Yijiu_mao_angelo_exegesis_completion Yijiu Mao [Angelo]
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Acknowledgement:
I would like to acknowledge and send my gratitude to people who assisted and supported
me throughout the completion of this research project and honours degree.
My special gratitude goes to my supervisor Dr. Alison Bennett for countless hours of
supervision sessions, and valuable suggestions; and to the honours course coordinator Dr.
Ray Cook and Dr. Kelly Hussey-Smith for your important assistance, advice and lessons. To
my classmates Mark Hall, Amrita Sur, Rohan Saric-skewes, Joel Kram, Ethan Kristy, Yunxi Li,
Cecilia Sordi Campos and Chloe Dann for your feedbacks and supports. To Jennie
Rosenbaum for your help and informations. To Gabriel Tongue, Raf, Jess, and all building 2
tech team for your assistance on installation and equipment. To Chenchi Li and to my friends
and family for your endless support, feedback and encouragement.
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Statement of Original Authorship
This is to certify that this paper has not previously been submitted for a degree or diploma in any university. To the best of my knowledge and belief, this research paper contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made within the research paper itself.
Signed by Yijiiu Mao
Preamble
The concept of post-humanism has been the solution to my fear of mortality. It constructs a
world where humans can achieve immortality through the machine; where the relationship
between human and machine are more intimate than ever; and where machines become part
of the human. Thus machines become the embodiment of an idea running smoothly under a
well-operated system. In my experience, the machine has already turned into an inalienable
part of me. Derived from my experience of the relationship with the machine; I’m looking at
one of the most banal and neglected images in our operating system — desktop wallpaper.
My project explores how this image might express the relationship between man and
machine, and how it affects our identity in a post-internet context.
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< Content > < List of images >
< Statement > < Introduction > < Methodology / Contexts of my work / Practice led research / Diffractive reading > < Phase one: Glitching and Wallpaper < Theoretical framework / Postmodernism / Post-humanism / The ecstasy of communication / Simulation and simulacra / Zen, postmodernism and technology > < Theorising my practice / Simulacra, Simulation and Graphic User Interface / Wallpaper / Media Art and Virtual Embodiment / Glitch > < Field of practice - Post Internet art / Post-internet art / Cory Archangel /Jon Rafman / Daniel Temkin > < Iteration one: Glitching wallpaper > < Phase one refection > > < Phase two: Hexadecimal code translation> < Phase two reflection >
< Phase three: Game> < Phase three reflection >
< Conclusion >
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List of images
Cover image, Yijiu Mao, Mojappy coincidence, 2019 Fig-1, YIjiu Mao, Bliss - Glitched Fig-2, Masamune Shirow, “Ghost in the shell II - Innocence”, 2004 Fig-3, Author unknown, Mac OS - Graphic user interface, 2019 Fig-4, Charles O’Rear, Bliss - Windows XP Wallpaper, 1996 Fig-5, Rosa Menkman, Dear Mister Compression Video, 2010 Fig-6, Rosa Menkman, A vernacular of file format, 2009 Fig-7, Cory Arcangel, Photoshop CS: 84by 144 inches, 300 DPI, RGB, square pixels, default gradient “Spectrum”, mousedown y=24433 x=24933, mouseup y=13681 x=24933; tool "Wand", select y=9500 x=23366, tolerance=94, contiguous= off; default gradient "Spectrum", mousedown y=9500 x=4425, mouseup y=9500 x=38534, 2017 Fig-8, Cory Arcangel, Data Diaries, 2003 Fig-9, Jon Rafman, 9 Eyes (a), 2011 Fig-10, Jon Rafman,9 Eyes (b), 2011 Fig-11, Daniel Temkin, Light pattern (a), 2015 Fig-12, Daniel Temkin, Light pattern (b), 2015 Fig-13, Yijiu Mao, Mountains - deconstruction photo archive, 2019 Fig-14, Yijiu Mao, Mountains - deconstruction video, 2019 Fig-15, Rosa Menkman, The vernacular of file format, 2009 Fig-16, Yijiu Mao, Mountains - deconstruction Installation view, 2019 Fig-17, Yijiu Mao, Mountains - Interpretation installation view, 2019 Fig-18, Yijiu Mao, Mountains - Reconstruction - Game, 2019 Fig-19, Yijiu Mao, Mountains - Reconstruction - Game Installation view, 2019 Fig-20, Yijiu Mao, Mountains - Reconstruction - Glitch Installation view, 2019
Statement
My practice led research explores the potential for key concepts in post-structuralism and
post-humanism to be applied to the field of post-internet art and new media art. The idea of
machines and human are integrated, creating an expansive reality that has replaced the
original copy of reality . The borderline between human and machines, as well as virtual and 1
reality are transgressed. Reality has become a combination of multiple smoothly running
systems that communicate with human beings through signs and symbols. Computer
operating systems are one of the most compatible analogies to express this relationship . 2
Within this context, the default desktop wallpapers of computer operating systems are one of
the most neglected and meaningless images inside a computer system. In this year long
project and accompanying exegesis, I will explore the potential of desktop wallpaper, to
express the relationship between human and machine as a nexus of post-human
consciousness.
The idea of human body became a terminal that connected to different machines and networks has its expansive possibilities to connect more devices. All the devices are 1
satellites orbiting around this private universe that constitutes by telematic power. The breaching of reality creates a hyperreality, where this hyperreality is connected to a wider range of networks. Because of its expansive possibilities, I define this hyperreality as “expansive”.
The relationship between human/machines and virtual/actual.2
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Introduction:
In this exegesis, the narration of my research process will be divided by phases into three
parts. Each will be structured around one iteration of my creative work, in order to clearly
describe the work and explain associated theoretical context.
This exegesis will begin by looking at methodologies of practice-led-research and diffractive
reading, where knowledge will be generated upon reflection throughout the process of
making artworks(Adams 2014; Skains 2018). And to avoid interruptions to original statement
from counterpoints, reading diffractively will be excluding oppositions and record interactions,
reflections and enhancements (Geerts and van der Tuin 2016; Murris and Bozalek 2019).
After methodology, this exegesis will builds on the theoretical genealogy of postmodernism.
Donna Haraway’s (2016) “A Cyborg Manifesto," Baudrillard’s (2012) “The Ecstasy of
Communication" and “Simulation and simulacra," will form the main theoretical framework for
this exegesis. The notion of transgressed boundaries between human and machines as well
as physical and virtual will be used to connect with Baudrillard’s idea of miniaturisation. The
miniaturisation process comes with the disappearance of physical spaces, where the
boundaries between virtual and actual, private space and public space are transgressed
(Baudrillard 2012). From the transgression, media got too close to the reality that everything
in that reality could be simulated and form a hyperreality. In a hyperreality, truth were no
longer truth, but a simulation of truth, things inside this simulation no longer have meaning. To
cover this meaninglessness, symbols and signs become simulacra, in order to cover the fact
that there are nothing (Baudrillard 2014). Drawn from Baudrillard(2012; 2014) and Haraway’s
(2016) idea towards postmodernism and post-humanism the connection between these two
fields of practice and ancient Chinese philosophy was found. Since this is a rather new and
under-researched domain, instead of directly quoting the clear statement about this discipline
from other authors, a cross-examination will be conducted among various reading about Zen
Buddhism and Baudrillard.
