[-empyre-] Machine Dreams

[Margaret J Rhee]

Dear Mark,

I am also so excited for this week's discussion, and gathering again 
together! I will send a "formal announcement" shortly to introduce this 
exciting week.

The Machine Dreams gathering was incredibly special, in part because of 
your guidance, and mentorship to the space! It was a gathering of really 
inspiring scholars and artists, and created such a generative space of 
engagement. I am so glad the space was also special to you, and others, 
especially because it was made so special by way of your contributions, 
guidance, and others who joined us there.

I am struck by your moving words,

"Why are we so drawn to the machines of our machine dreams, as people, 
as artists, as dreamers? I'm starting to think that it is not their 
inability to be completely human but instead their ability to fully 
embody one part of the human attributes without manifesting the full 
meat sack of messy, squishy embodied being. In other words, they allow 
us to imagine intensely our humanity in part."

I want to stay with your words above, because perhaps that is what 
characterizes the gathering, and what I am curious about as well. "Why 
are we so drawn to the machine of our machine dreams," and how robots 
and machines "allow us to imagine intensely our humanity in part."

machine dreams, and the ties forged and soldered through. more soon.

warmly,

Margaret

On 2017-05-22 08:45, Mark Marino wrote:
> ----------empyre- soft-skinned space----------------------
> Hi, Machine Dreamers,
> 
> I'm so excited for this week's discussion.  Our Machine Dreams
> encounter was one I will not forget.  For those of you who missed it,
> you can watch a somewhat pixelated version here.
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFYFaWrqZik
> 
> As I read over our publication from Machine Dreams, flip through the
> pages of Radio heart, or think about our time together, I'm struck by
> the shear humanity of the whirls with robots.  Or rather, I'm struck
> by the parts of humanity that emerge from the whirls.
> 
> Why are we so drawn to the machines of our machine dreams, as people,
> as artists, as dreamers? I'm starting to think that it is not their
> inability to be completely human but instead their ability to fully
> embody one part of the human attributes without manifesting the full
> meat sack of messy, squishy embodied being. In other words, they allow
> us to imagine intensely our humanity in part.   Not metonymic but in
> isolation.
> 
> An emotion.  A logical flow.  A sense of consideration without
> empathy. Knowledge without understanding.
> 
> But our intense encounter with even that part of humanity -- that part
> of humanity isolated from the whole -- is transformative.
> 
> "I still hear you radio heart beating
> Inside the meat of mine."
> 
> And of course, no doubt this partiality is part and parcel of our
> experience of one another.
> 
> That is my first thought.  Looking forward to our conversation.
> 
> Best,
> Mark Marino
> _______________________________________________
> empyre forum
> empyre at lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au
> http://empyre.library.cornell.edu

-- 
Margaret Rhee, Ph.D.

Visiting Assistant Professor
Women's and Gender Studies
University of Oregon