to communicate. The form of an app leverages <a class="keyterm utility">utility</a> as a means of introducing empathy for <a class="concept anthropological-machine">non-human</a> life so as to shift the bounds of our responsibility towards sustainable ends.</p>
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</section>
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<section id="game-lab" class="system">
<h1 class="title">Hot Take Game Lab</h1>
<div class="images">
<div><a href="https://editor.p5js.org/55378008/present/qXl3eheK8" target="_blank"><img src="images/SafeSpace.gif" alt="CAPITALISM WILL NOT AND WAS NEVER GOING TO SAVE US"></a></div>
<div><a href="https://editor.p5js.org/55378008/present/MHtoMAWqA" target="_blank"><img src="images/deepforest.gif" alt="CAPITALISM WILL NOT AND WAS NEVER GOING TO SAVE US"></a></div>
</div>
<div class="writing">
<p>A common contemporary complaint is that the <a class="keyterm system">Internet</a> has <a class="power">created the conditions</a> for extreme polarization of opinions due in parts to: 1) the <a class="concept virus">increasing speed</a> at which journalists and content creators must respond to breaking news in order to attract viewership; 2) the ease with which the everyday social media user <a class="concept virus">can publish and disseminate their opinions</a>, informed or otherwise; 3) a saturated mediascape <a class="concept adversarial nonlinear">discouraging long periods of engagement</a> with any one work, article, or idea. In response to the latter in particular, journalistic outlets, e-learning platforms, and advertisers are employing <a class="keyterm system">gamification</a> as a means of retaining attention. Rewarding a <a class="concept anthropological-machine">reader's/user's/customer's</a> engagement with a <a class="concept utility">product/service/work</a> incentivizes a larger contribution from a finite pool of time. Are the few more seconds extracted via these game tactics enough in and of themselves? What if <a class="keyterm power">monetization</a> of attention weren't the primary goal? What is the potential, in a landscape where reading a headline is the measure of reading an article, for games to encourage thought beyond the words on a webpage?</p>
<p><i>Hot Take Game Lab</i> posits game systems and the <a class="keyterm computer">computational</a> decisions behind them as mediums for making <a class="keyterm lexicon">meaning</a>. A “hot take” is a piece of commentary, typically produced quickly in response to a recent event, whose primary purpose is to attract attention. The Lab’s current hypothesis: Engagement with <a class="concept system computer">computational systems</a> creates opportunity for critical thinking via <a class="keyterm interaction">immersion</a>, <a class="concept virus">implication, and repetition</a>. Chances for engagement are highest when <a class="keyterm power">market</a> saturation is low and novelty value is high, a.k.a. at Hot Take Speed. The Lab’s key inquiries are: 1) How can gamification be leveraged to not only retain attention but to encourage meaningful engagement with a topic? 2) How can an <a class="keyterm interaction">interactive</a> computational system provide frameworks and tools for thought that challenge the <a class="keyterm vulnerable open-closed interaction">passive</a> <a class="concept anthropological-machine">writer-reader relationship</a> of online journalism? 3) What effect does speed and topicality have on the narrative experience contained in gameplay?</p>
<p>This project is ongoing.</p>
<p class="subhead"><b>Game 1:</b> <i>Safe Space</i></p>
<p><i>Safe Space</i> was created in October 2019 in response to the announcement of Frank Ocean’s PrEP+ party, which was billed as an “an ongoing <a class="concept anthropological-machine border">safe space</a> made to bring people together,...an homage to what could have been of the 1980s’ NYC club scene if [PrEP]... had been invented in that era.” The party immediately drew <a class="keyterm adversarial">criticism</a> for its <a class="keyterm negation border">exclusive</a> guest list, which appeared antithetical to the stated mission of <a class="keyterm open-closed">inclusivity</a>.</p>
<p><i>Safe Space</i> is a loving drag of Brooklyn’s leftist nightlife scene and its perpetual struggle to create “safe” parties, the definition of which changes along <a class="concept border">individual identifying parameters</a>. The game is set against the backdrop of Mood Ring, a popular <a class="concept border anthropological-machine">QTPOC-centric</a> bar (my personal favorite), and is not meant to trash efforts at creating safer spaces.</p>
<p class="subhead"><b>Game 2:</b> <i>De[ep] Forest</i></p>
<p><i>De[ep] Forest</i> was created in October 2019 in response to the Trump administration’s proposal to allow logging in Alaska's Tongass National Forest. Based on the <a class="keyterm system">mechanics</a> of Pong, this mini-game presents a <a class="concept power">win condition</a> of logging all trees in the game field. If you lose based on this metric, Exxon Mobil will be the one to announce your failure. If you win based on this metric, a second mini-game appears: the win condition appears to be keeping your avatar from drowning; the player is quick to find, however, that there is no way to keep their head above water under the threat of rising sea levels.</p>