In this section, I will be quoting a verse from Chinese Zen philosopher Qingyuan Xingsi and
books from Japanese philosopher D.T. Suzuki. These two text will be used as a cross-
examination of the idea between Baudrillard and Haraway and Zen philosophy. The concept
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of emptiness and enlightenment in Zen Buddhism was adopted as a crucial component to
cooperate with the postmodern argument and explore the man-machine relationship under a
post-human context. This connection combines my identity as Chinese with my post-internet
art practice, which brings a twist to this project philosophically and aesthetically. This section
will be describing how the idea of enlightenment in zen philosophy is consistent with ideas in
postmodern philosophy. Zen practitioners will try detach meanings from simulations and
return all things back to emptiness, arise from the emptiness is the new understanding to the
essence and operation logic of this world (Suzuki and Jung 1964).
The next part of this exegesis will use this postmodern theoretical position to theorising my
approach of using wallpaper as my medium of creation, as well as glitch as a creative method.
The functional and aesthetic value of wallpaper in an operation system will be analysed at the
start this section. The understanding that wallpaper is an ornamental function to cover the
fact that there were no functions will be established in this section and will draw a connection
to Baudrillard’s (2014) theory of simulation. The subsequent section will be focus on glitch as
a method. Glitch is not only the unintended result inside a system, but shows the operating
logic of certain system (Nunes 2010).
Drawing on this framework, I will draw on the rationale and practice of post-internet art
through a historical context of post-internet art. The section will be an analysis of three
practitioners in this field of post-internet art, in order to show how they have affect my
practice.
At the end of the section of phase one, there will be a thorough description to the first
iteration of my work. Glitch was used as a method to generate images and create videos.
Along with this description, there will be a reflection to examine how adequate this method is
to my theoretical framework. The reflection will be talking about how glitch will be fit into my
post-human theoretical framework and how glitch exposed the inner operational logic of a
system. The theory of Zen enlightenment will be incorporated to discuss that glitch is a way
of detaching meaning from simulations, which it is consistent to Zen’s idea of finding
emptiness (Haraway 2016; Baudrillard 2012; Suzuki and Jung 1964).
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The next two sections will provide a description of phase two and phase three as well as
reflections on these two iterations of my work. Phase two is a hexadecimal translation of my
exegesis. It is an embodiment of Haraway’s cyborg myth (2016), Baudrillard’s ecstasy of
communication (2012) as well as zen’s emptiness exploration (Suzuki and Jung 1964). Like
glitch, this too is a method to detach connotations and ideas from a system. The phase three
is a game create out of glitched super Mario sound scape. Because of games’ interactive
element, it is the best embodiment of virtuality (Munster 2011). And it is the virtual incarnation
of Haraway’s cyborg myth (2016) and Baudrillard’s ecstasy of communication (2012).
The exegesis will be completed by full conclusion of my theoretical framework, as well as a
proposition to future researches on user-machine interfaces and human-computer
interactions.
Context of my work
“Who am I?” This question is centred at most of my work. I considered the reason I hybridise
technology and visual art practice is because these are my interests. However, during the
process of making artworks, I started to justify my motive of using technology as a method of
practice. Since both trans-humanism and post-humanism can be a philosophy that is able to
accommodate my “intimate” relationship with technology. This “intimacy” describes the
connection between me and technology that I am a part of technology and technology help
integrated me. The integration of technology led to the aforementioned question “who am I?”.
Is me still me without those machine? If everything can be expressed as binary codes, what
makes me distinctive?
My practice is investigating those questions by dissecting my relationship with machines,
which was explored by not using the computer but collaborating with it. This is where the
machine no longer take command and complete the task, but take my input and translate it
into its own expression. The Internet also resonates with my practice in a nostalgic way. The
rapid development of computer technologies accelerates the elimination of those outdated
models, however, internet preserved all the outmoded technologies and created shared
memories for all internet users. Even though current technologies are advancing on a path of
high definition, high fidelity, even highly embodied, they still run on the same binary
framework. The destruction of high-resolutions provide a glimpse to nostalgic low-resolution
period and reveal the most primitive operating logic of a system. The way I use technology to
create artwork is challenging and need series of experimentations, where constant reflection
and alteration on my work is required. The adequacy of my method is determined by its
compatibility to my theoretical framework; at the same time, constant adjustment is
necessary since my method produces uncertain outcomes. Under this circumstances,
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constant legitimising of my method is needed, where the methodology of practice led
research is applicable.
Practice Led Research
Practice led research is a methodology drawn from conceptual understanding and cross-
disciplinary knowledge that integrated process of research practice in both written and visual
way (Adams 2014). Dr. R. Lyle Skains states that a practice led research is a cycle of
process, where it starts with action, then reflection and generating knowledge by theorising
reflections (Skains 2018). In my practice, it is important to gain new knowledge and insights
by testing ideas against theory that is based on post-modernity and post-humanism.
Analysing adequacy of the idea of using glitch as my method by reflecting on outcomes’
connection to the overarching post-human framework. Practice led research not only
finesses the method, it generates new insight to the whole project, and make connections to
other field of practice that could open up new possibilities. The whole process, according to
Suze Adams, visual culture theorist, is an active process of exploration and critical
examination that the process is always open for interrogation, re-negotiation, re-interpretation
and eventually re-presentation (Adams 2014).
Writing plays a crucial role in practice led research, where it presented as a continuous
exchange between practice and theory. Bodily experience, multi-disciplinary knowledge, and
conceptual knowledge are drawn from finished work and contextualised by writings (Adams
2014). Thus, under this research model, writing an exegesis is a way of constituting an
overarching framework from post-humanism and the conditions of post-modernity. The
connection between two different practices were made by a written exegesis. Practice led
research is a suitable research methodology as my research hybridise disparate fields of
research (Skains 2018). Derived from my theoretical understanding, methods like glitching,
algorithmic art and interactive games were fetched from another field of practice like
computer science and information technology. Upon reflection, some of the visual research
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Imagining the process of developing the overarching framework through practice led
research is like the growth of the root of a plant. It draws nutrition from different parts of soil
but those roots are all derive from the main stem. However, for a practice that requires cross-
disciplinary knowledge there are certain disadvantages in adopting practice led research as a
sole methodology. Yet, there will be contradictory arguments between authors from disparate
subject. It is crucial to identify valuable information without being captivated by irrelevant
ideas. This is where I introduce diffractive reading into my existing model of research.
Diffractive Reading
Diffractive reading, is a methodology that disrupts hierarchies of knowledge, preventing
practitioners from being carried away by conflicting arguments from multiple sources; where
practitioner is able to obtain trans-disciplinary knowledge by discovering connections (Geerts
and van der Tuin, 2016). This methodology was introduced by Donna Haraway and
augmented by Karen Barad using theories from quantum physics. Donna Haraway points out
that diffraction does not produce the sacred image of the same, but records where
interaction, interference, and reinforcement emerged (Geerts and van der Tuin, 2016).
