My project is about the interrelationship between people and objects; not the specificity of objects in themselves or the fetishization of the single object/collection of objects (though that is certainly the project's point of departure) but rather the metaphysics of objects...
My project is about the intersubjectivity between people and objects and between objects and other objects... What is an object? This enquiry begins with a usurpation of the traditional Kantian view of what an object is (i.e. a thing which is determined by our perception of it, favouring a human-centric view of reality) and which generally complements materialist definitions of an object as being a fixed, inert thing, a piece of dead matter which is always, ultimately, other to ourselves. My interest in objects is in their existence as networked, infinitely changeable nodes of matter and meaning. Of objects as agents and actors, as capable of social formations and subjectivity as human agents. As such, I am interested in an object-oriented ontology, a position which sees everything (and perhaps, ultimately nothing) as an object...
My project aims to use the examination of the bilateral relationships between humans and
objects to explore a memetic theory of
human evolution* and to question what the
the evolution of objects and technology may indicate about the future of human (cultural and biological) evolution?
How can we be conscious in an unconscious universe?
Are humans created as much by material as social relations?
The
aims of the project are to pursue a critical incision into material
culture (and, in turn, to prepare myself for doctoral research into these areas of human-object relations). The
rationale underpinning this project is interdisciplinarity and the
destabilisation of disciplinary boundaries; it transcends
definitional boundaries of art/science, encompassing aspects of art,
design, archaeology, ethnography, anthropology and technology in
addition to concepts of artificial life, evolution and the philosophy
of consciousness. The engagement with a multiplicity of different
dialogues, discourses and methodological approaches is key...
The question is, what next? How to conduct an enquiry into the infinite interrelatedness of things through both art-making and writing.... Answers on a postcard please...
*i.e.
that objects as manifestations (or residues) of memes and mimetic
operations may be propelling both cultural and genetic evolution in
humans as the manifestation and development of 'tools' correlates to
the expansion of the brain in homo sapiens (Blackmore 75-76).
Essentially, this is an inversion of Pitt Rivers human-centric theory
of cultural and technological evolution.
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