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</section>
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<section id="since" class="utility math">
<h1 class="title">Since</h1>
<div class="images">
<div><a href="images/since-1.png" target="_blank"><img src="images/since-1.png" alt="CAPITALISM WILL NOT AND WAS NEVER GOING TO SAVE US"></a></div>
<div class="vv"><a href="https://kslxyz.github.io/Since/" target="_blank"><img src="images/since-2.png" alt="CAPITALISM WILL NOT AND WAS NEVER GOING TO SAVE US"></a></div>
<div><a href="images/since-3.png"><img src="images/since-3.png" alt="CAPITALISM WILL NOT AND WAS NEVER GOING TO SAVE US"></a></div>
</div>
<div class="writing">
<p><i>Since</i> is the only project included in this document that was undertaken after the start of <a class="concept virus myth">COVID-19 quarantine</a>. I am working from home; therefore, I must be a <a class="concept anthropological-machine utility">non-essential worker</a>. I am contending with the <a class="keyterm virus utility">uselessness</a> of my labor. As quarantine stretches on, the checkpoints from the Before Times fail to bracket my behaviors; I recognize routines as the <a class="keyterm border">delineators</a> they were. In daily sameness, what <a class="keyterm math system">metrics</a> should dictate my hours, what priorities, what needs?</p>
<p>I started working on <i>Since</i> because I stopped being able to remember when I last showered. <i>Since</i> is a count-up timer app that one can set with a custom task to <a class="concept computer power math anthropological-machine">computationally (implied: accurately)</a> track the last instance of an act in days, hours, minutes, and seconds. I shared the project with a few people and was met with unexpected enthusiasm, not just for the <a class="keyterm utility">use value</a> of the app but for an opportunity to let time filter what we consider important into a collective portrait of this period. What do we miss? What have we lost? What remains in memory as a reference point to Back Then? With the rhythms of <a class="keyterm power">capital</a> disrupted, what timer do we live by? </p>
</div>
</section>
<div class="spacer"></div>
<section id="field-notes">
<h1 class="title">Field Notes</h1>
<div class="images">
<div><p><b>1.</b></p><a href="images/1_Google.png" target="_blank"><img src="images/1_Google.png" alt="CAPITALISM WILL NOT AND WAS NEVER GOING TO SAVE US"></a></div>
<div><p><b>2.</b></p><a href="images/2_algorithm.png" target="_blank"><img src="images/2_algorithm.png" alt="CAPITALISM WILL NOT AND WAS NEVER GOING TO SAVE US"></a></div>
<div><p><b>3.</b></p><a href="images/3_candles.png" target="_blank"><img src="images/3_candles.png" alt="CAPITALISM WILL NOT AND WAS NEVER GOING TO SAVE US"></a></div>
<div><p><b>4.</b></p><a href="images/4_banana.png" target="_blank"><img src="images/4_banana.png" alt="CAPITALISM WILL NOT AND WAS NEVER GOING TO SAVE US"></a></div>
<div><p><b>5.</b></p><a href="images/5_houseofleaves.png" target="_blank"><img src="images/5_houseofleaves.png" alt="CAPITALISM WILL NOT AND WAS NEVER GOING TO SAVE US"></a></div>
<div><p><b>6.</b></p><a href="images/6_scientology.png" target="_blank"><img src="images/6_scientology.png" alt="CAPITALISM WILL NOT AND WAS NEVER GOING TO SAVE US"></a></div>
<div><p><b>7.</b></p><a href="images/7_frog.png" target="_blank"><img src="images/7_frog.png" alt="CAPITALISM WILL NOT AND WAS NEVER GOING TO SAVE US"></a></div>
<div><p><b>8.</b></p><a href="images/8_hack.png" target="_blank"><img src="images/8_hack.png" alt="CAPITALISM WILL NOT AND WAS NEVER GOING TO SAVE US"></a></div>
<div><p><b>9.</b></p><a href="images/9_utopia.png" target="_blank"><img src="images/9_utopia.png" alt="CAPITALISM WILL NOT AND WAS NEVER GOING TO SAVE US"></a></div>
<div><p><b>10.</b></p><a href="images/10_smarttrash.png" target="_blank"><img src="images/10_smarttrash.png" alt="CAPITALISM WILL NOT AND WAS NEVER GOING TO SAVE US"></a></div>
<div><p><b>11.</b></p><a href="images/11_digimonfurry.gif" target="_blank"><img src="images/11_digimonfurry.gif" alt="CAPITALISM WILL NOT AND WAS NEVER GOING TO SAVE US"></a></div>
<div><p><b>12.</b></p><a href="images/12_30s.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="images/12_30s.jpg" alt="CAPITALISM WILL NOT AND WAS NEVER GOING TO SAVE US"></a></div>
<div><p><b>13.</b></p><a href="images/13_easterneurope.png" target="_blank"><img src="images/13_easterneurope.png" alt="CAPITALISM WILL NOT AND WAS NEVER GOING TO SAVE US"></a></div>
<div><p><b>14.</b></p><a href="images/14_computerssuck.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="images/14_computerssuck.jpg" alt="CAPITALISM WILL NOT AND WAS NEVER GOING TO SAVE US"></a></div>
<div><p><b>15.</b></p><a href="images/15_explaindeleuze.PNG" target="_blank"><img src="images/15_explaindeleuze.PNG" alt="CAPITALISM WILL NOT AND WAS NEVER GOING TO SAVE US"></a></div>
