Article:

Zum Erkenntnispotenzial von künstlichen Bildsystemen

The recent developments in the field of neuroscience bear symptoms of a symbolic turn in its diagnostic and methodological logic. The use of semiotic categories, such as representation and signification, for the explication of complex neuronal phenomena, as well as for tracing the biological location of the self, imply a turn in the scientific strategy. Discussions distinguish between various modes of neural mappings signifying the self and uncover a shift in the proceedings of the body mapping language, from stationary locations to more fluent and continuous states of the self. In this process, the visual system operates as an interface and a translating centre between seeing, perceiving, mapping and being. With the example of the recent Mars Explorations and the role of the image processing techniques for building up new cultural locations, this paper discusses the role of the visual perception for tracing our cultural self, the impacts of our self-locating strategies on scientific and technical development, as well as the impacts of technical development on mapping and inventing new qualities of locations.