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I, Apparatus, You

A Technosocial Introduction to Creative Practice

RMIT University, Australia

In 2001, Florian Cramer wondered whether ‘the theoretical debate of literature in digital networks has shifted... from perceiving computer data as an extension and transgression of textuality (as manifest in such notions as ‘hypertext’, ‘hyperfiction’, ‘hyper-/multimedia’) towards paying attention to the very codedness–that is, textuality–of digital systems themselves' (Cramer, 2001). I want to extend this focus on the codedness of computer-based textuality into a technosocial ‘phenomenology’ of the text-as-apparatus. These texts cannot be understood separately from the apparatus that displays and performs them. ‘Trilogical’ relationships exist between humans and apparatuses that are revealed during the performance of the text-as-apparatus.

The trilogue acknowledges the apparatus as an entity that, while lacking consciousness, possesses a pseudo-agency with ramifications for the interpretations of such texts. The result is new types of creative relationships, in which different concepts of language compete, and hopefully combine, to create new types of meaning.

Key Words: apparatus • dialogue • interpretation • phenomenology • programming • technosocial • text-as-apparatus • trilogue • uncanny

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This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Weight, J. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                   What's this?