<div><p><b>16.</b></p><a href="images/16_folk-numerology.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="images/16_folk-numerology.jpg" alt="CAPITALISM WILL NOT AND WAS NEVER GOING TO SAVE US"></a></div>
<div><p><b>17.</b></p><a href="images/17_spectacle.png" target="_blank"><img src="images/17_spectacle.png" alt="CAPITALISM WILL NOT AND WAS NEVER GOING TO SAVE US"></a></div>
<div><p><b>18.</b></p><a href="images/18_benotafraid.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="images/18_benotafraid.jpg" alt="CAPITALISM WILL NOT AND WAS NEVER GOING TO SAVE US"></a></div>
<div><p><b>19.</b></p><a href="images/19_covidsimpson.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="images/19_covidsimpson.jpg" alt="CAPITALISM WILL NOT AND WAS NEVER GOING TO SAVE US"></a></div>
</div>
<div class="writing">
<p><b>1.</b> Screenshot of the <a href="https://assistant.google.com/" class="bib" target="_blank">Google Assistant</a> explore page as my father. <b>2.</b> Screenshot of a Tweet in which Twitter user @lowbeyonder correlates <a class="keyterm interaction">interacting</a> with the <a class="keyterm math computer">Algorithm</a> with interacting with the <a class="anthropological-machine power">supernatural</a>. <b>3.</b> Screenshot of a recent <a href="http://amazon.com" class="bib" target="_blank">Amazon</a> order for a 7” surveillance monitor and LED candles. <b>4.</b> Screenshot of my <a href="http://amazon.com" class="bib" target="_blank">Amazon</a> cart featuring <a href="http://nkjemisin.com/" class="bib" target="_blank">N. K. Jemison’s</a> <a href="https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/articles/n-k-jemisin-broken-earth-trilogy-books-in-order/" class="bib" target="_blank">Broken Earth trilogy</a>, a series set on a <a class="concept power">far-future Earth</a> wracked by intermittent apocalypses, and a single organic banana. <b>5.</b> Screenshot of <a href="http://google.com" class="bib" target="_blank">Google</a> suggested searches for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Z._Danielewski" class="bib" target="_blank">Mark Z. Danielewski’s</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Leaves" class="bib" target="_blank">House of Leaves</a>. <b>6.</b> Side-by-side comparison of the Scientology Flag Building in Clearwater, Florida as seen on the Church of Scientology’s official website, and the San Francisco Armory as seen in the opening credits of Kink.com videos. <b>7.</b> Screenshot of several drawings made by players in response to the prompt “frog” in <a href="https://quickdraw.withgoogle.com/" class="bib" target="_blank">Quick, Draw!</a>, an online game developed by <a href="http://google.com" class="bib" target="_blank">Google</a> to train a <a class="concept border computer">neural network</a> to recognize doodles. <b>8.</b> Screenshot of the definition for “hack” on <a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wiktionary:Main_Page" class="bib" target="_blank">Wiktionary</a>. <b>9.</b> Screenshot of a <a href="https://www.quora.com/" class="bib" target="_blank">Quora</a> answer defining <a class="keyterm negation">Utopia</a> as “a world without <a class="keyterm power">money</a>” and detailing timelines and possible avenues for attainment. <b>10.</b> Screenshot of an article on <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2013/8/9/4604980/smart-uk-trash-cans-smartphone-speed-proximity-wifi" class="bib" target="_blank">The Verge</a> about privacy concerns arising from the smart trash can surveillance <a class="keyterm system">network</a>. <b>11.</b> Animated gif of a Matrix Evolution from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digimon" class="_bib" target="_blank">Digimon</a>, in which a partner Digimon <a class="concept anthropological-machine">fuses with its human Tamer</a> to evolve into the Mega level. <b>12.</b> Instructions for how to make friends in your 30s. <b>13.</b> Screenshot of mantra examples if you’re a shitlord. <b>14.</b> Screenshot of a text conversation with Ryan Diaz. <b>15.</b> Screenshot of a Tweet by <a href="http://twitter.com" class="bib" target="_blank"> Twitter</a> user @jil_slander featuring the 2019 “explain <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilles_Deleuze" class="bib" target="_blank">Deleuze</a> to me” <a class="keyterm virus">meme</a> on a 2020 COVID-19 lockdown protest poster. <b>16.</b> Folk <a class="keyterm power system">numerology</a> (bad <a class="keyterm math">arithmetic</a>?) at a COVID-19 lockdown protest. <b>17.</b> Screenshot of a <a href="http://reddit.com" class="bib" target="_blank">Reddit</a> moderator <a class="keyterm computer anthropological-machine">bot</a> demanding that a post be elaborated with a description relevant to contemporary society’s combination of “<a class="concept myth power">agency-robbing fantasy mythos</a> with instantaneous technological dissemination.” <b>18.</b> A chimeric emoji, often accompanied by a <a href="http://tumblr.com" class="bib" target="_blank">Tumblr</a> thread that names it “Be Not Afraid.” <b>19.</b> A meme made by myself at the start of COVID-19's spread in the U.S., imbued with the <a class="keyterm desire">hope</a> that the <a class="keyterm virus">virus</a> will act as a catalyst for collective <a class="keyterm power">revolution</a>.
