Notes Towards Affect Engines
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Notes Towards Affect Engines
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Wed, 02/07/2008 - 10:48 — Adrian
Original Citation:
Miles, Adrian. "Notes Towards Affect Engines." International Association of Philosophy and Literature. Melbourne, July 2008.
abstract:
Contemporary theory in its approach to digital media has largely relied upon traditional notions of story and narrative to understand the similarities and differences afforded by digital media. While this work has been invaluable it has emphasised the ways in which things like hypertext may, or may not be, story like and so has examined the new roles of the reader (Douglas 1994; Douglas 2000), and the implications for multilinearity for story sense. (Bolter 1991; Joyce 1995; Joyce 1995; Joyce 1995; Aarseth 1997; Gaggi 1997; Bernstein 1998; Dovey 2002; Landow 2006) However, emerging dominant digital forms juxtapose highly local content and practices with system wide and global combinatory systems.
Traditional approaches which retain assumptions of media as narratively informed run the risk of misreading or ‘missing’ what is peculiar to the possibilities of these digital systems where there are an enormous number of discursive forms available which probably fall outside of what we would ordinarily identify as the subject of the literary or narratological.(Eskelinen 2001; Eskelinen 2004) Many of these forms, while clearly story like (for example blogs) also move away from the regimes of representational narratives, whether fiction or non fiction, and produce work that could be characterised as ambient. For example, a video sharing site such as YouTube, while consisting of millions of micro narratives in the form of televisual fragments, only has the possibility of coherence in any formal narratological sense through theoretical sleight of hand, however is much more amenable to theorisation when considered as an ambient form. When considered in this light it is clear that much contemporary online systems are in fact systems for the production of ambient narrative, and as a consequence are moving away from representative narrative (stories about things) towards affective assemblages — systems for the production, distribution and participation of affects.
Dance, Dance, Revolution
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Engaging in a practice of permissive exploration, we strove to develop various formats for critical exchange that are both intellectually rigorous and playful. This intuitive and open generation of ideas, coupled with the speed and intensity necessitated by a limited creation period, propelled us towards an approach of decentralization. Not only did we as a Curation/Production group conceptualize and develop events, we also invited other artists to engage in the shaping of the festival. As a group we have nurtured a spirit of irreverence, and encouraged omni-directional experimentation throughout the festival’s framework. We offer a skeleton, a potentiality. We are excited to see where and how it will meet you. With love, Rebecca Brooks, Beth Gill, Erika Hand and Isabel Lewis. Neal Beasley was a member of the Trisha Brown Dance Company from 2003-2007. He is a graduate of Idyllwild Arts Academy and holds a BFA in dance from NYU/Tisch School of the Arts. In his newfound freelance life, he is currently scheduled to work with choreographers Beth Gill, Eleanor Bauer, and Larry Keigwin. He has taught technique and repertory internationally for TBDC, as well as in the New York studios. He directed rehearsals for Ms. Brown's creation for the Paris Opera Ballet, both in its 2004 debut and the revival earlier this year.
