I am a Senior Lecturer in Digital Media and Communication in The University of Sydney.
My academic trajectory has been characterized by interdisciplinary research across a wide range of digital media using the toolkit of science and technology studies and actor network theory. My work critically examines the socio-technical nuances of the Internet of Things, smart clothing, distributed networks, and object ecologies.
In this lecture I discuss the concepts of schema and frames in the context of the process of perc... more In this lecture I discuss the concepts of schema and frames in the context of the process of perception. I examine the way framing can be used to alter perceptions and discuss the case of Edward Barnays' 'Torches of Freedom' campaign.
In this lecture I am discussing Thomas Kuhn's concept of paradigms and the process of paradigm sh... more In this lecture I am discussing Thomas Kuhn's concept of paradigms and the process of paradigm shifts, with a specific focus on the mechanics of transitioning from one paradigm to another.
In this lecture I discuss the decision making and feedback process of observing, orienting, decid... more In this lecture I discuss the decision making and feedback process of observing, orienting, deciding and acting in a complex and chaotic environment, as first conceptualized by John Boyd as the OODA loop.
In this piece, I propose that the most subversive yet elegant method to triumph over a competing ... more In this piece, I propose that the most subversive yet elegant method to triumph over a competing system is to make it detour itself into a state of inertia. Moreover, this self-detour can be induced as if casting a spell. I call it the naked king spell.
This paper engages the class of technologies described as the Internet of Things, and concentrate... more This paper engages the class of technologies described as the Internet of Things, and concentrates on its problematic implications for the notions of social identity and agency. The paper argues that this problematic is fundamentally a function of a social projection ill-equipped for encounters with objects becoming actively sociable, and suggests an examination of networked human-object assemblages with a conceptual apparatus borrowed from actor network theory
... One example of what this article means by cartography of attachments is provided by the work ... more ... One example of what this article means by cartography of attachments is provided by the work of Dutch location-media artist Esther Polak. In her Amsterdam Realtime (AR) mapping project several inhabitants of Amsterdam ...
This paper aims to develop a systemic perspective of the mechanics of an online memetic warfare c... more This paper aims to develop a systemic perspective of the mechanics of an online memetic warfare campaign. The paper uses as its case study the #DraftOurDaughters campaign, a viral memetic campaign conducted in October 2016 as part of the U.S. presidential election campaign. #DraftOurDaughters was organised and produced by anonymous members of the Internet board 4chan, and then deployed to wider audiences on platforms such as Reddit, Twitter and Facebook. This process is documented from inception to completion, capturing the swarm like topology of 4chan’s /pol/ forum, and the logistics of the swarm’s rapid prototyping, coordination, production and dissemination of content. Through examining these phenomena, this paper also provides perspective on the manifestation of collaborative design practice in online participatory spaces.
Spatial representations, metaphors and imaginaries (cyberspace, web pages) have been the mainstay... more Spatial representations, metaphors and imaginaries (cyberspace, web pages) have been the mainstay of internet research for a long time. Instead of repeating these themes, this article seeks to answer the question of how we might understand the concept of time in relation to internet research. After a brief excursus on the general history of the concept, this article proposes three different approaches to the conceptualization of internet time. The common thread underlying all the approaches is the notion of time as an assemblage of elements such as technical artefacts, social relations and metaphors. By drawing out time in this way, the article addresses the challenge of thinking of internet time as coexistence, a clash of fluxes, metaphors, lived experiences and assemblages. In other words, this article proposes a way to articulate internet time as a multiplicity.
In this lecture I discuss the concepts of schema and frames in the context of the process of perc... more In this lecture I discuss the concepts of schema and frames in the context of the process of perception. I examine the way framing can be used to alter perceptions and discuss the case of Edward Barnays' 'Torches of Freedom' campaign.
In this lecture I am discussing Thomas Kuhn's concept of paradigms and the process of paradigm sh... more In this lecture I am discussing Thomas Kuhn's concept of paradigms and the process of paradigm shifts, with a specific focus on the mechanics of transitioning from one paradigm to another.
In this lecture I discuss the decision making and feedback process of observing, orienting, decid... more In this lecture I discuss the decision making and feedback process of observing, orienting, deciding and acting in a complex and chaotic environment, as first conceptualized by John Boyd as the OODA loop.
In this piece, I propose that the most subversive yet elegant method to triumph over a competing ... more In this piece, I propose that the most subversive yet elegant method to triumph over a competing system is to make it detour itself into a state of inertia. Moreover, this self-detour can be induced as if casting a spell. I call it the naked king spell.
This paper engages the class of technologies described as the Internet of Things, and concentrate... more This paper engages the class of technologies described as the Internet of Things, and concentrates on its problematic implications for the notions of social identity and agency. The paper argues that this problematic is fundamentally a function of a social projection ill-equipped for encounters with objects becoming actively sociable, and suggests an examination of networked human-object assemblages with a conceptual apparatus borrowed from actor network theory
... One example of what this article means by cartography of attachments is provided by the work ... more ... One example of what this article means by cartography of attachments is provided by the work of Dutch location-media artist Esther Polak. In her Amsterdam Realtime (AR) mapping project several inhabitants of Amsterdam ...