Since I am trying to bring disparate fields together into my practice, the analysis of readings
from different disciplines is crucial, Diffractive reading is focused on how to connect and co-
constitute phenomenon and ideas from various authors (Murris & Bozalek 2019). As the key
text of my practice, Baudrillard’s argument of technology eliminating boundaries in The
Ecstasy of Communication is consistent with Donna Haraway’s idea in “A Cyborg Manifesto,"
which constitutes my theoretical framework and provide me my key term “hyperreality”. The
conception in “Simulation and Simulacra” and “Materialising New Media” dissect the idea of
hyperreality, thus the idea of hyperreality can be materialised into the form of new media.
Computer desktop and glitches are able to be justified during this process as the method of
my practice.
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The idea of diffractive reading is to mark out interactions between distinctive fields of practice
(Geerts and van der Tuin, 2016), cooperating with practice led research, more aspect can be
found in my work upon reflection. This is where I found the idea of nihilism served as a
subtext in Baudrillard’s philosophy, which is extremely similar to the idea in Zen Buddhism.
The perceptions of nothingness in zen buddhism from Daisetsu Teitaro Suzuki will be used to
cross-examine the nihilism idea in Baudrillard’s essay “simulation and simulacra”.
Nothingness will be the constitutional force of my project, where I will explore “nothingness” in
a visual and experiential fashion. The mesh of zen buddhism and Baudrillard’s theory of
simulation will be discussed in the reflection section of my exegesis.
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Phase-1 Glitching and Wallpaper
Phase one were established on the original structure of postmodernism and post-humanism.
Glitching was used as a method to deconstruct a wallpaper in order to present the
connection between man and machine. This section will start with describing the earliest
version of my work. The original theoretical context will be explained next along with the idea
of Zen as an integration to post-human philosophy. This section will continue by contextualise
the idea of using wallpaper as the medium and glitch as a method. Descriptions of post-
internet art and related artist will be in the following section. This chapter will end with a
reflection to the first iteration of my creative work.
Fig-1 Yijiu Mao BLISS - Glitched Computer generated photograph 2019
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Postmodernism
My whole research is embedded on the genealogy of postmodernism. I adopt post-
humanism, and post-structuralism as my theoretical background to discuss the relationship
between man and machine. In this first section, I will build my theoretical framework on
Donna Haraway’s A Cyborg Manifesto where the concept of transgressed boundaries in
Donna Haraway’s article will be bring in as a foundational theory in my theoretical
background.
Postmodernism is a movement that influenced various fields of study, however, postmodern
philosophy will be the sole focus in this exegesis. Postmodern philosophy is mostly focused
on the idea of consumerism, taste, reality, hyperreality, mass-production, mass-
communications and other sociological issues of direct relevance to the twentieth and the
twenty-first century (Fisher & Graham 2014). When it comes to the twenty-first century, the
emergence of studies that based on the theories of postmodernism like post-humanism,
added a technological twist to this stream of study.
Post-humanism
Post-humanism is a theoretical framework that evolves with the development of computer
technology. An author, Francesca Ferrando in NYU states in her article “Posthumanism” that
post-human is to interconnect with everything, thus everything will become the same
(Ferrando 2014). In her article, one of the most centric point is that post-human movement
intended to extend and deconstruct the western definition of a human, asking question like
“Who am I?” “What am I” and “When and where are we?” Post-human is focusing on the
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present rather than the future, whereas the post-human condition are already accessible, the
boundaries have already been crossed (Ferrando 2014).
Published in 1988, Donna Harraway's “A
Cyborg Manifesto” is one of the most
prominent writings on post-humanism. In
Haraway’s article, the concept of the
cyborg—a hybrid machine and organism—
has been used to argue that with this
technologically and artificially integrated
a society where boundaries between
sexes, species even organisms are no
longer needed. The image of the cyborg
has been described by Haraway in four
different ways: “cybernetic organisms,” “a
hybrid of machine and organisms,” “a
creature of lived social reality” and “creature
of fiction.”(2016 p, 5-6) She argues that the
cyborg is more “present” than future, since
the boundaries between human/animal,
human/machine and physical/virtual have
been thoroughly transgressed by
technology (Haraway 2016).
Haraway argues that machines now have the capability to achieve what pre-cybernetic
machines cannot — the ability to be self-moving, self-designing and autonomous (2016 p,
11). According to Haraway, machines in late twentieth-century were designed in a way that
blurred the difference between natural and artificial, where the command and control from
people are no longer necessary for machines to operate. Physical labour has been replaced
with pre-determined mechanic actions constitutes by codes, in late twentieth-century
Fig-2 Masamune Shirow Donna Haraway appears as a cyborg in Japanese anime “Ghost in the shell II - Innocence”. Screenshot in film 2004
Cyborg is a widely referenced imagery in pop culture. The sub-genre cyberpunk in science- fictions initials its success in the 1980s. The figure of cyborg has been used by Donna Haraway as a social-political feminist praxis (Murphy and Schmeink 1989). Donna Haraway has been drawn into the Japanese anime “Ghost in the shell II - Innocence” as a cyborg police forensic specialist named Haraway. (Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, 2004)
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machines are now more lively than humans. (Haraway 2016). With disappearing boundaries 3
between human and machine, the boundaries between physical and virtual are transgressing
with it.
Haraway argues that modern machines are microelectronic devices which are everywhere
and invisible. Everything can be written and stored on those highly miniaturised silicone chips,
miniaturisation has turned out to be extremely powerful, light and clean (Haraway 2016).
These microprocessors generate a simulation of world that constructed by ubiquitous signals
and electromagnetic waves. She depicts this ubiquity as “an irreverent upstart god. (Haraway
2016 p.14)” Haraway explained further that the whole world of cyborg myth is constitutes by
a system of language and control which is C3I. The idea of C31 illustrated the concept of
coding, whereas coders entered codes (Command), and codes designate (Control) machine
behaviour (intelligence) by translation the language into binaries (Communication) (Haraway
2016). Haraway points out that the whole control and command process is universal
translations of languages, which translates everything to the basis of binary numbers
(Haraway 2016). Resembling to the idea of computers, where images, videos, games,
documents, are all binaries that regulated by codes and translated into electronic signals.
Electronic signals activate miniaturised devices like light-emitting diode inside computers and
simulates images on the screen, where those images, although they all seems hyperrealistic,
they are just simulations. Which according to Donna Haraway’s idea that miniaturised devices
constitute a world of boundary confusions, a reality with pure number, pure spirit, and C3I
(Command-control-communication-intelligence), a myth of cyborg (Haraway 2016).
Donna Haraway’s myth of cyborg not only depicts a society that breaks the traditional
dualism of human and animal, mind and body, virtual and actual, but describes a world where
human and machine are integrated. The relationship between human and machine in post-
humanism and trans-humanism theory has been widely discussed by scholars and artists.
Using Haraway’s “A Cyborg Manifesto” as a theoretical framework, this exegesis will finding
out the connection between Baudrillard’s post-structuralism theory and Haraway’s post-
humanism concept.
