On Blood, Body, and Binary
As a function of innovation, technological progress exists to an exponential degree on the impact of the body, and the human condition that functions within the sphere of technological influence. Not unlike the developed increments of evolution, technology breaks the requirements of time, in order to produce impactful shifts in our existence by cultural requirements. Thus, from its inception there exists a component of bias from the developer of technology. The body is not of the sum of its genetic components in the age of the cyborg, but rather the relationship to its sphere of technological influence, and the ability to adapt as the sphere changes shape and purpose. In parallel to this, are the cultural components that push the influence of technological innovation, through necessity or assimilation of the culture of technology. While the function of the body can only speak for some of the influence of technology and its presence in art, the broader implications of our interactions of art and technology can be seen through the influences on the function of the body. To describe ourselves as human in the age of the cyborg, is to ignore the omnipresence of influence in the transition from the will of blood to the will of the electron. Through this development, the role of universals becomes increasingly irrelevant, in the interpretations of the new uniform force of influence that is technological innovation.
In the adaptation to technology, comes the deconstruction of the universals that technology is trying to improve upon, and ironically sets into motion the breakdown of those ideals that technology was attempting to solve. One cannot ignore the shift in function from human labor to that of the machine, and in the process, solves the needs of production by eliminating the workforce that takes part in the consumption of its own productions. Eliminating the human element, is the first transitional state to that of the cyborg. We no longer consume the products of humanity, but the simulacra of humanity through the machines of production. Even though the technology may exist for the serving of humanity, it ultimately is biased to those who function within the context of the intentions of the technology that is being used. This has seen some recognition in the sphere of art, and in particular the artists who bring into question the functions of technology. As often as technology is marketed as the solving of societal struggles, there remain the speculative and those critical to the universal ideal that all technology serves the greater good of humanity.
One such is an artist is Stelarc, who explores the capabilities of the body as an evolutionary architecture that can be continuously improved upon through technology. This is done through performance, where Stelarc incorporates mechanical bionic components to his human form, and showcasing the improvements that the technology would have over the human form. His most ambitious project to date, involves creating a bionic ear on his arm, which combines the use of biological and electronic components to function as an internet connected listening device. With this bionic ear, sounds can be listened to on the internet, and others can speak to Stelarc through a receiver implanted in his mouth. The work brings into question the limitations that exist within the connection between the human form and technology, and how the continuation of technological progress will be eventually incorporating our everyday devices into our own bodies. Along with this concept, is the topic of the body being an increasingly neutral conduit for technology, and the unimportance of present day identitiesā such as that of gender or raceā have on the ability to improve the human form.
With the discussion of the body and technology, one cannot forget about the role that gender has played throughout the history of the advances in technology, and how they are still of a concerning matter in our age of increasing connectivity in the digital and biological. Gender has often been seen as a defining line in the role of technology, consistent in how the dominance of male influence is present in the innovations of technology, as well as in the fantastique directions that technology can go. Often women are considered out of their defined gender role of the time the technology is created in, and in that process, comes the definition of technology as a predictor to the gender policies that it is created under. Just as the progression in technology has brought the emergence of artificial intelligence, so too is it continuing to equalize the gender biases that have long plagued society. With the breakdown of the binary between the body and the machine, comes the dissolving of other traditional binaries that have been increasingly self-evident. That of gender being a concrete binary is becoming increasingly rejected, along with the binary that gender has to be assigned to a particular societal role. These trends are largely due to the continuation of innovation in technology, which has brought access to the insight of those who may have long been in the marginalized minority. With technology, the many minorities of culture have an electronic voice, giving the chance to attain a sense of agency in the modern era.
As Donna Harraway discusses in the influential essay A Cyborg Manifesto, with the advent of continued developments in the technology of humans, the need for establishing traditional identities such as gender and political viewpoints is progressively becoming inadequate for cultural progress. Instead of taking the identity of a gender, or describing oneself as a feminist, Harraway argues that the more effective approach is through the continued deconstruction of the natural and artificial, and the individual ability to construct collectives by their own volition. Using traditionally determined means of identity of the self will not provide the same effect, as the ability to define oneself without incorporating a set of identities. Instead, Harraway suggests an active mixture of these identities, through use of the cyborg, in order to address feminism in a manner that avoids the typical tactics featured in identity politics. Notably, Harraway speaks of the shift in modern to postmodern identity, where the functions of capitalism will transition to the āinfomatics of domination.ā Ā Technologies that have come to fruition since her essay, have brought to light many of these questions with how even the individual being is no longer of much relative importance, relative to the collective environment (real of virtual) that a group is in. With the advent of the Internet, social media, and other forms of means to assemble in an environment, the need to address an identity in assembly doesnāt change the function of a particular user. Rather, identity on these networks, works to direct where the user will find a certain collective that has shared views and interests. No longer are there the physical barriers that separate the environment of a collective interest, as is the disappearance in gender with an internet connected device.
