- Home
- A-Z Publications
- Technoetic Arts
- Previous Issues
- Volume 14, Issue 1, 2016
Technoetic Arts - Volume 14, Issue 1-2, 2016
Volume 14, Issue 1-2, 2016
-
-
An introduction to complexism
More LessAbstractInterdisciplinary studies that would create deep connections between science and the arts and humanities face the daunting task of bridging two diametrically opposed worldviews. The clash of the modernist Enlightenment values of science with the postmodern sceptical values of the humanities came to a dramatic height with the Sokal Hoax and so called ‘science wars’ of the 1990s. There is now an uneasy ceasefire, but the fundamental contradictions persist between the two cultures. Complexism is an attempt to create a new synthesis suggested by the attitudes and worldview that arises from the scientific study of complex systems. An overview of key concepts from complexity science is offered. Complexism is then presented as a point-by-point analysis reconciling the diametrically opposed positions of modernity in the sciences and postmodernity in the humanities despite their apparently incommensurate paradigms. The special role of networks, and a corresponding process-oriented ontology, is proposed as an alternative to the flawed network theories current in the humanities. Finally two examples of how complexism can be applied are detailed. A complexist theory of authorship is offered, as is a new view of formalism in the arts.
-
-
-
On complexism
More LessAbstractThis article responds to Philip Galanter’s essay ‘Complexism and the role of evolutionary art’ to explore complexism in relation to postmodern and generative architecture. Galanter poses complexism as a new theoretical mode that can supercede the divides of modernism/postmodernism and the two cultures (sciences/arts and humanities). The author, rather than promoting complexism, examines it as if from afar, positioning it as our most recent scientifically informed paradigm. She asserts that, in many ways, complexism functions as an ideology permeating realms of cultural and intellectual production. Examples range from contemporary advertising to economic theory, political and economic protests such as the Occupy Movement, to the rhetorical and computational strategies in generative architecture. The author demonstrates that postmodernism in architecture was always theoretically tied to complex systems theory. Further, she connects the vagaries of application and extrapolation of complexity theory, across realms of current-day cultural production, to the definitional vagueness of some of complexism’s key terms (system, selforganization, emergence). Finally, she argues that two collateral effects of complexism are: (1) the promotion of dependence on environmentally damaging computational devices and (2) the socio-economic and environmental expulsions occurring in the global economy, as recently argued by sociologist Saskia Sassen.
-
-
-
Learning from embryology: Locating critical thinking in bioart via complexism
More LessAbstractThis article is about the power of critical thinking through embryos and embryology in bioart. In this instance, critical thinking does not promise revolution or a takedown of bioengineering, but basic empowerment through scientific knowledge. I argue that the use of embryos in Jill Scott’s Somabook (2011) and Adam Zaretsky’s DIY Embryology (2015) constitutes an instance of what Philip Galanter identifies as complexism. In turn, the complexism of embryology reveals two modes of critical thinking. First, embryology distils the awe and wonder that come with basic scientific literacy. In turn, scientific literacy provides agency for individuals through a trifecta of feeling, belief and pragmatism: based on the frisson of curiosity and wonder that comes with recognizing biological complexity, it frees individuals from the bounds of superstition and metaphysics while building a path to fact-based problem solving. Second, as works of art bearing embryos they are part of the politics and history of embryology that emerged in contrast to genetics almost a century ago. Distinct from the coding of genetics as nucleus-centric, separate, homogeneous, a matter of being, and male, embryology was coded as cytoplasmic, interactive, heterogeneous, a matter of becoming, and feminist.
-
-
-
On complexism: Pulsion and computation
By Yvan TinaAbstractThis article discusses a concept introduced by art theorist Philip Galanter in several publications over the past decade: complexism is a notion that looks at both past and future while aiming to reconcile (post) modern aesthetics with the cybernetic and biological paradigms. This article focuses on the re-evaluation of the performance arts within the framework of this theory, favouring the idea that every artwork necessarily resists attempts of subordination through language and scientific discourses. By referring to the dispositive, a notion that considers complexism as a conceptual matrix, the author argues that it can be described in terms of pulsion and computation.
-
-
-
Vulnerability, brutality, hope: Complexism and the 56th Venice Biennale
More LessAbstractExploring an aesthetics of complexity relevant to contemporary art, the artist/author discusses the 56th Venice Biennale, curated by Okwui Enwezor, in light of Philip Galanter’s essay ‘Complexism and the role of evolutionary art’. Artworks by Steve McQueen, Isaac Julien, Mika Rottenberg, Hito Steyerl, Im Heung-Soon, Katrīna Neiburga and Andris Eglītis are related to concepts of emergence, chaos, feedback, generative process, and networks, and writings by philosopher Manuel Delanda, sociologist Saskia Sassen and physicist James P. Crutchfield. As one of the most influential international exhibitions of contemporary art, the Venice Biennale is considered a bellwether of future trends; this edition called ‘All the World’s Futures’ presents artwork in context with a dissolving binary paradigm of communism/capitalism that fails to adequately address labour, environmental and immigration issues. The author concludes that an approach informed by complexity theory holds more promise, aesthetically and politically.
