yes both military technologies and computer game technologies
are driving much development related to cyborgs, the more interesting
work of course being in the serious games area
i get uncomfortable with the political generalisations - how are artists
contributing to 'the basic human condition' by creating other ways of
imagining /perceiving/feeling using technological
apendages/extensions/hybridities ?
i agree that the motivation that drives technologies=such as military
ones= determines
the direction that the technological development takes, but at the same time i
am enough of an optimist to feel that artists through their work can
create recontextualisations
that then determine the cultural appropriations
sundar sarukkai in his on line text on science and the ethics of
curiosity quotes an
eastern proverb that fits" "the nature of the task of the "ought' is
the other-directedness of the "is"
artists projects are so grounded in the 'is' of being' that they i
think can redirect technologies
in ways that are life enhancing
so again yasminers=it would be great to have more examples artists who are
creating work relevant to the cyborg issue in its cultural context.
Joseph Ingoldsby directed us to
http://web.mit.edu/museum/exhibitions/robots.html
Robots and Beyond:
Exploring Artificial Intelligence at MIT
where we see examples of artificial intelligence work
with robots
one of the interesting areas it mentions is underwater robots
http://seagrant.mit.edu/research/current_research.php?CAT=exp
there is an interesting undersea robot that can image plankton
using holographic imaging
Incorporation of a compact digital holographic plankton camera into
gliders and drifters
PI(s): Cabell Davis, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Project Summary: In this project, the researchers are developing a
compact, low-power,
holographic imaging system that can be used on gliders and drifters and
designing software/hardware solutions for on-board image processing
and automatic
identification of plankton from holograms. This research will allow
autonomous collection
of high-resolution spatio-temporal data on plankton size and taxonomic
composition-––
a fundamental need in the study of aquatic ecosystems. This type of
sampling will help
solve the problem of sparse taxonomic data in biological oceanography.
in order to control climate change to acceptable levels we need to
understand the oceans,
their processes and ecologies= we can imagine cyborgs that are humans
with connectivity
to flocks of data collection devices to give each of us better
awareness of the the environment
our senses dont allow us to connect to
roger
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Murat Germen <muratgermen@sabanciuniv.edu>
Date: Mon, Jul 13, 2009 at 1:16 AM
Subject: Re: [Yasmin_discussions] ETHNIC CYBORGS
To: YASMIN DISCUSSIONS <yasmin_discussions@estia.media.uoa.gr>
hello all,
the new military technologies and the type of soldiers it creates can
also be subject to this discussion maybe. i am not a militaristic
person at all but wars, it seems, constitute indispensable part of
human history unfortunately. as there are amazing gaps between the
ways people live, eat, consume and finally die; there is a similar
inequality in fighting conditions. with the support of special drugs
(like LSD in vietnam war and a lot of others in recent ones), special
vision gadgets, special garments, multiple body attachments, sci-fi
type rifles and very nasty / unfair bombs
interactive-multimedia-simulation-educated soldiers turn into cyborgs
i guess. and since they exist only in certain armies, they can be
considered ethnic cyborgs. the originally poor periphery people sort
of turn into legionnaire-avatars of certain cultures in order to make
a living and finally end up being temporary "kings" (à la warhol) to
the point of torturing locals in the context of a war-destroyed
"other" culture. but interestingly enough, these legionnaire-cyborgs
also fail at one point at the corps-à-corps combat and finally leave.
so maybe there is still hope for the basic human condition...
regards to all
murat
<<< +90 532 473 8970 (gsm mobile)
<<< muratgermen@gmail.com
<<< http://www.muratgermen.com
<<< http://www.flickr.com/photos/muratgermen/
<<< http://muratgermen.wordpress.com/
<<< http://www.camgaleri.com/en/sanatci.aspx?id=27
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