This paper aims to develop a systemic perspective of the mechanics of an online memetic warfare c... more This paper aims to develop a systemic perspective of the mechanics of an online memetic warfare campaign. The paper uses as its case study the #DraftOurDaughters campaign, a viral memetic campaign conducted in October 2016 as part of the U.S. presidential election campaign. #DraftOurDaughters was organised and produced by anonymous members of the Internet board 4chan, and then deployed to wider audiences on platforms such as Reddit, Twitter and Facebook. This process is documented from inception to completion, capturing the swarm like topology of 4chan’s /pol/ forum, and the logistics of the swarm’s rapid prototyping, coordination, production and dissemination of content. Through examining these phenomena, this paper also provides perspective on the manifestation of collaborative design practice in online participatory spaces.
Spatial representations, metaphors and imaginaries (cyberspace, web pages) have been the mainstay... more Spatial representations, metaphors and imaginaries (cyberspace, web pages) have been the mainstay of internet research for a long time. Instead of repeating these themes, this article seeks to answer the question of how we might understand the concept of time in relation to internet research. After a brief excursus on the general history of the concept, this article proposes three different approaches to the conceptualization of internet time. The common thread underlying all the approaches is the notion of time as an assemblage of elements such as technical artefacts, social relations and metaphors. By drawing out time in this way, the article addresses the challenge of thinking of internet time as coexistence, a clash of fluxes, metaphors, lived experiences and assemblages. In other words, this article proposes a way to articulate internet time as a multiplicity.
There is a significant nascent market for ethically produced products with enormous commercial po... more There is a significant nascent market for ethically produced products with enormous commercial potential around the world. A reliable method to signal the provenance of products is therefore critical for industry, given that competition based on price is not a viable strategy. The ability to trace and signal ethical treatment of animals is also of significant value to textiles manufactures. The efficacy of such a method can be measured with respect to the cost of implementation, scalability, and the difficulty of counterfeiting. The key to traceability is to win the trust of the consumer about the veracity of this information. Wearable sensors make it possible to monitor and improve the management of traceability and/or provenance. In this paper, we introduce a method for signalling the provenance of garments using radio frequency watermarks. The proposed model consists of two levels of authentication that are easy to use by legitimate vendors, but extremely difficult to imitate or ...
Seminar presented at the Institute on Social Transformation Research:
The talk will be structur... more Seminar presented at the Institute on Social Transformation Research:
The talk will be structured as a provocation examining the notion of anticipatory materiality in the context of the internet of things and 3D printing. As objects become more and more sociable - think smart fridge, smart car, etc. - they become less and less ‘stable’ [think of rocks, coffee mugs, etc as examples of material stability], and more and more like a twitter feed. 3D printing only compounds this process as the material is literally liquefied and injected based on computer code – in effect the code is primary, and tangible materiality is secondary in this process. The resulting materiality is literally ‘on demand’ – in that it exists as relational data first and foremost and as material artefacts only when demanded; and anticipatory - in that the main characteristic of connected objects is their capacity to initiate action based on predictive algorithms.
Presentation of my philosophy in curating the Digital Media and Communication [DIGC] Major at the... more Presentation of my philosophy in curating the Digital Media and Communication [DIGC] Major at the University of Wollongong
The 2016 US presidential elections were surrounded by a vast social media campaign, involving the... more The 2016 US presidential elections were surrounded by a vast social media campaign, involving the phenomenon of distributed memetic warfare on a scale unseen before. #DraftOurDaughters was a viral memetic campaign organised and produced by anonymous members of the internet board 4chan, and then deployed to wider audiences on platforms such as Reddit, Twitter and Facebook. Memetic warfare in social media has recently been documented in case studies of the 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict (Rodley 2016) and the 2014 Russia-Ukraine conflict (Wiggins 2016). These studies present and analyse the content generated by users, with a central focus on continual content remixing, and the generation of semiotic messaging. In contrast, this paper aims to develop a systemic perspective of the mechanics of generation of targeted memes, by analysing the swarm like topology of 4chan's /pol/ forum (Hine et al. 2017), and the logistics of the swarm's rapid prototyping, coordination, production, and dissemination of content.
The paper uses as its case study the #DraftOurDaughters campaign, which is documented in its entirety from inception to completion. The anonymous conversations conceptualising the campaign, as well as the rapid prototyping and ideation process informed by the swarm's quick feedback loop, are analysed with a conceptual apparatus informed by actor network theory, and then mapped to design process research. Concepts native to the open source movement make the foundation of the framework analysing the collaborative dynamics and production of content (Raymond 2001, Robb 2007), further developing open source remix as a fundamental mechanic to content production. Further analysis is performed using concepts from systems theory (Baran 1962), swarming in conflict scenarios (Arquilla and Ronfeldt 2000), and approaches to fourth generation warfare (Lind and Thiele 2015). The behavior of the swarm in response to an identified goal is mapped to concepts central to design process methodology (Dubberly 2008).