</p>
</div>
</section>
<div class="spacer"></div>
<section id="spectre" class="anthropological-machine computer binary adversarial virus">
<h1 class="title">The Spectre of Computation</h1>
<div class="writing">
<blockquote>“‘At this point I do not want to be outside the <a class="concept power">structures of power</a>, I do not want
to be
the <a class="keyterm adversarial">opposition</a>, the alternative. Alternative to what? To power? No. I want to have <a class="keyterm power">power</a>. It's
effective in terms of change. I want to be like a <a class="keyterm virus">virus</a> that belongs to the institution. All the
ideological apparatuses are, in other words, <a class="keyterm virus">replicating</a> themselves, because that's the way
culture
works. So if I function as a virus, an <a class="keyterm hidden">imposter</a>, an <a class="keyterm adversarial">infiltrator</a>, I will always replicate myself
together with those institutions.’”</blockquote>
<a href="https://archive.camdenartscentre.org/archive/d/symptoms-of-interference-conditions-of-possibility" class="bib" target="_blank">—Felix Gonzalez-Torres, "A Conversation” in <i>Symptoms of Interference,
Conditions of Possibility</i></a>
<blockquote>“We are not <a class="keyterm utility vulnerable">useful</a>.”</blockquote>
<a href="http://frontdeskapparatus.com/files/015.pdf" class="bib" target="_blank">—Metahaven, “White Night”</a>
<p class="subhead"><b>1. Possible/Plausible/Probable/Preferable/Promulgated</b></p>
<div class="diagram"><img src="images/CP_FutureCone.png" alt="CAPITALISM WILL NOT AND WAS NEVER GOING TO SAVE US"></div>
<p>“who tf is jon sueda” is a text message I sent sometime around 4AM on April 18, 2020 to a group chat
seething
with reproach against the well-appointed home setups featured on @wfh_wfm. Jon Sueda is a “successful”
graphic designer. He is also the creator of @wfh_wfm. I suppose I should’ve known him, and upon
<a href="http://google.com" class="bib" target="_blank">Googling</a>, it
turns out I did. He’s the maker behind <a href="http://allpossiblefutures.net/" class="bib"
target="_blank">All Possible Futures</a>, a project that has continually held a
central spot in my reference library, a guidepost for the development of my design practice.
</p>
<p>@wfh_wfm is an <a href="http://instagram.com" class="bib" target="_blank">Instagram</a> account. Its name is an acronym for “Working From Home Works For Me.” The first
post, featuring Sueda’s own setup at the dining table with his two sons, is captioned with the story of
the
project’s inspiration, which is “the deluge of <a href="http://zoom.us" class="bib" target="_blank"></a>Zoom meetings [he has] been in for the last few weeks,
and
seeing the <a class="concept border anthropological-machine">range of contexts</a> framing all the faculty members’ and students’ faces.” He also writes about
how
he had actually started WFH (the act, not the project) ten years ago to spend more time with his newborn
child, with the added bonus of “[saving] a two-hour daily commute and thousands of dollars in rent per
month.”
</p>
<p>The reproach of the group chat called out the “<a class="concept power">thousands of dollars,</a>” an unfathomable amount of money to
have, spend, or save. The reproach of the group chat screenshotted posts from our very own RISD faculty
members, displaying sunlit corners and expansive desks surrounded by shelves filled with recognizably
expensive design objects. The reproach of the group chat visualized itself as grainy shots of our own
depression nests—dirty dishes, mouse traps, water damage, chairs broken and nailed back together to WFH
another day. I thought about <a class="concept anthropological-machine">Dal Hayes</a>, a man recently laid off from the Redondo Beach Bonaventure
Hotel, who called and left a desperate message under the impression that I was the regional unemployment
office. I thought about my partner, a <a class="concept utility anthropological-machine">service worker</a> in NYC, who sends me photos of themself making
deliveries in their fluorescent vest and construction mask, against the backdrop of applause from Manhattan residents paying thousands of dollars to WFH. I thought about possible
<a class="keyterm power desire">futures</a> and probable futures. I wondered what day of the week it was.</p>
<p>I have often quoted <a class="bib" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Kay" target='_blank'>Alan Kay</a> in saying, <a class="bib" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Kay"
target='_blank'>“the best way to predict the future is to invent it.”</a> My design
practice, especially in the past year, has centered around the generation of <a class="concept power desire myth">visions of possibility or
futurity</a>. My projects took the form of <a class="keyterm utility">tools</a> and aggregates to extend the limits of <a class="keyterm power">imagination</a>, which
is
the prerequisite for invention. I wanted to give form to <a class="keyterm desire">desire</a>, a Graphic Design will-to-power.
</p>
<p>But looking at @wfh_wfm, created by the same mind that organized <a href="http://allpossiblefutures.net/"
class="bib" target="_blank">All Possible Futures</a>, populated by the same
names featured in <a href="http://allpossiblefutures.net/" class="bib" target="_blank">All Possible
Futures</a>, I am realizing that the “all” in “<a class="concept myth power">all possible futures</a>” is a count made by a limited
<a class="keyterm power desire">imagination</a>. An <a class="keyterm border">insular</a> group of well-known designers continue to speak only to each other
of the conditions of WFH in a global <a class="keyterm virus">pandemic</a>, with a tone-deafness made possible by a collective
<a class="keyterm power desire">imagination</a> built on standing desks, tasteful houseplants, and job security. They imagine possibilities
afforded by their own positionality; the <a class="keyterm system">engine</a> of their insularity publishes and republishes their
imaginaries into being. In turn, I, an MFA candidate in a prestigious program, <a class="concept virus">reference and replicate</a>
their
insularity.
</p>
<div class="diagram"><img src="images/CP_Classes.png" alt="CAPITALISM WILL NOT AND WAS NEVER GOING TO SAVE US"></div>
<p>The reproach of the group chat arose from the recognition of <a class="keyterm border">difference</a>: that <a class="concept border anthropological-machine">our circumstances were not
reflected</a> in the <a class="concept desire myth lexicon">vision of possibility</a> posited by @wfh_wfm. The reproach, I now recognize, came also
from a
kind of entitlement: “they are Zoom users, we too are Zoom users, so why do we not have access to the
same?”
