Article:
(Dis)orientation in net art: Disrupting the feedback loop of cybernetic subjectivities

Author(s): Băcăran, Mihai

Abstract

This paper examines instances of (dis)orientation instantiated by net art works which challenge, deconstruct, and remodel our embodied relationship with digital maps. I argue that such (dis)orientation can be framed as a tactical media practice that disrupts the feedback loop of cybernetic subjectivities by: 1. bringing into focus aspects of lived experience that do not fit the ‘truth’ of the cartographic representation, and at the same time underlining the ways in which representations participate in the (de)construction of lived experience; 2. challenging the attention economy and opening attention towards otherness and towards the intertwined shifting realities (grounds) of contemporary cultures; 3. questioning the imperative of usefulness inherent in mainstream applications of digital mapping. The paper contends that such (dis)orienting gestures can be understood as a practice of care towards radical otherness.

Download icon

Published in:

Preferred Citation
BibTex
Băcăran, Mihai: (Dis)orientation in net art: Disrupting the feedback loop of cybernetic subjectivities. In: NECSUS_European Journal of Media Studies, Jg. 12 (2023), Nr. 2, S. 84-102. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.25969/mediarep/21708.
@ARTICLE{Băcăran2023,
 author = {Băcăran, Mihai},
 title = {(Dis)orientation in net art: Disrupting the feedback loop of cybernetic subjectivities},
 year = 2023,
 doi = "\url{http://dx.doi.org/10.25969/mediarep/21708}",
 volume = 12,
 address = {Marburg},
 journal = {NECSUS_European Journal of Media Studies},
 number = 2,
 pages = {84--102},
}
Keywords
license icon

As long as there is no further specification, the item is under the following license: Creative Commons - Namensnennung - Nicht kommerziell - Keine Bearbeitungen