The main focus of the argument is in developing a coherent and systemic perspective on the logistics of distributed memetic production in online spaces potentiating swarm-like behavior in their user-base. The authors examine this process in its entirety, from the logistics of swarm formation to the rapid prototyping of ideas leveraging short feedback loops, and the collaborative creation of semantically targeted media. Anonymous online spaces such as 4chan are identified as environments fostering a powerful feedback loop of distributed ideation, content production and dissemination. Through examining these phenomena, the paper also provides perspective on the manifestation of collaborative design practice in online participatory media spaces.
This paper engages the class of technologies described as the Internet of Things, and concentrate... more This paper engages the class of technologies described as the Internet of Things, and concentrates on its problematic implications for the notions of social identity and agency. The paper argues that this problematic is fundamentally a function of a social projection ill-equipped for encounters with objects becoming actively sociable, and suggests an examination of networked human-object assemblages with a conceptual apparatus borrowed from actor network theory.
Every system, be that a single entity or a large organization, must perform itself into existence... more Every system, be that a single entity or a large organization, must perform itself into existence from moment to moment. If it stops doing that it succumbs to entropy and falls apart. Spoiler alert, in the long run entropy always wins. To perform itself into existence every system must expand a certain amount of energy, which is a function of the relationship between its internal state and the external conditions it operates in. In other words, it must expand some energy on keeping its internals working smoothly together, and then expand some energy on resisting and adapting to adverse external conditions. The better adapted a system's internal state is to its external conditions, the less energy it must dedicate to perform itself into existence, and the larger the potential energy surplus it can use to grow, expand, or replicate itself.
Recently I have been trying to formulate my digital media teaching and learning philosophy as a s... more Recently I have been trying to formulate my digital media teaching and learning philosophy as a systemic framework. This is a posteriori work because philosophies can be non-systemic, but systems are always based on a philosophy. I also don't think a teaching/learning system can ever be complete, because entropy and change are the only givens [even in academy]. It has to be understood as dynamic, and therefore more along the lines of rules-of-thumb as opposed to prescriptive dogma. None of the specific elements of the framework I use are critical to its success, and the only axiom is that the elements have to form a coherent system. By coherence, I understand a dynamic setting where 1] the elements of the system are integrated both horizontally and vertically [more on that below], and 2] the system is bigger than the sum of its parts. The second point needs further elaboration, as I have often found even highly educated people really struggle with non-linear systems. Briefly, linear progression is utterly predictable [x + 1 + 1…= x + n] and comfortable to build models in – i.e. if you increase x by 1, the new state of the system will be x +1. Nonlinear progression by contrast, is utterly unpredictable and exhibits rapid deviations from whatever the fashionable mean is at the moment – i.e. x+1= y. Needless to say, one cannot model nonlinear systems over long periods of time, as the systems will inevitably deviate from the limited variables given in the model. Axiom: all complex systems are nonlinear when exposed to time [even in academy].
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I call it the naked king spell.
I call it the naked king spell.
The talk will be structured as a provocation examining the notion of anticipatory materiality in the context of the internet of things and 3D printing. As objects become more and more sociable - think smart fridge, smart car, etc. - they become less and less ‘stable’ [think of rocks, coffee mugs, etc as examples of material stability], and more and more like a twitter feed. 3D printing only compounds this process as the material is literally liquefied and injected based on computer code – in effect the code is primary, and tangible materiality is secondary in this process. The resulting materiality is literally ‘on demand’ – in that it exists as relational data first and foremost and as material artefacts only when demanded; and anticipatory - in that the main characteristic of connected objects is their capacity to initiate action based on predictive algorithms.
The paper uses as its case study the #DraftOurDaughters campaign, which is documented in its entirety from inception to completion. The anonymous conversations conceptualising the campaign, as well as the rapid prototyping and ideation process informed by the swarm's quick feedback loop, are analysed with a conceptual apparatus informed by actor network theory, and then mapped to design process research. Concepts native to the open source movement make the foundation of the framework analysing the collaborative dynamics and production of content (Raymond 2001, Robb 2007), further developing open source remix as a fundamental mechanic to content production. Further analysis is performed using concepts from systems theory (Baran 1962), swarming in conflict scenarios (Arquilla and Ronfeldt 2000), and approaches to fourth generation warfare (Lind and Thiele 2015). The behavior of the swarm in response to an identified goal is mapped to concepts central to design process methodology (Dubberly 2008).
The main focus of the argument is in developing a coherent and systemic perspective on the logistics of distributed memetic production in online spaces potentiating swarm-like behavior in their user-base. The authors examine this process in its entirety, from the logistics of swarm formation to the rapid prototyping of ideas leveraging short feedback loops, and the collaborative creation of semantically targeted media. Anonymous online spaces such as 4chan are identified as environments fostering a powerful feedback loop of distributed ideation, content production and dissemination. Through examining these phenomena, the paper also provides perspective on the manifestation of collaborative design practice in online participatory media spaces.
implications for the notions of social identity and agency. The paper argues that this problematic is fundamentally a
function of a social projection ill-equipped for encounters with objects becoming actively sociable, and suggests an
examination of networked human-object assemblages with a conceptual apparatus borrowed from actor network theory.