Re: <nettime> [Augmentology] _A Warcry for Birthing Synthetic Worlds_

["second loop" <secondloop@gmail.com>]

On Sun, Aug 10, 2008 at 10:41 AM, > ! < <gonzo@quadrantcrossing.org> wrote:
> + point being that the 'metaphor' will only be transcended when a
> 'synthetic' or 'virtual' event ripples into the real, by way of its doubling
> (the synthetic event bearing a trace of the real to begin with, the latter
> which itself contains traces of the imaginary) . will this only:

Tobias, I had to send this video, since you brought this question up
so clearly.

This youtube video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H02h0nGBryU

is perhaps the clearest example of what you're talking
about here. It shows a Gary Kasparov speech interrupted by
a flying penis, replicating a griefing incident in second
life where a press conference was interrupted by rapidly
multiplying flying penises. You can read more about it here:
http://secondloop.wordpress.com/2008/06/26/virtual-and-actual-politics
-in-second-life-and-out/

But I've been reading Anna Munster's amazing book "materalizing new
media" lately, and I've come to realize that this distinction is
always false. The synthetic and the physical world are always bleeding
into each other. From your finger on your trackpad or your hand on
your mouse, there is a physical interaction driving the virtual world.
Even if the effect is as small as you sitting at your computer, as you
point out. Is this just the result of our sheer decadence that global
northerners can disract themselves while the world burns? Perhaps...

I'm surprised there aren't more comments from the nettime crew on the
flaming discussion in part 2 at augmentology.com, though. I'd expect
people to jump right in when the commenter said that free software
isn't necessarily a good thing... Haha... I guess we all have our own
little worlds to buffer us from each other, right?

xo,

  azdel






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