If the <a class="keyterm power desire">imaginary</a> of @wfh_wfm could feel so wrong to me, a member of the same pandemic class, how does
this
imaginary scale to other classes? In a 1999 NPR interview with <a
href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Gibson" class="bib" target="_blank">William Gibson</a>,
the author states, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Gibson" class="bib"
target="_blank">“the
future has already arrived—it’s just not evenly distributed yet.”</a> Is a <a class="keyterm power">future</a> that will arrive
only for some
worth imagining at all?</p>
<p>This question, however, suffers in that it only asks about imagined <a class="keyterm power">futures</a>. Every class in the above
diagram
has the ability to <a class="keyterm desire">desire</a>, to imagine futures of varying types and scopes. <a class="keyterm desire power">Imagination</a>—though
prerequisite
to invention—does not guarantee invention. And even then, the positive correlation between the ability
to
invent and <a class="concept power">access to resources</a> becomes more significant when one factors in the <a class="concept virus power">ability to implement
that
invention</a> on a large scale. <a class="keyterm myth">History</a> has proven that the <a class="keyterm power desire">future</a> does not come from mere imagination or
flash-in-the-pan invention; the future comes from continued <a class="keyterm virus">replication</a>.</p>
<p class="subhead"><b>2. Spec Work</b></p>
<p>Sometime in the early 2000s, my uncle, an electrician from Rockford, Illinois, was invited to <i>The
Tonight
Show with Jay Leno</i> as part of a “home inventors” showcase. He unveiled the Ultra-Clip™, a nail
clipper that catches clippings in a small compartment for later disposal. Nearly 20 years later, my
family
members are the only people I know who use the Ultra-Clip™, and my uncle is still an electrician in
Rockford, Illinois. He ran through his savings creating prototypes, but without <a class="keyterm power">capital</a>, the Ultra-Clip™
could never enter mass production. When we (myself and my family) lose our Ultra-Clips, as is inevitable
with small objects, we will enter a <a class="keyterm myth desire">future</a> of inferior design, at least as it pertains to nail care.</p>
<p>I purchased my first iPhone—with great reluctance—in 2011, to replace my perfectly functional Blackberry
Curve. The iPhone messaging UI diverged from previous texting models by placing all messages on the same
screen, like an AIM or MSN chat thread. Upon hitting <a class="concept virus power">critical market mass</a>, this design shift left me
(and
other non-iPhone customers) dealing with barrages of single-line texts sent by iPhone users acclimated
to
this new <a class="keyterm interaction">interface</a>, users who had no idea that I would have to open their “lol”s and “?”s separately,
one at
a time, then delete them to make room in my 200-text limit inbox. The iPhone, ensured of its
<a class="keyterm virus">promulgation</a> by
<a class="keyterm power">capital</a>, <a class="concept virus desire">implemented its version of the future</a> upon all of us. </p>
<div class="diagram"><img id="society" src="images/CP_Society.png" alt="CAPITALISM WILL NOT AND WAS NEVER GOING TO SAVE US"></div>
<p>In <a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/speculative-everything" class="bib"
target="_blank">Speculative Everything</a>, authors <a href="http://dunneandraby.co.uk/" class="bib"
target="_blank">Dunne and Raby</a> commend <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oryx_and_Crake"
class="bib" target="_blank">Oryx and Crake</a> (2003) by Margaret
Atwood for its <a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/speculative-everything" class="bib"
target="_blank">“speculative work[...]based on real science; focused on
social, cultural,
ethical, and political implications.”</a> This emphasis on <a class="concept desire ">tempered speculation</a> is crucial to Dunne
and Raby’s
arguments for critical design’s ability to construct new pathways for the <a class="concept desire power">social imaginary</a>. In the
preface,
they write:</p>
<blockquote>A believable series of events that led to the new situation is necessary, even if entirely
fictional. This allows viewers to <a class="concept anthropological-machine interaction vulnerable">relate the scenario to their own world</a> and to use it as an <a class="concept utility">aid for
critical reflection</a>.</blockquote>
<p>The effectiveness of a <a class="keyterm desire power">speculative</a> scenario, presented to an audience, is therefore contingent upon this
<a class="keyterm myth">believability</a>—the degree to which it aligns with a given person’s understanding of “their own world.”
<a class="keyterm myth">Empiricism</a> in science asserts that all knowledge is derived from <a class="concept anthropological-machine">sense-experience</a>, from firsthand
experience
of observable phenomena that repeatedly yields the same results under testing. What does empiricism look
like when applied to <a class="keyterm power">future</a> phenomena, with knowledge <a class="keyterm negation">deferred</a> across time? What are the “<a class="concept anthropological-machine history border">social,
cultural,
ethical, and political implications</a>” of empiricism applied from a <a class="concept power hidden negation">limited or subjective present</a>?
</p>
<p>I share much of <a href="http://dunneandraby.co.uk/" class="bib" target="_blank">Dunne and Raby’s</a>
enthusiasm for the potential of speculation to open critical realms in the
present. However, when the <a class="keyterm desire power">future</a> is <a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/speculative-everything"
class="bib" target="_blank">“but a medium to aid imaginative thought,”</a> the future sets the
preconditions for its own invention from an <a class="concept hidden power">insufficient view of the present</a>. The danger herein lies in
<a class="concept virus">replicating—if not aggravating—the blind spots of the present</a> in visions of possibility. The
as-yet-untrue
nature of the future, though it loosens us from reality’s grip, simultaneously frees us from contending
with
its consequences until <a class="concept virus anthropological-machine">they are rendered, by design, inconsequential</a>. The tempered speculation of
critical
design must work to operate first on the level of the premise. Can a future imagined from the <a class="keyterm power">material</a>
present of <a href="http://apple.com" class="bib" target="_blank">Apple</a>, or @wfh_wfm, or <a href="http://risd.edu" class="bib" target="_blank">RISD MFA</a> offer a vision of possibility that speaks to anyone else’s
world?