I will return to this notion when I discuss Baudrillard’s “The Ecstasy of Communication,” Which he has a similar but more specific argument to this issue. 3
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Baudrillard’s “The Ecstasy of Communication” describes that technology has replaced 4
various functions of human body, which miniaturised physical body and space, but erased
the boundaries between public and private spaces. People are now in a space where
everything is simulated by pure information and communication (Baudrillard 2012).
Baudrillard’s work “Simulation and Simulacra” will be discussed in the next section, in order to
elaborate the aforementioned idea from Haraway and Baudrillard. In which the article
“Simulation and Simulacra” with be used to articulate the theory behind simulation, with the
aim of elaborating the idea that human beings are now live in a simulation of world created by
machines.
Unlike Haraway’s myth of the cyborg, Baudrillard (2012) analyses this post-modern society
from a post-structuralist perspective. Similar to “A Cyborg Manifesto," Baudrillard perceives
that with the development of technology comes the transgression of boundaries between
man and machine, as well as the virtual and actual.
Baudrillard argues that people’s living spaces had been miniaturised by technology, which
breaks the boundaries between human and machine. He illustrated current lifestyle of people,
where every informations are hyper-condensed onto screens, movement and activity are no
longer necessary since all essentials are immediately acquirable, hence vast private space are
no longer needed considering that the only thing necessary are internet and internet
accessible devices. This phenomenon, just like what Haraway (2016 p. 5-6) argues: "Our
machines are disturbingly lively, and we ourselves frighteningly inert.”
As aforementioned, networks has rendered the human body useless, all necessary human
function has been concentrated in brain and fingers and replaced by remote control just to
complete functions of controlling and commanding machines. (Baudrillard 2012). Baudrillard
argues that, when everything is running smoothly under a communication system that is
regulated by machines and telematic power, human body thus become merely a terminal of
In here, as Baudrillard mentioned in “The Ecstasy of Communication,” technology includes telematic power, television, and networks.4
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receiving and sending informations (2012). This is the miniaturisation process of our body, as
the first stage of miniaturisation, is eliminating the boundaries between human and machines.
Baudrillard dissected the disappearing of boundaries into multiple stages: the body, the
landscape, time and space. The first stage of body miniaturisation starts with the power to
control everything remotely, this ability has rendered human body into a useless shell and
started to exist as the terminals of multiple networks (Baudrillard 2012). According to
Baudrillard: “All events are highly concentrated into a few miniaturised high places inside
cities, makes the immense geographical landscape unnecessary.” Baudrillard compares the
miniaturisation process with the process of urbanisation, where all the activities are
concentrated inside the city area (Baudrillard 2012).
Baudrillard argues that television has transformed our habitat into a closed-off cell, where all
human behaviour is focused on operational screens and terminals (Baudrillard 2012). The
entire universe unfolded unnecessarily on our home screen in a highly concentrated and
efficient manner, which everything became immediately available and accessible (Baudrillard
2012). This is not just a miniaturisation of space, but also a miniaturisation of time. The
process of miniaturisation isolates people into a secluded universe where people have total
control of everything but segregated far from the original universe (Baudrillard 2012).
However, whilst people has been secluded far from reality, the public space has never been
this close. In some way, the borderline of public spaces is disappearing with the process of
miniaturisation, according to Baudrillard: “The public place have been replaced by a gigantic
circulation, ventilation, and ephemeral connecting space.”
When public spaces now only served as a big supporting devices for networks, private space
undergoes the same fate as public space, people become more enclosed and connected
simultaneously (Baudrillard 2012). According to Baudrillard: “We no longer partake the drama
of alienation, but in the ecstasy of communication.” Where this ecstasy is confined to pure
basis of communication and information (Baudrillard 2012). Which this statement is coherent
to Haraway’s idea where miniaturised devices constitute a world of boundary confusions, a
reality with pure number, pure spirit, and C3I (Command-control-communication-intelligence)
(Haraway 2016). The idea in the Ecstasy of Communication is to depict a world where
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everyone is connected to internet, confined to an enclosed space where informations flow
through the screen; a world where everything can be controlled by codes and command; and
a world where all things are simulated by digits and numbers that there are nothing
distinctive. And this is where there are no longer any truth, but a simulation of truth,
everything is simulated and displayed on one’s screen.
Simulation and Simulacra
This section serves as a bridge to connect postmodernity theory to post-internet and media
art. The post-internet art and aesthetic of graphic user interface design (GUI) of computer 5
operating system will be connected to this theory of simulation and simulacra.
Baudrillard points out in “The Ecstasy of Communication” that individuals sees themselves
controlling a hypothetical machine, isolated in a position of perfect sovereignty but has infinite
distance to the original universe. With all the isolation and miniaturisation, symbolised an
initiation of the era of hyperreality, what was originally in reality has been mentally projected
into this hyperreality, completed by the work of machine, creates a space of simulation
(Baudrillard 2012).
In “Simulacra and Simulation,” Baudrillard defines simulation as a hyperreal, which is a
generated models of a real, but without origin or reality (2014). According to Baudrillard, to
simulate is pretend to have something one does not have, it is an implication of presence.
However simulation is more than pretending, because simulation produces something “real”
but pretending do not (Baudrillard 2014). Baudrillard uses hysteria as an example, if one
claims that they are sick, in order to tell whether they are sick, we have to see if they has any
symptoms. If the sickness is simulated, the symptoms is real, but there are no organic
lesions , in which his sickness is a simulation (Baudrillard 2014). And the simulacrum, 6
according to Baudrillard, is not something that hide the truth, matter of fact it is a truth that
hides the fact that there are nothing (2014). Baudrillard uses god, a powerful but virtual figure
Graphic User Interface will be abbreviated as GUI in the rest of this exegesis. 5
Organic lesion is the damage to the skin of part of body which caused by injury or illness. 6
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as a example to express the idea of simulacra, he argues that what if there are only signs and
symbols that constitutes faith, what if deep down god is never anything but his own
simulacra, does that mean god himself is a simulation? Then the whole system of religion
becomes weightless, thus became a gigantic simulacra, where the simulacra is not unreal,
but a truth that covers the nihility (Baudrillard 2014).
That is to say that simulation is the copy of a “system,” this “system” is real, but not physically
there. And the simulacra, or simulacrum are those signs that construct the simulation, or it is
the simulation itself, that used to cover the fact that there was no origin.
The idea of a computer operating system, is similar to the idea of a set of simulation and
simulacra. Under next subheading, Baudrillard’s idea will be combined with an analysis of
G.Kirkpatrick’s article “Modernism and the Esthetics of Personal Computing” in order to
articulate the reason why post-internet art is my sole focus for my year long project and my
exegesis.
Although the connection between Zen, post-humanism, postmodernism and technology was
found during the third phase of my creative process. The idea to place this section here is to
get a better continuity from previous theory. The role of Zen in my research project is to
connect my identity to the idea of post-humanism, postmodernism and technology. Zen
bonds multiple theories together and transforms them philosophically and aesthetically, which
brought me new perspectives to the relationship between users and machines. The idea of
Zen emptiness and zen enlightenment will be used to cross-examining ideas from Baudrillard
and Haraway, in order to identify similarities among these three different disciplines.
