No subject

Blue Ridge Mountains and rolling hills of the lower Appalachian Trail.

More recently, whenever I make long car trips (in that
ever-so-quintessential Americana way), I rarely remember the mile marker,
or the commemorative plaque, or where I was on my journey, or even the
actual view. What I do remember is that I turned off the road and
interrupted my trip - and that this interruption is often a way of
reminding myself of my journey through the =E2=80=9Cstuff=E2=80=9D of the r=
oad (or
information superhighway if you will).

So, then, what is the objectification of that experience? What is the
matter that consolidates or crystallizes that moment of rupture? It could
be a photograph, or a video, or a tweet, or a sound recording, or a text to
a loved one - some digital artifact of remembrance, a keepsake of data. But
I=E2=80=99d wager that the real substance of experiencing the ephemeral occ=
urs in
the moment of interruption. With a slight nod to Kev Bewersdorf, I=E2=80=99=
d say
that the materiality of the digital only happens AFK - removed from the
torrent of being plugged in, reflecting on it only when one has fully
stepped away from its monotony. The moment in which one pulls off the road,
interrupting their electronic activities, is the moment when the digital
becomes material. It is when the onslaught of digital stuff becomes sublime=
.

For me the experience of the sublime is the elusive moment of terrified
separation from humanity/civilization. In that moment of (self) recognition
away from the digital, I am deeply troubled by what I see in front of me. I
see the sublime as a terrible thing, or else a thing of terror (ala Burke).
It is terrifying and horrific to reflect on the digital - and it is in that
moment of terror that the digitial becomes =E2=80=9Creal,=E2=80=9D or else =
it becomes
=E2=80=9Cmatter.=E2=80=9D The =E2=80=9Cterribleness=E2=80=9D - as described=
 by Burke - of that feeling
transforms the ephemeral into the actual, and in doing so it shapes the
digital into an object.

***

Perhaps the terror that I see during (self)reflection away from the digital
speaks to the dangers that occur within a disappearing submedial space. The
invisibility of surveillance and the political work that goes on within
network culture is often only visible en masse - as is the case with OWS,
the Arab Spring, and the current Hong Kong protests. The problematic posed
by Groys=E2=80=99 analysis of 21st century submedial space suggests not onl=
y that
the presence of such a space is becoming hard to perceive but also its
affect is becoming harder to feel. This lack of emotional (or
psychological) tactility that occurs from observing these mass-produced (or
mass-represented) forms of political action from the outside creates a
dangerous type of association - one that is inherently built on distance,
absence, and othering.

When affect has been evacuated from social exchange a different type of
objectification happens, one that I don=E2=80=99t actually know how to defi=
ne, but
certainly feels different. The matter of a digital object is one that is
quickly losing its affect, one that gets subsumed into an infinite scroll.
It doesn=E2=80=99t feel like pulling off the road, at least. Instead it fee=
ls more
like a self-driving car.

--=20
Nicholas O'Brien

Visiting Faculty | Gallery Director
Department of Digital Art, Pratt Institute
doubleunderscore.net

