[ISEA2009] Paper: Jeremy Levine – Products of negotiation and spaces of possibility: quantum systems and interactive media art

Abstract

The human subject and the production of reality in quantum systems and interactive media art.

The division between subject and object is a natural result of our sensory impressions of the external world, which seem separate from the thoughts in our heads. When we stare at a painting we apprehend it as an object distinct from our conscious self. This binary split between the world ‘out there’ and the world in our heads is the foundation of classical logic. The very notion of objectivity is predicated on the idea that the universe is composed of subjects who are capable of remaining aloof from their objects. This is not the case when we confront interactive media art or quantum particles, neither of which can be considered ‘objects’ in any normal sense of the word. Instead we have systems – open, complex systems – in which we play a starring role. ‘In the drama of existence we ourselves are both actors and spectators’.

  • Jeremy Levine, Amercian interaction designer and theorician

Full Text (PDF) p. 639-645