Zen connects technology and post-humanism by transcending the perspective of object and
space. By considering computer operation system as a spiritual space where all things
including human mind can be represent as pure informations and data (Haraway, 2012; Allen,
Attridge and Triantaphillidou, 2011). Many people categorised Zen as a part of Buddhist
religion that associated with the idea of nihilism. However, according to D.T. Suzuki, Zen is an
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illogical principle of enlightenment that is neither a religion nor nihilism (Suzuki and Jung,
1964). Regardless the fact that Zen uses buddhist scriptures and searching for the idea of
emptiness, zen is purely a guideline to seek the understanding of truth in life. The search of
emptiness in zen, is neither negating, nor affirming things for their existence, but an idea of
transcending all things into one state of zen. Zen is to eliminate logical thinking of dualism,
there are no more virtual and actual, object and subject, right or wrong, even mind and body
(Suzuki and Jung 1964). Zen pursues a world that all boundaries are transgressed, free from
dichotomies of genders, races, and classes (Haraway 2016). According to Haraway, a cyborg
is an ultimate self untied all dependencies, a cyborg has no origin, no grasp on any seduction
to organic wholeness (Haraway 2016). This is exactly what Zen is trying to achieve, surrender
all, your body, your life, and everything belongs to your inmost self. One’s existence has been
delivered from all limitations, that one becomes immediately open, light, and transparent. The
illuminating insight to the very nature of this world was gained, and appears to one like
fairylike flowers with no graspable realities (Suzuki and Jung, 1964). One still live inside a
simulation, but it is started to transform into a hyperreality that the essence of everything is
immediately acquirable. With the abandonment of all burdens, one becomes post-human,
becomes a cyborg in Haraway’s cyborg myth. All boundaries are transgressed, thus the
realisation of the truth of the world has proven that everything is the same. Everything in the
state of zen, In Haraway’s cyborg myth, is pure numbers, pure spirits; in Baudrillard’s theory,
is the smooth surface of communication, is a simulation that compose by simulacra; in Zen,
is the ultimate truth. The flower is zen, the tree is zen, a piece of leaf is zen, everything
contains the truth of this world and in computer all these can be translated into data and
information, which will be all presented as binary codes (Haraway 20116; Baudrillard 2012;
Suzuki and Jung 1964; Allen, Attridge and Triantaphillidou 2011). Four theories from different
discipline all point to the one thing — a post human world, a simulated reality. A world that
has no separation in genders, species, space, even time. And this is already a lively
experience — the cyberspace. In cyberspace, everything is constructed by data and
information, which represented in the form of binary. Hence, no matter what kinds of images,
ideas, even experiences the cyberspace is simulated, they are all just pure numbers in the
cyberspace.
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Drawing on aforementioned connections, the ultimate form of post-human is a dematerialised
body and the realisation of the truth of this world. Chinese Zen philosopher Qingyuan Xingsi
dictated this verse to describe three stages of Zen enlightenment, and the realisation of truth.
“ ” k à nshns h ìshn k à nshnb ú s h ìshn k à n shnh á i s h ìshn
This quote directly translated as: when one started to practice Zen, one see mountains are
mountains. When one has the first glimpse to the truth, mountains are no longer mountains.
When they reached enlightenment and finally see the truth, mountains are again mountains
(Ming Dong and Jian Ping 2017; Suzuki and Jung 1964). In Victor Fan’s article “Own-
becoming” the phrase was used to demonstrate three progressive stages of observation. The
first stage of observation is that observers only perceive things the way their sense draw
boundaries from their familiar epistemic framework (Fan 2018). This is where people are
inside a simulation but they did not know, they perceive the illusion as reality. The second
stage, according to Fan, is when the observers realise that their perception is in fact affecting
by their languages and knowledge systems. They begin to dissociate languages and
knowledges from what they see and being skeptical about the observed object. The
observed object become nothing to the observer since they disconnect it from the system
(Fan 2018). At this stage, once observers know they are in a simulation, they start to try
dissect the simulation. They attempt to dissociate the simulation from themselves, return
everything to the state of emptiness. In the third stage, Fan points out that At the third stage,
observers are aware that their perception are illusive. They start to understand that the object
is merely a projection of an assemblage of interdependent relationship upon emptiness. Once
the observer understanding the structure of such illusion, they start to perceive illusion as a
non-illusive reality that arises from nothingness (Fan 2018). I summarise these three phases
as simulation, deconstruction and reconstruction.
I argue that the relationship between man and machine follows these three stages, hence
when users only see and use interfaces as they are, they are only the user; when users start
to understand the system logic, users become players since they start to deconstruct the
system into its original state, dissociate interfaces from code. They now have the ability to
exploit and deconstruct the system. While users fully understand the operational logic, the
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language, and the structure, they are now in a state of post-human, who are able to
constitute the system with their mind, they now see interfaces as codes, informations, and
data. The simulation was fully penetrated by them, they even could constitute their very own
logic. The post-human states inside information technology was unawarely achieved among
computer users. Haraway’s cyborg myth, Baudrillard’s ecstasy of communication, and the
state of Zen, are no longer philosophies but already incarnated and simulated by
technologies (Haraway 2016; Baudrillard 2012; Fan 2018). With the integration of Zen
philosophy, new perspective toward the relationship between users and machines are
generated. The research project will attempt to discover methods that could embody the idea
of Zen and post-humanism.
In the last section, I considered the computer operating
system and GUI as a set of simulation and simulacra. In
G. Kirkpatrick’s article “Modernism and the Esthetics of
Personal Computing,” he quoted Turkle’s idea that we
are moving from a modernist culture of calculation to a
culture of simulation (Kirkpatrick 2003). The personal
computer (PC) no longer present as a challenging tool 7
but an experience that users are able to enjoy without thinking by the power of GUI
(Kirkpatrick 2003). Kirkpatrick argues that the interface simulates an easy to uses system
image for users in order to “steer” the user through a “non-technical” interaction with
technologies by developing simulations of something that has never existed (2003).People
are working in ignorance of the underlying mechanism, because their use of computer are not
related to computing. Kirkpatrick argues that in the culture of simulation, as long as it works
Personal computer will be abbreviated as PC in the rest of this exegesis. 7
Fig-3 Author unknown Mac OS - Graphic user interface Screenshot 2019
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for you, it has all the reality it needs. He continues by quoting Baudrillard that these
programmed world are experienced by people as if they were real, or even “more real than
real. (cited in Kirkpatrick 2003 p.187)”
Kirkpatrick’s interpretation of GUI system is related to Baudrillard’s notion of simulation and
sumulacra, where the GUI system is a simulation of computer functions that constructed by
the icons that used to cover the fact that this simulation has no original meaning without 8
codes. The computer system creates a hyperreality, which providing people experiences as if
they are real.