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<div dir=3D"ltr"><div class=3D"gmail_extra"><span id=3D"docs-internal-guid-=
91a380b0-0a25-8e6e-fe4f-11e942af3193"><p style=3D"line-height:1.15;margin-t=
op:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font face=3D"Arial"><span style=3D"white-space:p=
re-wrap">Hello empyre:</span></font></p><p style=3D"line-height:1.15;margin=
-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font face=3D"Arial"><span style=3D"white-space=
:pre-wrap"><br></span></font></p><p dir=3D"ltr" style=3D"line-height:1.15;m=
argin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style=3D"font-size:13px;font-family:=
Arial;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Thanks so much to Ashle=
y and the other moderators for inviting me to be a discussant this month. I=
=E2=80=99ve been following the conversation and am definitely excited to co=
ntribute!</span></p><br><p dir=3D"ltr" style=3D"line-height:1.15;margin-top=
:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style=3D"font-size:13px;font-family:Arial;ver=
tical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">As a way of getting started I wa=
nted to pick up on two things that Ashley wrote with regards to the materia=
lity of digital objects:</span></p><br><blockquote style=3D"margin:0px 0px =
0px 0.8ex;border-left-width:1px;border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204);border-l=
eft-style:solid;padding-left:1ex" class=3D"gmail_quote"><span style=3D"font=
-size:13px;font-family:Arial;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">=
<i>From hidden communication between smart devices to the algorithmic compu=
tation of actionable futures, many of the processes inherent to =E2=80=9Cth=
e digital=E2=80=9D are taking place outside of the phenomenal field of huma=
n perception. To this end, not only is the performative =E2=80=9Cstuff=E2=
=80=9D of the digital functionally evasive, but the reiterative and regener=
ative executions that drive its operation also suggest that even when we do=
 =E2=80=9Csee something,=E2=80=9D it is nothing more than an ephemeral appa=
rition=E2=80=A6 </i></span>=C2=A0</blockquote><blockquote style=3D"margin:0=
px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left-width:1px;border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204);b=
order-left-style:solid;padding-left:1ex" class=3D"gmail_quote"><span><i><br=
></i></span><i><span style=3D"font-size:13px;font-family:Arial;vertical-ali=
gn:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">As I mentioned in an earlier post, much o=
f what we refer to when we speak of =E2=80=9Cthe digital=E2=80=9D takes </s=
pan><span style=3D"font-family:Arial;font-size:13px;white-space:pre-wrap;li=
ne-height:1.15">place outside of the field of human perception.</span></i><=
/blockquote></span><span><br><p dir=3D"ltr" style=3D"line-height:1.15;margi=
n-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style=3D"font-size:13px;font-family:Aria=
l;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">This statement makes me thi=
nk about driving in nature. I live in NYC now and don=E2=80=99t really get =
to act on the =E2=80=9CDid you know New York has 10,000 miles (or whatever =
amount) of snowshoe hiking trails?=E2=80=9D as much as I=E2=80=99d like to.=
 That being said, The =E2=80=9Cephemeral apparition,=E2=80=9D - or as I lik=
e to call it, </span><span style=3D"font-size:13px;font-family:Arial;font-s=
tyle:italic;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">experience</span>=
<span style=3D"font-size:13px;font-family:Arial;vertical-align:baseline;whi=
te-space:pre-wrap"> - of the digital reminds me of taking the offramp on th=
e highway to observe a scenic overlook. I grew up in Northern Virginia and =
my family didn=E2=80=99t 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 </span><span style=3D"font-siz=
e:13px;font-family:Arial;font-style:italic;vertical-align:baseline;white-sp=
ace:pre-wrap">Skyline Drive</span><span style=3D"font-size:13px;font-family=
:Arial;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">. We would cruise up a=
nd down the windy road, listening to tapes on the car stereo or playing gue=
ssing games until my brother and I would get tired and fall asleep in the b=
ack seat. From time to time, however, we=E2=80=99d pull over and take a loo=
k out into the Blue Ridge Mountains and rolling hills of the lower Appalach=
ian Trail. </span></p><br><p dir=3D"ltr" style=3D"line-height:1.15;margin-t=
op:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style=3D"font-size:13px;font-family:Arial;v=
ertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">More recently, whenever I make=
 long car trips (in that ever-so-quintessential Americana way), I rarely re=
member the mile marker, or the commemorative plaque, or where I was on my j=
ourney, or even the actual view. What I </span><span style=3D"font-size:13p=
x;font-family:Arial;font-style:italic;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:p=
re-wrap">do</span><span style=3D"font-size:13px;font-family:Arial;vertical-=
align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> remember is that I turned off the roa=
d and interrupted my trip - and that this interruption is often a way of re=