Which is the world of the iPhone? Which is the world of @wfh_wfm? Which is mine?</p>
<p class="subhead"><b>3. <a class="keyterm virus">Virus</a> Against <a class="keyterm virus">Virality</a></b></p>
<p>I am writing in the time of a <a class="keyterm virus">virus</a>. COVID-19 has driven <a class="concept utility power">non-essential workers</a> indoors, separating
knowledge
work even further from the <a class="keyterm vulnerable">vulnerability</a> of the social body. I am WFH; therefore, I must be
non-essential.
As <a href="http://metahaven.net/" class="bib" target="_blank">Metahaven</a> says, <a
href="http://frontdeskapparatus.com/files/015.pdf" class="bib" target="_blank">“we are”</a>—I am—<a
href="http://frontdeskapparatus.com/files/015.pdf" class="bib" target="_blank">“not useful.”</a></p>
<p>I don’t mean to misquote <a href="http://metahaven.net/" class="bib" target="_blank">Metahaven</a>.
“<a class="keyterm utility">Usefulness</a>,” by their definition, has to do with use value, or value by
virtue of an object’s function, in opposition to added (or <a class="keyterm desire power">speculative</a> value, which <a class="keyterm virus">circulates</a> in a
cultural <a class="keyterm power">market</a> separate from an object’s <a class="keyterm utility computer">function</a>. Surface design operates in the latter realm. Surface
design can <a class="concept virus power lexicon">create its own value</a> by virtue of its separation from <a class="concept power border anthropological-machine myth">material, physical, or territorial
limitations</a>. The surface designer is a knowledge worker separated from the <a class="keyterm vulnerable">vulnerability</a> of the social
body.
The surface designer speaks to other surface designers about WFH; the surface designer references
surface
designers in their thesis compendium. <a class="concept virus">Surface design self-replicates.</a></p>
<p>Design that creates its own value is not a <a class="keyterm virus">virus</a>. Viruses do not self-replicate; they cannot <a class="keyterm power">survive</a>
without
a host. Viruses are the ultimate <a class="keyterm adversarial">parasite</a>. </p>
<p><a class="keyterm virus power system">Virality</a> does not imply a virus. “Virality,” in its current use, is a contemporary term most often
employed
in marketing to describe the rapid spread of an image or piece of information, most commonly over the
Internet. Where this definition differs from that of a virus is in its ontology. <a class="concept virus open-closed">The images and
information
of virality are self-contained</a>. They do not <a class="keyterm computer virus adversarial">hack</a> or commandeer any of the <a class="keyterm anthropological-machine system">machinery</a> of its channels.
Virality co-exists with the platform and floats on its surface (design). Virality need not be <a class="keyterm utility">useful</a>;
virality can be <a class="keyterm desire virus">willed</a> by <a class="keyterm power">capital</a> and connections. Virality is an iPhone supported by <a href="http://apple.com" class="bib" target="_blank">Apple’s</a> global
marketing engine. Virality is the ability to self-replicate.</p>
<p>I want to design as a <a class="keyterm virus">virus</a>. I want to design towards <a class="keyterm utility">usefulness</a>, towards <a class="concept power anthropological-machine">material consequence</a>, towards
<a class="keyterm adversarial open-closed">infiltration</a> and <a class="keyterm vulnerable">dependence</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F%C3%A9lix_Gonz%C3%A1lez-Torres" class="bib" target="_blank">Felix
Gonzalez-Torres</a> also worked in the time of a <a class="keyterm virus">virus</a>. That virus was HIV/AIDS. Gonzalez-Torres’s
<a class="concept virus">viral
strategy</a> utilized the visual <a class="keyterm lexicon">lexicon</a> of the <a class="concept power">capitalist art market</a> to infect the institution with his
pieces,
carriers of his ideological critique. Spectators who engaged with his work <a class="concept interaction">came into contact with his
virus</a>,
becoming carriers of the infection themselves and spreading it in the body politic through continued
discussion of the questions raised in his work.</p>
<p>When I think about how design becomes radical, I usually end up thinking of designing for actions and
movements that on their own are doing the legwork of actual material change. What design has to offer
here
is a viral envelope, a protein layer rendered in the visual <a class="keyterm lexicon">lexicon</a> of the capitalist, mass-audience
sphere
so as to <a class="concept adversarial utility virus">infiltrate and utilize</a> its extended networks of dissemination, taste creation, and social
signaling. In other words, design as a <a class="keyterm virus adversarial">parasite</a>, feeding on the <a class="power border">infrastructure</a> of its host to perpetuate
its
content. The more hegemonic the host, the greater the virus’ proliferation.</p>
<p>I have often described my work as “<a class="keyterm adversarial hidden">Trojan-horsing</a>.” I have had my work described by others as
“hoodwinking,”
“swindling,” <a class="keyterm computer adversarial hidden">hacking</a>,” and “Robin Hood-ing.” I am realizing now that these terms circle the vocabulary
of a
virus.
</p>
<div class="diagram"><img id="virus" src="images/CP_Virus.png" alt="CAPITALISM WILL NOT AND WAS NEVER GOING TO SAVE US"></div>
<p>The <a class="concept virus">structure of a virus</a> includes its genome and a surrounding protein shell, or capsid, which helps the
virus latch onto a <a class="keyterm virus">cell</a>, <a class="computer adversarial">hack</a> into it, and <a class="adversarial power">commandeer</a> its molecular machinery for the
purposes of the virus’ <a class="concept virus power">own perpetuation</a>. A virus’ <a class="keyterm power desire">future</a> is grounded in modifying the <a class="concept power border">existing structure</a>
of
its host. The power of a virus’ future imaginary is indivisible from the material conditions of its
present.