Wallpaper as my main focus for this year long
project, it is a neglected topic, it is the image that
has been watched so many times that people
neglect its presence. I argue that wallpaper as a
function in an operating system, it is plain and
meaningless by design, which is the best
example as a simulacra in a simulation. On top
of this, I argue that the banality of wallpaper
allows it to create a communal nostalgia, which
is a good example of how internet creates
shared memories.
something that has been used to hide an
emptiness (2014). Incorporating with Kirkpatrick’s
argument in “Modernism and the Esthetics of
Personal Computing,” he points out that where
the wallpaper is located does not affect its
In here, the icons are representations of signs and symbols.8
Fig-4 Charles O’Rear Bliss - Windows XP Wallpaper Landscape photography 1996
Bliss is one of the most viewed photo in the history of this world. It was taken by Charles O’rear and sold to Corbis, a company start a Bill Gates to use as a stock art. It then caught Microsoft’s attention and they bought all right to this photo because its peaceful and has no tension. Although Microsoft released Windows XP in 2001, and stop supporting it until 2015, until today, Windows XP still have 16.94% of the markets.This photo has been the default desktop image for Windows XP for almost 2 decades (Meek and Epstein 2019).
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function. UI has been betrayed by a segregation between function and aesthetic, wallpapers
and screensavers are the product of a UI design that do not have a function. (Kirkpatrick
2003) Wallpaper is exactly the function that designed to hide the fact there are nothing on the
desktop, wallpaper is a simulacra.
Wallpapers are created in a standard aesthetic of landscape photography, mostly depicting
vast prairie, steep mountains and rugged desert. In Carolyn Kane’s article: “The Toxic
Sublime: Landscape Photography and Data Visualization”, she points out that landscape
images often fits squarely with classical aesthetic tendencies, with the pure and pristine
landscape, it remains loyal to the romantic liaison between people and the world, where it
became a signifier to the romantic past (Kane 2018). This strenthened the fact those
landscape images has its romantic layer of meanings. At the same time, according to Annet
Dekker, she argues that the internet created a shared memory and a sense of belonging to a
community for a large group of people. The wallpaper being a function in operating system, it
covers the fact that there were no actual functions. The romantic attribute of wallpaper
signified the connection between man and nature as well as creating a shared memory
between users who have used this operating system.
Media Art and Virtual Embodiment
I believe that computer operating systems can be perceived as a perfect embodiment of
Haraway’s cyborg myth. In this section, I will connect Kirkpatrick’s text to both Haraway and
Anna Munster in order to elaborate the idea that the virtual is embedded with the actual, and
post-internet aesthetic is embedded with rationalist thinking and text.
In “A Cyborg Manifesto” Donna Haraway suggests that technology is the only one space
where we engage the play of writing and reading the world with coded text (Haraway 2016).
Similar to operating systems, it is a hyperreality that embedded with coded text. According to
Anna Munster, the birth of digital culture has been shaped largely with a binary logic, which
disembodied gaze and dematerialised information has been the prominent features of digital
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the embodiment provided by GUI is limited,
where users’ body have limited connection to
the virtual due to the privileging of
consciousness over embodiment and favouring
the machines over human beings, thus the
embodied self is confined into close proximity
with itself as a dematerialised representation
via cursor (Munster 2011).
been limited by the hardware, where all
technologies are expected to have immediate
smooth exchange and experience in online
uploading, transferring and downloading.
usually experience is the lag, corruption and
errors (Munster 2011). In the next section, I will
be using Mark Nunes’ book “Error, Noise, and
Potential: The Outside of Purpose” to analyse
the idea of error under a post-internet context
and the reason I chose to use glitching as a
method of art creation.
Glitch
Glitch as a method of my art creation, has importance on both theoretical and technical level.
Glitch by definition is the error inside a smoothly running system, it is a miscommunication of
text based code and a wandering from the predetermined direction (Nunes 2010). According
to Nunes, glitch is as type of error, it is an errant communication with a culture dominant by
logic of maximum performance (2010). It is a disease that evoke by clean machines, the
Fig-5 Rosa Menkman Dear Mister Compression Video 2010
Rosa Menkman is a Dutch artist who use glitch as the main method of her art creation. In this video she produce, she compress this video with her face and a love poem written in the middle. This work acknowledges the thickness and materiality of data “emerging” inside one’s psychic experience.
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the immune system, it is the experience of
stress (Haraway 2016). In which every
system forms an ecological niche, where all
terms have to be remain perpetual
communication, the failure of one term
could lead to a catastrophe (Baudrillard
2012). Error thus became more than a
miscommunication, it not only reveal the
failure of a system, but also the operational
logic of a system (Nunes 2010).
The artistic potential for error could trace back as far as the Futurist and Dadaist, error
creates the “aesthetic of failure,” which in art, error act as an obstacle to communication,
gives a possibility to an alternative modes of expression (Nunes 2010). Error is a strategy of
misleading, it provides an opening to a poetics of noise, in which its own aesthetic intervenes
the original aesthetic. It is the unintended intensions within digital medium, it foreground the
uncontrollable in media art. (Nunes 2010) Error reveals the crisis of control, but there are more
potential to this approach as both a method and theory. From my experiments to glitching, an
error happens when I input unintended codes to the system, however, the result of error
remains the same no matter what the input is. This raised a question that, Is the unintended
result still controlled by code? What if the error is merely another system controlled path? Is
error just anther derivation to the intended path?
Fig-6 Rosa Menkman A vernacular of file format. Computer generated photos 2009 - 2010
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Post-internet art
Art has been used as a tool by artists to question technology.The term post-internet was
used in the 1970s as “telematics” by Simon Nora to describe the conjunction of computer,
telecommunication and art (Monteiro and Barranha 2018). This art movement was initiated as
internet art in 1994, and gained its fame around 2000s. This movement is discussing the
revolutionary change technology brought to our everyday life, which is conceptually widely
associated with post-humanism and trans-humanism (Conner 2013). Under this context,
post-humanism and trans-humanism stand for two distinctive approach among post-internet
artist, former is materialisation, later is dematerialisation.
At the early stages of post-internet art, when it was called net art, it was based on the
concept of trans-humanism and dematerialisation, where artist tend to leave the body behind
and seek new virtual identities (Monteiro and Barranha 2018). On the other hand, net art
artists are using the approach of re-materialisation, which are dealing with the idea of post-
internet aesthetic (Monteiro and Barranha 2018). According to Monteiro and Barranha, today
artists are trying to displaying and exposing the internet mechanism by using the power of
surveillance, reproductivity of digital material and identities. Artists are also trying to
questioning the current paradigm of hyper-connection, and focusing on the emotional
connectivity in between online and offline reality (Monteiro and Barranha 2018).
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internet artist who is known for hackerism and
video game modification, drawing and
performance art. This is one of his works with
an extremely long name, in which the name
dictates the making process of this image with
exact coordination and instruction, he has
create a series of work like this with all different
color and compositions. (Diduck 2014). This
particular piece highlight the reproducibility of
internet images, where anyone could easily
reproduce this work at home. (Monteiro and
Barranha 2018).
screen, where on the screen there was this
video depicts the cloud in Super Mario
Brothers, and silver balloons are floating in the
surrounding area. I believe that this work
played with the idea of internet creates shared
memories and sense of belonging to a
community (Dekker 2013). This nostalgia
derived from a certain period of time when a
specific popular cultural symbol has been
reproduced on the screen.
