[-empyre-] Week 1: Katie Shilton and Henry Warwick

[Murat Nemet-Nejat]

Hi Patrick,

"
That being said, I would to hear more during the discussion about the
problems of 'compulsion' -- and what term might work better but still
acknowledge the social constructions of immersion in human-computer
exchange. "

I think what is important is not to change the word "compulsion" (or
"addiction" for that matter) with another word; but rather to alter the
negative associations of the word, transforming them into positive ones. In
other words, one may practice a double, an active embrace of the word,
owning the word. Such a transformation occurred in the word "queer" for
example. A word used derisively in the past became a militant mode of
self-identification, rather than the more "polite," gentler, milder words,
such as "homosexual" or "gay."

In the Derrida passage you quoted, one can see that Derrida's language
still retains the negative associations of the word: "I am interested in a
exorbitant form of desire, which Derrida links to the *perverse,
unreasonable, and queer.*" Derrida may not have intended it this way
consciously and may deny it; but here we are, trapped by language/syntax
itself, its secret associations: perverse equals unreasonable equals
queer...

Martin Luther King said just before being killed that to be truly equal one
must not eliminate the color black but transform the associations stuck to
black in the west (the "white" world). That's the hardest fight of all.

What I am implying is that approaching "compulsion" as a total asset (not
only an ironic one) one can arrive at interesting places. Didn't something
like this happen to a degree around "boredom" a few months ago?

Ciao,
Murat

On Sat, Oct 3, 2015 at 6:15 PM, Patrick Keilty <p.keilty at utoronto.ca> wrote:

> ----------empyre- soft-skinned space----------------------
> I just wanted to make a brief note about "compulsion" -- since I am sure
> many of you wonder why I have chosen that word over something less
> ideological. I've chosen the word "compulsion" because I am interested in
> a exorbitant form of desire, which Derrida links to the perverse,
> unreasonable, and queer. I've read numerous historical and cultural
> critiques of "addiction" and "compulsion" (I've opted not to use
> "addiction" for a variety of reasons), but I want to move past simply
> exposing social constructs or a critique of the discourses of exorbitant
> desires. (Susan Zieger, Helen Keane, Brenda Cossman, Janice Irvine, Jeffrey
> Falla, and many other scholars have already mounted insightful and
> effective arguments in this regard). Instead, I'd like to take seriously a
> notion of exorbitant desire that is patient with its moods and
> temporalities, its pleasures as well as its negative affects (frustration,
> shame, for example), rather than moving too quickly to put them to good
> use, dwelling with compulsion, rather than transforming it into something
> acceptable, something normal.
>
> That being said, I would to hear more during the discussion about the
> problems of "compulsion" -- and what term might work better but still
> acknowledge the social constructions of immersion in human-computer
> exchange.
>
>
> Patrick Keilty
> Assistant Professor
> Faculty of Information
> Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies
> University of Toronto
> http://www.patrickkeilty.com/
>
> On Sat, Oct 3, 2015 at 6:10 PM, Patrick Keilty <p.keilty at utoronto.ca>
> wrote:
>
>> Following up on my previous post, I am pleased to introduce Katie Shilton
>> (US) and Henry Warwick (CA/US) as the guest discussants for our first week.
>>
>>
>> Katie Shilton is an assistant professor in the College of Information
>> Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park. Her research explores
>> ethics and policy for the design of information collections, systems and
>> technologies. Current research projects include an investigation of ethics
>> in mobile application development; a project focused on the values and
>> policy implications of Named Data Networking, a new approach to Internet
>> architecture; surveys of consumer privacy expectations in the mobile data
>> ecosystem; and investigating researchers’ ethical beliefs and practices
>> when using online open data sets. Her work has been supported by a Google
>> Faculty Award and several awards from the U.S. National Science Foundation,
>> including an NSF CAREER award. Katie received a B.A. from Oberlin College,
>> a Master of Library and Information Science from UCLA, and a Ph.D. in
>> Information Studies from UCLA.
>>
>> Henry Warwick is an artist, composer, writer, and assistant professor in
>> the RTA School of Media at Ryerson University in Toronto, and research
>> fellow at the Infoscape Lab at Ryerson. He has an MFA from Goddard College
>> in Interdisciplinary Art, and a PhD in Communications from the European
>> Graduate School. To keep himself sane, he composes electronic music and
>> DJ’s an eclectic radio show.
>>
>>
>> Patrick Keilty
>> Assistant Professor
>> Faculty of Information
>> Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies
>> University of Toronto
>> http://www.patrickkeilty.com/
>>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> empyre forum
> empyre at lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au
> http://empyre.library.cornell.edu
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au/pipermail/empyre/attachments/20151004/d3f76e62/attachment.html>