#michael heim

[perkwunos]

Michael Heim, The Computer as Component: Heidegger and McLuhan

[thepiledbody-blog]

In an Attempt to Reconnect

The anxieties which come in partnership with the ever-evolving technology of the west leaves one simultaneously viewing technology as our bodily extensions (as stated by Marshall McLuhan in “Understanding Media”) and also associated with a fear of losing “physical closeness and mutual interdependence” in relation to mechanical advancements (as expressed by Michael Heim in “The Cyberspace Dialectic”). As we continue to pursue paths of technological advancements which supposedly free us from some of the headaches and mundane tasks that we’d rather leave to emotionless machines – we are left to reconcile what this shift means for the average Joe. As easy as it might be to turn on your phone and flip through various screens which communicate an assortment of messages, what all is at stake when we rely on a hand-held device for information rather than our partner/spouse/friend/neighbor? What are the long-term repercussions for becoming even more stagnant and basking in the simplicity of having fast food, gifts, books, movies, groceries, etc. brought directly to your door. Even in the delivery of these things, one isn’t guaranteed a social encounter. While we continue to push and pursue the evolution of technology which is geared toward making life easier, there is something to be said for the daily challenges and problem-solving experiences that we designate as important for Kindergarteners but not for 20-somethings.

What I find the most thought-provoking in the whirlwind of bombarding technology is to distance oneself and pursue a life which is more connected with the world around you rather than the world of information (reliable or not) at your fingertips. As I pursue projects which are multi-modal in application, I am assigning more and more importance on the tangible, bodily experiences in relationship to technology rather than in contention with it. I think that this approach is one which will lead to a compromise which will reinstate a state of connectedness with our neighbors and peers – a connectedness which Heim states we fear to lose yet rarely act on in an attempt to regain.

  For more on Heim and conversations around new media, see Peter Lunenfeld’s “The Digital Dialectic: New Essays on New Media”

[princeling]

We must design technology back into the essence of art. In that way, technology can recover its own meaning. Art and technology: two sides of the same cultural process. The joystick in the mirror.

Michael Heim, The Design of Virtual Reality: chapter in Cyberspace / Cyberbodies / Cyberpunk