Fig-7 Cory Arcangel Photoshop CS: 84by 144 inches, 300 DPI, RGB, square pixels, default gradient “Spectrum”, mousedown y=24433 x=24933, mouseup y=13681 x=24933; tool "Wand", select y=9500 x=23366, tolerance=94, contiguous= off; default gradient "Spectrum", mousedown y=9500 x=4425, mouseup y=9500 x=38534 Photoshopped photographs 2017
Fig-8 Cory Arcangel Data Diaries Screenshot 2003
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mostly focused on post-internet culture. His work
contains videos, image mining and screen grab from
google street views. His works relays a deep sense of
loneliness and seclusion. Rafman suggests that in
Kyba’s article that the symptomatic of ever moving
virtual integration, as people get more connected
online, they becomes less connected in real life (cited
in Kyba 2017).
a camera. According to Holzl, Expanded photo
surpass the limitation of camera, it is either generated
or augmented in some way (2011). Ho lzl continues
argues that contemporary photography are now
became a display of possible present, where as
digitally augmented photography no longer tied to its
uncanny survival, there are no more differences
between documentary and fiction, but display a
seamless conjunction of the “present.” (2011) Which
means that, from my understanding to Rafman’s work,
with the use of google map to screenshot the photo,
we do not know when this scene is happened. This
photo no longer symbolised the particular past, but in
a constant state of happening, where those photo are
no longer documentation of truth, but a
documentation of what is online, a documentation of
what has been successfully simulated.
Fig-10 Jon Rafman 9 eyes (b) Photo 2011
Fig-9 Jon Rafman 9 Eyes (a) Photo 2011
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pattern is a programming language that is not
constructed by text but photography.
According to him, It creates an algorithmic
photography structured by the programs one
writes, but not computer generated (Temkin
2015). To see the source code of this coding
project, one does not have to open a file full of
text, instead, the audiences only need to browse
through a directory of images that read in
alphabetical order according to the file names
(Temkin 2015). This is the most visible aspect
of code, and even this is a series of codes, it is
irrelevant to machine and the language
(Temkin 2015). In the light pattern, the photos
are created with filters that are able to change
one aspect of the pixel colour, after shooting
all the photos, Temkin input those photos into
a program that is modelled on C#, and turn
those photos into language.
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Iteration-1: Glitching wallpaper At the earliest stage of this research
project, glitching wallpaper was used as a
method to generate images (Fig-1). This
archive of generative photography was
created according to the idea of expanded
photography. However the relationship
untold in this earliest iteration of work. In
the first trail exhibition, a video of the
process of glitching through source code
was simultaneously shown with a video of a
gradually glitched images. These two
videos were projected on both side of a
hanging cardboard.
messing with the system logic of image
compression, which different compression
opening the image as txt file is a verbal
translation of information from pixels, the
random inputs interrupt the communication
of information, thus creates a glitch (Allen,
Attridge and Triantaphillidou, 2011). Glitch,
as it appears here (See Fig-1), is either a
series of pixel discolourations or a
When glitching an images, different results comes with distinctive method of compression. The most common image compression type is raster image, which contains an 9
array of value in each line. Each line is formed by small grid that contains colour information. It is called a bitmap, which displayed as pixels on screen. Pixels are represented by binary digits on a fundamental level, which allows the image to be stored and displayed on computer. Compression methods provides a mathematical framework allowing the quantification of the information generated or transmitted through a communication channel. Process of compression involves a reduction of information or reduction of content itself. Each pixels are considered as an information source that takes on one of “n” values depends on the bit depth. (Allen, Attridge and Triantaphillidou, 2011)
Fig-13 Yijiu Mao Mountains - deconstruction photo archive Archive 2019.
Fig-14 Yijiu Mao Mountains - deconstruction video Screenshot 2019.
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compositional distortion. Although the results of a glitch seems random, it was still regulated
by a system, in which the same type of files always have similar glitching effect. In the book
The manual of photography, According Elizabeth Allen and Sophie Triantaphillidou (2011) that
the idea of image compression is to receive informations from each pixels in a digital image.
The compression process will cast out redundancies (Repeating or useless information) then
process them into a set of data. The whole process of acquiring and refining data removes
uncertainty, it renders informations into a chain of data. The chain of data is constitutes by
pixels that all have the same value, so that pixels work as a whole (In the state of array or a
section of image) (Allen, Attridge and Triantaphillidou, 2011). Form my experimentations, I
consider glitching is a miscommunication in that array of informations, which will affect the
integrity of its data and cause seemingly different but identical effect.
Phase-1 reflections
Reflect upon the first iteration of my work, glitch is a satisfactory method to create work as
well as an adequate epitome to the user-machine relationship. Wallpaper as a medium brings
a banal and nostalgic aspect to this project. According to Nunes, the process and aesthetic
of a glitched image, is to transform a predetermined aesthetic into abstraction. This aesthetic
is not predetermined by the artist but conjured randomly and directly from the machine
(Nunes 2010). In this project, the wallpaper
lost its function of wallpaper after glitching, it
ceased to be a communal memory and
acquired new meanings (Kirkpatrick 2003;
Monteiro and Barranha 2018). The method
of glitching is coherent to Haraway’s idea of
C3I (Command-control-communication-
command to the system, and a glitch is how
it reacts to this miscommunication. The
process of glitch is breaking the chain of
C3I, it is an error, a post-human “disease”
Fig-15 Rosa Menkman The vernacular of file format Photos 2009 -2010
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that can be evoked by just a slight change in the code. Compare to other artists who used
glitch as a method to create art work like Rosa Menkman (See Fig-15), who focused on how
different file formats react to glitches. My focus is mainly on the process of glitching, the
process of miscommunication, the gradually crashed simulation. Nunes suggests that in
human machine interaction, the potential for unwanted returns are always present. The notion
of exploiting errors inside a system to create art is a process of actualising the unforeseen
result. The original image was given new meanings, which it shakes free from pre-
programmed functions and encompasses the system’s computational process as well as its
interactivity. The entire process of glitching lift the image from the level of surface appearance
and made information perceivable (Nunes 2010). Glitching in Zen philosophy’s aspect, is the
stage where the user detaches meanings from simulations and makes things abstract, the
stage of sees mountains as not mountains. As the centrepiece of my art creation, the glitch
acts as a starting point to find the zen, which in digital culture is to understand the inner logic
to a computer.
simultaneously and separately on the both
side of a hanging cardboard (See Fig-16).
The separation of graphics and codes is
crucial that audiences were to experience
the destruction of a simulation and then
making a connection to the source of the
system disruption. The installation method
made this work interesting, but I feel there
are more potentials on the back wall. For a
better embodiment of my theory, I started to
explore more methods in the realm of post-
internet art.
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The work I created in phase two is a binary
translation of my exegesis, which can be
considered as a deconstruction of language.
Although it is a video of me typing my exegesis
into a Hex digit translator, it is also a
performance of the communication between
man and machine. The process of this
communication is to translate text into random
digit and data that computer can comprehend
and store (Allen, Attridge and Triantaphillidou,
2011). This work was made into video and
installed at the back wall, which complete the
whole corner area.