However, the trends of determined biases are still very much prevalent, despite these changes in the access that technology has brought. In many regards, these changes make the chance of access itself more of a binary, as digitization has brought increased capabilities of control into what the mind and body receive. Not only does this bring control, but also quantifying measure that in itself is of increasingly tangible value. Data, ever present in even the most minute and inert of forms, can provide a denomination of some kind to any digitally functional institution. Beyond the means of any kind of government controlled entity, data is the binary of what is and is not of value, within the context of what the purpose of the data is used for. Social media platforms provide an easy means to acquire this valuable currency, which can provide insight into many different forms of products, actions, research, and experiences. Just as in the form of capital, data is an entity that is governed by the belief of value, rather than any physically tangible form. Gender itself is not a part of this, however the knowledge of understanding this encompassing role of data is unevenly skewed towards the dominance of the patriarchy.Ā Ā
I make an emphasis on this, as I feel that this is relational to the functions of the body, in particularly in the cybernetic understanding of what is related to as value. Just as we are in the transitional period of the physical and digital with the body, so too is our means of establishing our cultural understanding of what constitutes as value. The concept of having value and not having value, is another functional binary that is being resolved, due to the increasing prevalence of data, and the modalities of value that it provides. Simply applying value as a monetary of a given country, is akin to the defined functions of a particular gender, which will only continue the conflicts of determined classes, based on the one who controls the flow of value. By opening what the definition of value is, through the forms of digital currencies and data itself, there will exist an increased network of different definitions to have the concept of value appliedā diversity of value in the digital ecosystem, reflective of the diversity of people in this matrix of machine and being.
The same can be applied to the functions of social media, in which we experience the user base in function of human interaction. Being related to what people experience, social media acts as a simulation of social interaction, and in some cases, being the replacement of interaction in general. But like that of the flow of information, social networks are not human interaction, but the simulation of interaction. While there may be another human on the other side of a conversation, it is inferred that the representation is the real person. But, there is no other person on the other side, just the representation of that person on a device. The representation through the mannerisms of text, or the cameraās interpretation of the person. What also is somewhat troubling, is that while these systems are presented as being free to use, the free does not mean freedom in any sense agency among the user. There is the agreement that the user will be a provider of data, which is the ultimate form of currency in the cyborg age. Data doesnāt change its value over time, nor does it have to be backed on any governing body. Data simply exists as a function of itself, and in doing so is isolated from any issues within the function of supply and demand. There will always be a demand for data, and it can be applied regardless of the context that it was collected in. The general user remains without knowledge of the fact that they are a perpetuating data mine, and provide all of the necessary demands to generate wealth. In this case, the end user is also the driver of what generates the wealth that the social network needs, even though by most instances the user has no say into the direction that the social network will operate. This trend not only manifests in the world of the social network, but also in the everyday use of the internet. We generate wealth without out knowledge, to benefit those that control the means to what we see, what we say, and how we relate to one another. Technology influences this perpetual state of humanity, for we cannot give the collective sense that we can be more than perpetual data mines for the benefit of profit.
Marshall McLuhan spoke of the influence of media and the complete pervasiveness it has on social and cultural changes, so much so that ultimately āit is the medium is the messageā. The interconnections of these medias, is in part why there is no longer much emphasis in the categorization of these different formats, but the collective term of content. Content, more appropriately, can be recognized as another form of dataā a particular container for which information is stored, interpreted, and consumed. In our collective creation of content, each step can be measured, quantified, interpreted, analyzed, and distributed over digital processes. The core of all of these actions is through the variations of binary languages, and the machine-human symbiosis in programming. This can be argued as Harrawayās āironic dream of a common languageā, as it is through the iterations of this language that not only define what content is, but how it functions, and the environment in which it functions. If data is the flow of information, the conduit is the programming language. As though one can construct the flow of water in a building, programming is what ultimately determines the perceived binaries that reach us.
These implications of the binary languages, are reflective of the continued present issues with the role of gender, the body, women, and perspective in the making of the contemporary digital collectives. Identity in itself may not change the function of a connected device, however it may change the behavior of the perceived audience, and make measurable changes in the way that other collectives will interpret what identity is being perceived. Additionally, the identity perceived in a digital collective is permissive to the provider of the service, be that a social network, a larger social collective, or even the provider of the ability to connect to the digital ecosystem. In essence, the ability to establish agency in a digital system, is by doing so with the understanding that it ultimately is the will of what controls the system that will determine the existence, and the context of that existence in a digital ecosystem. How one identifies their digital self, is within the parameters that have been setup by the system it exists within. In order to express a true sense of agency, without the established rules of a digital system, the ability to interpret and change the languages of the binary are required.