-
-
-
Synthesizing fields: Art, complexism and the space beyond now
More LessAbstractThe attributes that characterize the compelling world-view of Philip Galanter’s Complexism constitute a rich array that spans complexity theory, biological systems, cybernetics, computation and the phenomenology of affect. An ever-growing movement of transdisciplinary artists who engage and synthesize the unique combination of fields, theories and practices associated with Complexism suggests that this model – particularly its embrace of complexity theory – holds promise in the problem space of art and science. This article examines three contemporary artists and their collaborative teams, each of whose work embodies a unique attitude and synthesizing model that expresses the ethos of Complexism. Their work arguably contributes to a higher synthesis of modernism and postmodernism and the coalescence of art and science through the progression of ideas that emerge from this union in direct correspondence to the larger culture. Furthermore, they do so through the embrace of evolutionary and generative processes, connectionist networks, and participatory practices that engender new discourse about contemporary life, moving us beyond the space of postmodernity.
-
-
-
The capsule as cyborg bioarchitecture
More LessAbstractIn 1969, Kisho Kurokawa stated that the ‘capsule is cyborg architecture’. The capsule is the ultimate form of the prefabricated building. As such it has emancipated itself from the land to become the immediate extension of the moving self, similar to cars or the Japanese kago. In Japanese Metabolism, an architecture movement of the 1960s and 1970s, the capsule is a small, repeatable building unit rooted in historical elements, such as the teahouse. The capsule is also a tool – a machine for living – that is modular and part of a system offering simplicity and complexity. The capsule signifies individuality within a diverse society, including standardization, functionality, technology and smallness in scale. This article re-examines the potential of the capsule in contemporary bioarchitecture, in living systems and in evolving environments. Through Philip Galanter’s theory of ‘complexism’, the article connects the capsule to modular(ity), embodiment, protective vulnerability, voyeurism, unpredictability, complexity, immateriality and ephemerality. I propose that the capsule instantiates a cyborg bioarchitecture.
-
-
-
Art as a meta-discipline: Ethically exploring the frontiers of science and biotechnology
More LessAbstractArtists have always been known for pushing boundaries, or even refusing to accept that those boundaries exist in the first place. Contemporary academic structures and disciplinary boundaries evolved out of enlightenment thinking but were born as much from university administration systems, finance departments and evaluation systems that have no place in genuine knowledge creation or in our understanding of the world. Biology has inspired artists for centuries, but it is only in the last few decades that a new bioart movement has emerged and artists have actively begun to collaborate with scientists to create works that use human and animal tissues, bacteria and living organisms as materials. In order to progress this important emerging field, we need to develop new frameworks that can help artists, cultural institutions, scientists and science institutions engage with and understand the various issues at play when making and exhibiting such work. The aim is to ultimately open up new avenues for participation and engagement from all elements of society.
-
-
-
Soft matter: Responsive architectural operations
More LessAbstractSoft systems attempt to account for non-linear processes whose complexity derives from shifting interrelationships between elements. The move towards soft systems, whose stability is rooted in dynamism, represents a significant shift across disciplines with important implications for the way we approach architectural environments and materials. This article investigates the effects of physical and operational softness on the experience of architectural space through the lens of a recent installation using mycelium biocomposites, an emergent soft material. This contemporary exploration of architectural softness builds in new and technically sophisticated ways on earlier experiments in architectural softness that explored the promise of creating responsive and flexible architectures.
-
-
-
Ten archetypes of nature in design
More LessAbstractWhat we mean when we use the word ‘nature’ critically affects design culture. Since nature has many different interpretations, the following lexicon is not intended to be an exhaustive exploration of the word’s etymology or usage by designers. Instead, I offer ten archetypical perspectives of nature that can help designers and non-designers alike clarify the different, sometimes overlapping, sometimes conflicting ways in which we understand the fundamental relationships between humans and our environment.
-
Volumes & issues
-
Volume 21 (2023)
-
Volume 20 (2022)
-
Volume 19 (2021)
-
Volume 18 (2020)
-
Volume 17 (2019)
-
Volume 16 (2018)
-
Volume 15 (2017)
-
Volume 14 (2016)
-
Volume 13 (2015)
-
Volume 12 (2014)
-
Volume 11 (2013)
-
Volume 10 (2012)
-
Volume 9 (2011 - 2012)
-
Volume 8 (2010 - 2011)
-
Volume 7 (2009)
-
Volume 6 (2008 - 2009)
-
Volume 5 (2007)
-
Volume 4 (2006)
-
Volume 3 (2005)
-
Volume 2 (2004)
-
Volume 1 (2003)