</p>
<p>This past year, I have evaluated each of my projects against a question: <a class="concept open-closed system">is this an open or closed
system?</a>
<a class="keyterm interaction">Interactivity</a> is the test of a <a class="keyterm system">system</a>; I found myself unwilling to make work that did not <a class="keyterm desire">require</a> it.
And
despite telling myself that the question was value-neutral, that it served only to help me make more
intentional choices, I suspected that I preferred an <a class="concept open-closed">open system</a>, a <a class="concept vulnerable">permeable one vulnerable to change</a>
by
<a class="keyterm anthropological-machine border">user input</a>. <a id="interaction">Interaction</a> is the prerequisite for <a class="keyterm virus">infection</a>. Perhaps the
generosity I
aspire to in opening my work has more to do with the <a class="keyterm desire">desire</a> for <a class="concept vulnerable">closeness and exchange</a>, the desire to
<a class="concept negation virus adversarial">turn
others into virus factories</a> themselves.</p>
<h2>4. Benware</h2>
<div class="diagram"><img class="infection" src="images/CP_Infection.png" alt="CAPITALISM WILL NOT AND WAS NEVER GOING TO SAVE US"></div>
<p>In <a class="keyterm computer">computers</a>, the word “<a class="keyterm virus">virus</a>” is often misused as interchangeable with
“malware.”
“Malware” is a catch-all term for all malicious software, including keyloggers, ransomware, spyware,
rootkits, and false Browser Helper Objects (BHOs). The uniting characteristic of the listed examples is
that
they are independent pieces of software, possibly installed through a Trojan Horse or similar means,
possibly masked as a “<a class="keyterm power">legitimate</a>” program, but essentially running on their own with the goal of <a class="concept hidden">quietly
extracting</a> <a class="concept power">information and resources</a> to an <a class="concept border">outside receiver</a>. A <a class="keyterm computer virus">computer virus</a>, by definition, modifies
other
programs. Its modus operandi is the <a class="concept negation interaction">changing of states</a>.</p>
<p>A <a class="keyterm virus">virus</a> is not a <a class="keyterm hidden">spy</a>; it is a <a class="keyterm adversarial">saboteur</a>. </p>
<p>Here I want to turn to the word “<a class="keyterm adversarial">malicious</a>.” If a piece of software is categorized as MALware, its
functions
are understood to have <a class="concept adversarial">the intention to harm</a>. Implicit in this understanding is that <a class="concept vulnerable">the harm is to the
user</a>, the majority of whom are personal <a class="concept computer anthropological-machine">computers (humans)</a> using their personal <a class="concept computer anthropological-machine">computers (machines)</a>.
Malice
is <a class="keyterm binary">relational</a>, and therefore, flexible. Applying this flexibility to <a class="keyterm virus">viruses</a>, if malware <a class="keyterm negation">≠</a> virus, can
virus
<a class="keyterm negation">≠</a> malware? Can viruses instead be benignant—“BENware,” so to speak? More specifically, can a virus act
as a
redirecting agent to divert harm intended for the user to <a class="concept power">other entities</a>? Or, true to its form, can my
virus
do a little harm in service of calling attention to a larger danger? Can my virus turn the user not into
a
virus factory, but a manufacturer of antibodies against me and the <a class="keyterm power">power</a> structure I rode in on?</p>
<a class="concept binary">
<h2>5. Non-Binary Binary Code</h2>
</a>
<p>I began my coding education in earnest in September 2019. By November, the majority of my time spent
making
“graphic design” projects was devoted to the <a class="keyterm utility system">functionality</a> of a <a class="keyterm computer">computational</a> back end. A faculty member
recently asked how I imagined the GD program could support me, as I seemed to be shifting more into the
purview of a developer rather than a designer. She clarified in a later conversation that she wasn’t
setting
up a <a class="keyterm binary">dichotomy</a>; if it communicates, then it’s Graphic Design.</p>
<p>Ask a layperson to explain a piece of conceptual art, and you might be met with resistance. Have them
read
the wall text beside it, and a framework opens up for evaluation. <a class="keyterm lexicon">Language</a> (written and spoken) holds
<a class="keyterm power">hegemony</a> over analysis, interpretation, and communication. </p>
<p>The term “<a class="keyterm lexicon">code</a>” is used as shorthand for <a class="keyterm computer">computer</a> <a class="keyterm lexicon">language</a>. Computer languages employ
different <a class="concept lexicon system">syntaxes and vocabularies</a> (in English, which is a criticism for another day) in service of
speaking to a computer. Computers require the utmost precision of language and therefore operate at the
extremity of written communication, which—through <a class="concept myth power anthropological-machine">logistical, historical, and societal factors</a>—already
claims precedence in articulation. However, the execution of these communiques by the <a class="keyterm computer">computer</a> does not
usually result in <a class="keyterm lexicon">language</a>. It results instead in <a class="keyterm interaction">interfaces</a>, processes, images, and <a class="keyterm power">infrastructures</a>. It
results in <a class="keyterm system">systems</a>. </p>
<p><a class="keyterm system">Systems</a> speak, and there are <a class="concept power border anthropological-machine">no neutral systems</a>. Much has been written about the
dangers
of assuming the <a class="concept border anthropological-machine">objectivity of computing</a>, especially under a state of surveillance (see: <a
href="https://www.excavating.ai/" class="bib" target="_blank">Machine Learning biases</a>, for one).