minding myself of my journey through the =E2=80=9Cstuff=E2=80=9D of the roa=
d (or information superhighway if you will).</span></p><br><p dir=3D"ltr" s=
tyle=3D"line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style=3D"f=
ont-size:13px;font-family:Arial;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wra=
p">So, then, what is the objectification of that experience? What is the ma=
tter that consolidates or crystallizes that moment of rupture? It could be =
a photograph, or a video, or a tweet, or a sound recording, or a text to a =
loved one - some digital artifact of remembrance, a keepsake of data. But I=
=E2=80=99d wager that the real </span><span style=3D"font-size:13px;font-fa=
mily:Arial;font-style:italic;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">=
substance</span><span style=3D"font-size:13px;font-family:Arial;vertical-al=
ign:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> of experiencing the ephemeral occurs in=
 the moment of interruption. With a slight nod to Kev Bewersdorf, I=E2=80=
=99d say that the materiality of the digital only happens AFK - removed fro=
m the torrent of being plugged in, reflecting on it only when one has fully=
 stepped away from its monotony. The moment in which one pulls off the road=
, interrupting their electronic activities, is the moment when the digital =
becomes material. It is when the onslaught of digital stuff becomes sublime=
.</span></p><br><p dir=3D"ltr" style=3D"line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;mar=
gin-bottom:0pt"><span style=3D"font-size:13px;font-family:Arial;vertical-al=
ign:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">For me the experience of the sublime is =
the elusive moment of terrified separation from humanity/civilization. In t=
hat moment of (self) recognition away from the digital, I am deeply trouble=
d by what I see in front of me. I see the sublime as a terrible thing, or e=
lse a thing of terror (ala Burke). It is terrifying and horrific to reflect=
 on the digital - and it is in that moment of terror that the digitial beco=
mes =E2=80=9Creal,=E2=80=9D or else it becomes =E2=80=9Cmatter.=E2=80=9D Th=
e =E2=80=9Cterribleness=E2=80=9D - as described by Burke - of that feeling =
transforms the ephemeral into the actual, and in doing so it shapes the dig=
ital into an object.</span></p><br><p dir=3D"ltr" style=3D"line-height:1.15=
;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font face=3D"Arial"><span style=3D"whit=
e-space:pre-wrap">***</span></font></p><br><p dir=3D"ltr" style=3D"line-hei=
ght:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style=3D"font-size:13px;fo=
nt-family:Arial;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Perhaps the t=
error that I see during (self)reflection away from the digital speaks to th=
e dangers that occur within a disappearing submedial space. The invisibilit=
y of surveillance and the political work that goes on within network cultur=
e is often only visible en masse - as is the case with OWS, the Arab Spring=
, and the current Hong Kong protests. The problematic posed by Groys=E2=80=
=99 analysis of 21st century submedial space suggests not only that the pre=
sence of such a space is becoming hard to perceive but also its </span><spa=
n style=3D"font-size:13px;font-family:Arial;font-style:italic;vertical-alig=
n:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">affect</span><span style=3D"font-size:13px=
;font-family:Arial;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> is becomi=
ng harder to </span><span style=3D"font-size:13px;font-family:Arial;font-st=
yle:italic;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">feel</span><span s=
tyle=3D"font-size:13px;font-family:Arial;vertical-align:baseline;white-spac=
e:pre-wrap">. This lack of emotional (or psychological) tactility that occu=
rs from observing these mass-produced (or mass-represented) forms of politi=
cal action from the outside creates a dangerous type of association - one t=
hat is inherently built on distance, absence, and othering.</span></p><br><=
span style=3D"font-size:13px;font-family:Arial;vertical-align:baseline;whit=
e-space:pre-wrap">When affect has been evacuated from social exchange a dif=
ferent type of objectification happens, one that I don=E2=80=99t actually k=
now how to define, but certainly </span><span style=3D"font-size:13px;font-=
family:Arial;font-style:italic;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap=
">feels</span><span style=3D"font-size:13px;font-family:Arial;vertical-alig=
n:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> different. The matter of a digital object=
 is one that is quickly losing its affect, one that gets subsumed into an i=
nfinite scroll. It doesn=E2=80=99t feel like pulling off the road, at least=
. Instead it feels more like a self-driving car. =C2=A0</span></span><br cl=
ear=3D"all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div dir=3D"ltr"><div>Nicholas O&#39;Brie=
n</div><div><br></div><div>Visiting Faculty | Gallery Director</div><div>De=
partment of Digital Art,=C2=A0Pratt Institute</div><a href=3D"http://double=
underscore.net" target=3D"_blank">doubleunderscore.net</a></div>
</div></div>

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