[-empyre-] week two - MATTER

[Nicholas O'Brien]

Hello empyre:


Thanks so much to Ashley and the other moderators for inviting me to be a
discussant this month. I’ve been following the conversation and am
definitely excited to contribute!

As a way of getting started I wanted to pick up on two things that Ashley
wrote with regards to the materiality of digital objects:

*From hidden communication between smart devices to the algorithmic
> computation of actionable futures, many of the processes inherent to “the
> digital” are taking place outside of the phenomenal field of human
> perception. To this end, not only is the performative “stuff” of the
> digital functionally evasive, but the reiterative and regenerative
> executions that drive its operation also suggest that even when we do “see
> something,” it is nothing more than an ephemeral apparition… *


> *As I mentioned in an earlier post, much of what we refer to when we speak
> of “the digital” takes place outside of the field of human perception.*


This statement makes me think about driving in nature. I live in NYC now
and don’t really get to act on the “Did you know New York has 10,000 miles
(or whatever amount) of snowshoe hiking trails?” as much as I’d like to.
That being said, The “ephemeral apparition,” - or as I like to call it,
experience - of the digital reminds me of taking the offramp on the highway
to observe a scenic overlook. I grew up in Northern Virginia and my family
didn’t have a lot of money when I was young to go travel or book hotels for
long weekends. Instead we would go down US interstate 81 until we got to
the historical scenic route Skyline Drive. We would cruise up and down the
windy road, listening to tapes on the car stereo or playing guessing games
until my brother and I would get tired and fall asleep in the back seat.