Programming languages exist on the control of a universal binary language, yet they function as genderless in themselves. With this, it seems inevitable that with the continued adoption of the digital technologies in the collective discourse, the binaries of cultural prejudices will be eradicated via the universal acceptance of programming languages, as the means of symbiosis between natural and artificial. This relationship in using the language of the computer, affects the relationship of how not just the mind processes information, but also how the body is affected in the consumption of information. Code helps to determine the content, the way in it is presented, and our physical interaction of the information we are collecting. All of the components, from the interpretation to the consumption, exist in the same building material. In the present period, we interact within the digital ecosystem with physical devices, to register the burden of transposing the physical to the digital. The transition of this present necessity, to a more complete infusion of the physical and digital self, will be the next step in the collective understanding of the identity of the body, and the identity of gender. In order to take an active role in the direction of this transition, the established skills of being able to act through a digital literacy, will define what is the exponential importance of digital agency.
Implementing this idea, is the collective movement of contemporary artists, who use technology to address the challenging topics of this digital agency, through the use of software, hardware, and the deconstruction of both. Known as āglitch artā, this type of work is critical of the relationships on digital technology, the digital ecosystem, and the administrative powers that are presently in place. These artists apply a technical skill set that would be often seen in electrical engineers, computer science professionals, or software developers, combined with a social awareness that is often found when participating in exploring expressional forms in a medium. Another term that is also used, is describing this form as new media, due to the prevalence in using combinations of physical and intangible mediums to explore the social condition of the digital ecosystem. One artist that works to both create and educate others in these forms, is Nick Briz. Known for his contributions in the theoretical and practice of glitch art, Briz encourages fellow creatives to establish their digital agency, through the practice of making glitch art. The key principle in this practice, is to simply take software, hardware, or a combination of the two, and use it in a manner in which it wasnāt designed for. Through this process, one can explore the reasoning to how a particular entity was designed, and explore the political implications with why it was designed in a certain manner. Understanding that technology has an inherent bias in its own design, by exploring the manner in which glitches are created, these biases can be identified, and exploited to emphasize the importance of digital agency.
In addressing these issues of digital literacy, and the greater digital rights of users, we arrive at the conditions that are the same for those that struggle to find agency and validation in the physical sense. Digital agency is a feminist issue, and digital literacy is the action that must be taken in understanding the discourse of the issue pertaining to the integration of the digital and the physical. We presently exist where the physical and the digital are separate, but equally functional components in contemporary society. These both are continuing to be more seamlessly integrated, and the passive acceptance of the integration of technology, with the understanding that technology is inherently biased towards a specific intention, is reason enough to be concerned in the approaches to how this is a conditional relationship. The condition is the user, both physical and digital, is both the subject and the producer of data, which is used as the means of continuing to skew the balance of power in the favor of those that influence the digital ecosystem. While the user exists in the physical world, interacting in the digital ecosystem, the continued blurring of these elements works in favor to those that determine the manner in which users interact with, connect with, share, and create content with. Without the understanding of importance of digital literacy amongst our relationship between the physical and digital forms, we risk entrapping ourselves in the manner of how we take part in the digital ecosystem. Digitally speaking, we exist within the construction of forms that are rarely questioned, understood, and oblivious to the implied designs of what we exist in. More troublesome, is the language in which these forms are constructed in are inherently biased, purposely invisible, and often legally protected from any modification, through user end license agreements, and ownership by not the author(s), but the agency that sponsored their intellectual productions.
The body continues to be a highly adaptable, continuously developing aspect of humanity that will unconditionally find a way to incorporate technology into the paradigm of civilization. Art as a function of technology, is the understanding and problem solver of the problems that plague the body and technology in parallel. Collectively as a species, we function as the machines of evolution, and through our continued volition of accepting the integration of technology, we can only continue to progress in the manner that one would upgrade from an antiquated machine to a newer one. What will determine the usability of the self, in the physical and digital sense, ultimately comes down to the awareness of oneās digital agency, and the requirements to be digitally literate in the digital ecosystem. To understand the machine, is to be self-aware of where the body and mind is incorporated into the digital sphere of influence, and understand the components that make the digital ecosystem what it is. Art can help with this understanding, especially in the explorative deconstruction that brings into question the established biases from those that control the flow and distribution of information. In all likelihood, it will function as the last means of any sense of agency at all, in the integration of blood, body, and binary forms.