The clarities and hard-boundary <a class="keyterm border">classifiers</a>
employed in building the <a class="keyterm system">system</a> are masked in its output, creating a <a class="keyterm power">power</a> discrepancy between the
writer/programmer/implementer and the end user. <a href="http://facebook.com" class="bib"
target="_blank">Facebook</a> had millions of users before a (written)
journalistic article sounded the alarm on its <a
href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/11/technology/facebook-privacy-hearings.html" class="bib"
target="_blank">data collection practices</a>, its <a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/08/instagram-shadow-bans-marginalised-communities-queer-plus-sized-bodies-sexually-suggestive"
class="bib" target="_blank">shadowbanning of vulnerable populations</a>, its
hand in <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/10/what-facebook-did/542502/"
class="bib" target="_blank">influencing elections</a>. Similarly, I am—we are—implicated in <a class="concept power system">myriad
structures</a> that seem indivisible
from 21st century American existence, all implemented <a class="concept hidden">without every being put into words</a>. <a class="keyterm virus computer">Malware</a> that
declares itself as such gets removed. The <a class="keyterm system">system</a> speaks with vested interest in never being heard.</p>
<p>Visual communication is the purview of Graphic Design; the crux of the field is speaking without words.
In
this respect, GD is perfectly suited for the <a class="keyterm lexicon">translation</a> of wordless <a class="keyterm system">systems</a>. Here is where I identify
the
potential for a <a class="concept binary">Non-Binary Binary Code</a>, where the inherently interpretive space of visual design can act
as
a clarifying reagant for the murky narratives of <a class="keyterm computer system">computational systems</a> without falling into the same
<a class="concept border">declarative trap</a>. </p>
<p>However, <a class="keyterm lexicon">translation</a> requires working knowledge of both languages in question. To return to the
biological
<a class="keyterm virus">virus</a>, in order for a virus to <a class="concept vulnerable open-closed">attach to a cell</a>, the surface of the virus and the surface of a cell must
<a class="concept lexicon">share a genetic vocabulary</a>. As <a class="keyterm computer">computation</a> increasingly insinuates itself as the substratum of
contemporary
existence, as major tech companies <a class="concept power adversarial">commandeer capital, labor, communication, and play</a>, as technocrats
<a class="keyterm virus">replicate</a> their <a class="concept anthropological-machine">non-neutral social positioning</a> into a new normality, any critical stance I could
communicate
must be rendered with a shared vocabulary. My design, if it is to become a virus, must speak the
language of
development, and if my programs are to clarify the <a class="concept system">mechanisms of computational systems</a>, it must speak
the
<a class="keyterm lexicon">language</a> of design.</p>
<p>Surface design is not enough for <a class="concept virus">design-as-virus</a>. Surface design is a removable wrapper. Surface design
<a class="concept vulnerable">does
not penetrate</a>; surface design is itself a cell, replicating in a mitotic process that <a class="concept power">canonizes only its
own
DNA</a>. Surface design is an organism that gambles on its own strength to build its uncertain <a class="keyterm power">futurity</a>.
Meanwhile, design-as-virus knows itself <a class="concept vulnerable">to be weak, to be dependent</a>. It identifies <a class="keyterm power">power</a> as <a class="concept virus">the ability
to
self-replicate</a> and nests its own futurity in power’s <a class="concept virus power system">proliferatory mechanisms</a>. It does this even as it
<a class="keyterm adversarial negation">sabotages</a> with an urgency borne of <a class="keyterm desire">need</a>. It risks its own <a class="concept negation adversarial">discovery and destruction</a>;
it
expects it; it hopes for it. Signaling the presence of <a class="keyterm virus adversarial computer">malware</a> is the function of benware. Benware tips
the
scales of <a class="concept power virus">power-as-malware</a> into <a class="keyterm lexicon">legibility</a>—even though doing so might <a class="concept negation">obsolete itself</a>—in service of
<a class="concept power desire open-closed">opening
the social imaginary</a> to a <a class="keyterm power">future</a> where it, and the structures that house it, <a class="concept negation">no longer exist</a> or are
radically changed.</p>
<p class="lastp"><a class="keyterm open-closed">Open systems</a> are <a class="keyterm vulnerable">vulnerable</a>. Opening up a system is an act of <a class="concept power">ceding control</a>, control over
its
content, its processes, its <a class="keyterm system">mechanics</a>, and its <a class="concept power desire">imagined future</a>. Opening up a system gives up <a class="keyterm power">power</a>,
gives
the user the <a class="concept negation power">power to destroy</a>. I want to design as a <a class="keyterm virus">virus</a>. I want to design towards <a class="keyterm vulnerable">weakness</a>, towards
<a class="keyterm desire">need</a>,
towards <a class="keyterm utility">usefulness</a> whose use value is <a class="concept negation">eventual desuetude</a>. I want to design <a class="keyterm adversarial">adversarial</a> <a class="keyterm interaction">interfaces</a> with
<a class="keyterm desire">seductive</a> complexity, surfaces that cannot help but be <a class="concept interaction vulernable power adversarial">touched and opened and fought against and
contended
with</a>. And in these interactions, with the best of intentions, I want to do <a class="concept adversarial">a little harm</a>, an
innoculatory
prick against <a class="keyterm border">insular</a> <a class="keyterm power desire">futures</a> in anticipation of a return to the world outside.</p>
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