Abstract

The network and its related concept of ‘networking’ has found increasing currency within diverse fields such as kinship, finance, information theory, media art, communication, bioscience, organizational structure and, most recently, contemporary forms of terrorist activity. Networks, generally operate on the model of a cell or unit system, wherein the exact nature of operation is defined by a parallel existence outside of any individual part. Simultaneously, the effectiveness of the network depends on its fundamental interconnectedness. Network functions and networking patterns therefore operate on a synchronous basis that deserves special attention from a comparative perspective. Proceeding from cybernetic perspectives on the network, this comparative analysis presents some of the key concepts related to networks and critically examines salient network models on a cross-dimensional basis. It seeks to establish key commonalties relevant to the intrinsic issue of sustainability that may be as meaningful for scientists as artists and cultural activists currently engaged in challenging hegemonic assumptions of the network experience.

• Nina Czegledy, HU/CA