Phase-2 Reflection:
Similar to the glitch, this work has the same concept of exposing machine logic to the
audiences. The topic it discussed is C3I, the communication happens between man and
machine (Haraway). Instead of break the chain of command, this translation reveals the inner
logic by complete the transfer. My exegesis as the command, controls the system to translate
English to HEX digit.Through translating an exegesis that contains multiple critical theories
and complex ideas to pure digits, the process deconstructs the system of knowledges and
languages. Basically, no matter how complex the theory is and what language it is, to
computers they are merely different combinations of digits. Thus, under the logic of
computer, there are no differences in languages and ideas. The space becomes Babel tower,
a space where there is only one language, a space that eliminated boundaries, conflicts and
differences. At this stage, all meanings are detached from language, which provide the space
Fig-17 Yijiu Mao Mountains - Interpretation installation view Photos 2019.
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real unity. In this space, all things are presented as pure data and information, but is also
incomprehensible to users. It is the second stage of zen enlightenment, the stage of
emptiness, where all things turn to abstraction (Baudrillard 2012, 2014; Haraway 2016;
Suzuki and Jung 1964).
Still, I feel that there are more to explore in my study. I attempt to expand my practice to the
realm of interactive art and coding, in order to acquire better understanding towards
computer logic and relationship between users and machines.
Phase-3 Game
The work in phase three is an interactive game that uses visualised soundscape from a
glitched Super Mario sound track as the background sprite, traditional Chinese martial hero
figure as the main character sprite, and the glitched Super Mario soundtrack as the
interactive background sound. This game acts as a virtual automatic piano, which only play
sound when the character is moving. However the character will disappear once players
keep moving the character forward. It creates a dilemma that if the player wants to fully
experience one element, they must abandon other actions. This game sets on the third stage
of zen, which users fully understand the logic of a system, and eventually could see through
Fig-18 Yijiu Mao Mountains - Reconstruction - Game Computer programme 2019.
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the nature of the system logic through interactions and moving sprite. However, to experience
this stage of zen, one have to abandon their original bodily experience to embrace a new one
and see the truth of this world (Suzuki and Jung 1964; Fan 2018). In phase three, a few
alteration has been made since I discovered the connection between post-humanism and
Zen. The original statement in glitching video was replaced by a ASCII drawing of buddha
(See Fig-20). Because the understanding of Zen is not a verbal process but an experience.
The idea is to achieve the same effect but with a more implicit approach.
Game has been a widely used method
in the realm of post-internet art. The
interactivity of games make it a great
method to explore virtual embodiment.
According to Anna Munster (2011),
interaction is needed to maintain
engagement in a virtual space and
game is most embodied interaction
there is (Munster 2011). Interactions in
video games revolves around
perception, hand-eye coordination and
users into interaction with the system,
which it conveys the idea of efficiency,
expediency and mastery in the controls
between users and the system. This
interaction is often designed to
accomodates intuition and familiarities,
interaction with reversed hotkeys and
untuned movement speed (Nunes
Fig-20 Yijiu Mao Mountains - Reconstruction - Glitch Installation view Photo 2019.
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Phase-3 Reflection:
Philosophically speaking, a game is an incarnation to the idea of simulation. It is a simulation
of a game engines’ logic, a simulation of sprite out of codes, a simulation of a virtual
spacetime, and a simulation of a virtual identity (Nunes 2010; Munster 2011; Baudrillard
2014). A game is build from an empty space by someone who have a fully understanding to
the logic. On a single work, it encompassed all three stages of zen enlightenment, where
users only know how to control this game, players embarks explorations and adventures and
exploiting the system of this game, and the creator understand all its logic behind every single
sprite (Fan 2018; Nunes 2010). Sprites are seemingly the most crucial part to a video game,
however it is replaceable and meaningless. Although a sprite contains aesthetic decisions, it
is merely a visualisation of the inner logic, it is a simulacra (Baudrillard 2014; Nunes 2010).
A game is one of the best incarnation to my theoretical framework, firstly it is undoubtedly a
simulation. Secondly, it fulfils Haraway’s cyborg myth, creates a place where boundaries were
thoroughly transgressed since it operates on pure logic, informations and datas. The game is
also the ultimate embodiment of C3I, where the users give command through controller, the
signal communicates with the inner logic and controls the sprite to move (Haraway 2016).
Since this is on a pure basis of communication, it is thus supported by Baudrillard’s argument
in the ecstasy of communication. Game creates a virtual space and miniaturised users
behaviour into controllers (Baudrillard 2012). As aforementioned, the whole process of
making a game is consistent to the three stages in zen enlightenment (Fan 2018).
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Conclusion
Anxiety is the driving force for me to explore the field of internet art. The nature of internet
provides me a utopia where I am able to master things that I cannot achieve in real life. The
idea of internet is still expanding, the more I explore this filed the more interesting it gets.The
whole virtual universe of internet has transcended in time and space. There are no longer
past, future and present, multiple versions of past, present, and future can be immediately
accessible on the internet. And for the access of every different edition of past and present,
another future begins to unfold (Munster 2011). Thus even the boundaries between space
and time, reality and virtual, future and past are thoroughly diminished. The idea of a post-
human is no longer limited to machine integrated human body, but a full transcendence of
human beings. Spacetime ceasing to matter once connecting to a virtual space, this is when
machine transcending man to the fourth dimension, where we master the control of height,
length, width, and time. This is not even science-fiction but a reality. The full control to three-
dimensions and time are exactly how 3D animation and 3D gaming works, the masterfulness
of spacetime happening everyday in movie and gaming industry. This is the cyborg myth and
ecstasy of communication embodied virtually in our life through simulations.
Applying the three stages relationship between man and machine to aforementioned ideas,
netizens could be divided into three type. Take gaming as an example: the first type are
users, who play the game, without knowing this is a simulation. And the second type are
players, who play around the game, and exploiting its system, they understand they are
inside a simulation and trying to detach every meaning from the simulation in order to
understand the true logic of the system. And the third type are those who create games, they
have the full masterfulness of spacetime of their creation. When they are inside a game, they
immediately understand they are inside a simulation, and they can penetrate simulacra and
see the very truth of this simulation (Fan 2018; Nunes 2010). They have the capability of
creating, demolishing and maintaining anything in their simulation, they are the “god” inside
their own virtual domain. In that virtual space, they are beyond human and becoming post-
human.
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Accompanying with these three works I have created during this process, a in-depth research
on the relationship between users and machines was completed. Even though the three final
works expressed the interactions between man and machine in distinctive ways, the
exploration toward internet culture and post-human philosophy is consistent. The original
question: “what is the potential of desktop wallpaper, to express the relationship between
human and machine as a nexus of post-human consciousness?” Was answered by the
integration of the philosophy of Zen, and brought new aesthetic, personal aspect and
uniqueness to this project. The study of combining eastern philosophy with post-modern
philosophy to analyse impacts technology brought on people is an under-researched area.
This research could be expanding to examine more phenomenons in the realm of technology,
especially the field of human-computer interaction and user interface. With the incorporation
of zen, ways users interact with machines could be evolving into more embodied method.
More methods that could exceeding productivity and efficiency and evoking experiences and
embodiment. Technologies like electroencephalogram , brain-machine interface , could be 10 11
investigated and actualised in the realm of art.
A device monitors brain activity and use it as a data to communicate with devices like computers and mobile phones. 10
A technology allows people to access computers and mobile phones even internet directly from their brain. 11
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