Curiosities

My PhD exit point came from a pretty simple decision in the end – to focus on the device at the centre of my analogue versus digital concern – the material qualities and operational processes of the Analogue-Digital Converter (ADC) chip – that magical little black-boxed integrated circuit hidden in the typical devices we rely on every day to convert our physical world into the digital.

Via the AD converter, I learnt it’s not a clear-cut play between the analogue and digital but a history of techniques, of wrangling the operations of ‘signal distortion’ – not just a play-off with noise or error in reproduction and meaning-making but the potential in the ‘realisation’ of distortion or what’s ‘not distortion’ as a signification – the trace of discovery, measurement and perpetual navigation of distortion in signals, communication and conceptualisation.  

For me, the theory of cultural techniques focuses on intermediaries and media that potentially connect the production of concepts (or reality) with concrete operations, involving both human and non-human actors. This concept is closely related to Actor Network Theory but emphasises the historical unfolding of media operations with archival and media archaeology motives. Media can be seen as cultural techniques themselves, encompassing sub-processes of a medium such as selecting, storing, layering, mapping, projecting, reproducing, producing, tracing, and writing. By understanding the underlying operations that define a medium or bring it into existence, we can identify and examine the operational processes that underpin it. These processes can emerge from noise, interference, intervention, or interruption of existing techniques of communication or meaning-making.

I’m interested in how we can extract knowledge from practice through ‘the trace,’ of distortion utilising concepts such as immutable ‘circulating reference’ and a cultural techniques approach. For instance, techniques like grids and guides, which are familiar to practicing designers, are also employed in ecology. The quadrat, for example, is used to count plant species and bring life and context to data, ultimately contributing to journal articles and other forms of knowledge communication. These inscription-based technique synergies provide a foundation for collaborative work on the production and communication of knowledge.

The practice of circuit bending, starting from the surface of technical media and expanding to broader cultural constellations through culture jamming, serves as an inspiring format for me. The knowledge embedded in objects and the processes of making, from my perspective, requires ongoing stewardship to amplify the valuable role practice-led research should play in the academy ‘and’ community.

The Surface Tension project was not intended to replace scientific mapping or compete with new modelling developments. Instead, it offered an alternative method to invigorate discussions about coastal environments within a gallery context. It serves as a reminder of our position within a much larger system—our interactions with the natural environment, our attempts to control it, and how we represent it.

I’m concerned about the impact and applied nature of this kind of speculative work as research, or how to amplify its recognition as research, with impact beyond the gallery. I’m not necessarily keen to re-enter the gallery scene – a legitimate media art gallery project is a lot of work to take on solo – especially when you add the need for work to be written up for improved research points.  That said, The bigger picture of knowledge exchange and rethinking and re-engaging the communication of environmentally-focused matters of concern is indispensable. I’m keen to develop interventions for problematic topics and areas of communication based on the combinations of operational chains that underpin them.

But I don’t think we are going to be able to write or design our way out of the big problems siloed as individuals or fields. The idea of media archaeology and cultural techniques, allows for contributions of knowledge, via media, their histories and use, but asks for too much of one individual’s practice –  to tap into multiple archives and communication platforms that expand at the rate of Twitter hashtags – to seek patterns across the operational chains of disparate media ecologies – from cognition to technology, art and science,  and society and culture – I think we need to have a good collective yarn not pump out another journal article.