New Media

New Media artist Eduardo Kac states, “The closer technology gets to the body the more it tends to permeate it”. (http://www.ekac.org/gfpbunny.html). In this light, it appears that we have entered into a domain that has become an integrated and coexistent part of human life. Casting aside the categorisations of new media, it is clear that it is fundamentally dominating ever increasing aspects of human life ranging from medical technology to artwork. It appears that we are partaking in a Baudrillardian ecstasy of communication in which spatial distances and time does not exist. However, is society developing too rapidly, and are we really competent to control the full capacity of new media? “Henceforth it is no longer the human that conceives the world; it is the un-human that conceives us”. (Baudrillard, 2005).

With the inspirational creations of the artist’s imagination, current conceptualizations of space, distance, and time is becoming outmoded. We move into an age where new media, digital communication, light-speed, laser technology, and cybernetics are rapidly becoming a part of social organization and human existence.

Run for the hills!

A Marxist view of technological and scientific development

It is common knowledge that scientific and technological developments have brought many changes to human civilization; with the way that we do things, interact with one another, and ultimately live our lives. The sociological aspects of science and technology and its impact on individuals and societies is a crucial focal point in order to demystify the underlying causes. Only then may we become capable of monitoring and regulating the application or implementation of scientific and technological developments and its supposed advantages for people, rather than allowing for the continuance of sordid manipulation used in capitalist politics. Large businesses are the ones funding most research and development activities, and therefore, they are in a position to control the course of modernization and the impact of innovations on society. For example, large business owners funded the developments in the computing field and consequently, individuals are no longer able to fully function without the use of a computer. As an offspring of the market orientated political system it is only natural for science and technology to create opportunities for the emergence of new commodities. These commodities however, may take the shape or form of many different things that may or may not be ethical, morally acceptable, or even legal.

In the field of medical science for example, technological advancement has crossed so many boundaries and, are leaping further into a realm in which they can almost build an entire human being from scratch. For now, it seems they can be awarded for having perfected many surgical procedures and discovered numerous cures. The subject I wish to address here regards some of the social implications of a certain medical procedure know as organ transplants. As a side effect of advanced technology and medical sciences combined, human organs are rapidly becoming a commercial property. A Marxist approach on this issue reveals many similar trends of his critique on capitalism. In this tradition, I argue that human organs are rapidly being transformed into simple commodities that can be exchanged on the market with a similar sort of ‘use value’ and ‘exchange value’ as any other product that is of any interest to human kind. However, the exchange value may prove to be phenomenally disproportioned to the use value in the case of human organs. Furthermore, it is possible to speculate that the use and exchange values of human organs may be severely compromised in a world with such variant socio-economic patterns. Who, or which powers, or what circumstances will ultimately determine the economic value of our bodies? The seriousness of this matter becomes clear as we find that people from poorer economic conditions are being compelled to sell their organs for a little extra money, while other profitable outlets are being furnished for network of criminal activity in which human organs are proving to be a fast and easy means to wealth. I also argue that labour in the Marxist context has now taken on new meaning in the sense that labour was considered to be the result of effort, time and work put in by an individual in order to earn money; this may be seen as an indirect part of oneself. Now, it is more so that labour can be a direct part of oneself that an individual can give in order to make money. It appears that ‘good health’ is something that can now be bought in the market place. The ever increasing use of medical technologies is not necessarily a result of technically safer products or more efficacious techniques, but a direct outcome of the commodification process of capitalism.

The ‘Inter-Skin’ Project (1994) by Stahl Stenslie.

Norwegian born media artist, Stahl Stenslie is recognised for his work on VR environments, different interface technologies, and tools used in digital cultures. He is considered to be a pioneer in the field of Cybersex. He firstly gained recognition in this field with his tele-tactile communication system called CyberSM, in 1993. Stenslies’ fascination with cyber-erotica led to a more physically interactive method of sensual stimuli as displayed in the current work, The Inter-Skin Project.

The inter-skin project is specifically designed to incorporate the physical body as the mediator for communication. It is a method that enables a tangible, physical communication between two or more parties by means of a sensory outfit that is worn by users. Stenslie describes the project as “a sensual communication system design constituted by the transmission of touch and movement”. (Stenslie.net). In this particular display, two participants wear a specially designed tactile outfit that is capable of transmitting and receiving various multi sensory stimuli. The suits are linked via a computer network connection which allows the ‘inter-skin’ to transmit, exchange, and receive information. In other words, the wearer of one suit is able to feel the physical stimulus of the other wearer’s touch, and visa versa.

Stenslie suggests that the inter-skin project instigates a couple of interesting phenomena that is, autoerotic stimulation and the conception of a shared virtual body. The autoerotic stimulation in simple terms means that ones own sensual experience with their own skin becomes a simultaneous interface for the tactile communication with other users. Both voice and touch are utilised in the project. The shared virtual body, as Stenslie puts it, is created by the autoerotic stimulation. Its existence is constituted through the sensual experience of the participants. (Stenslie.net). Stenslie proposes that this transforms ones body into “a self referential object for the communication…by taking the concentration away from the object oriented (screen) towards the subject oriented (body)”. (Stenslie.net). This is clearly a major step towards immersive VR environments and tactile communication systems.

From here onwards, it would seem, the human perception of reality is that matters. According to Baudrillard, we accept reality via the hallucinatory resemblance of the real to itself. (Baudrillard, 1976). The virtual and the real are obviously melding together hence, the difference between interaction online and offline become ambiguous. Therefore, in this sense, a virtual reality may then become sufficient to satisfy the human perception of reality. “Reality will spontaneously destroy itself once it has reached a critical mass, allowing the ‘virtual’ to replace the world”. (Baudrillard, 1998).

Many people in the field of cyborg technology or ‘cyborgology’ such as Thad Starner, Chris Hables Gray, and Steve Mann are consciously working to expand the possibilities for human- machine integration. Artists such as Stenslie on the other hand, are shedding light on further possibilities of new media through their imaginative talents. McLuhan had asserted that new media innovations are an extension of some human faculty. Stenslie’s innovations have somewhat expounded on this statement dramatically in that, human faculties can now be transformed into its digital counterpart which then remains interactive with one’s own body.

A Blurb on line on Online Communities

Computer networks now facilitate innovative forms of communication in new types of social environments in which people can meet, work, learn, and play without ever seeing each other in the physical world. These types of interactions have provided a platform on which forms of virtual communities are being established. Computer-Mediated-Communications (CMCs) are clearly changing the way we live our lives, but the direction of change is still uncertain.

Online communities are a by-product of technology that is influencing the way people socialize. This concept has created a realm in which everybody can gather and meet in a specified domain, no matter what their identity or geographical position may be. It provides an easily accessible option for those who wish to interact with others who share similar interests, but are located very far from them.

The subsequent anonymity which is applied to internet communications appears to provide a non discriminatory, non biased atmosphere in which people may freely communicate with one another without any preconceived notions which may not easily be suppressed during interactions in the physical world.

Spatial distances in virtuality

Due to high speed internet connections and vast communication
networks, geographical boundaries of the world including time,
distance, and space have been eradicated in the virtual realm.
The spatial distances in the physical world which we had
traditionally recognized as the real world are now accessible,
manipulatable, and even obliterated in the virtual. We now have
the ability to conduct business, operate procedures, and communicate
with any region on earth in real-time. Not only can the user immediately
obtain information and images of various locations, he can also be
virtually present at these locations by the use of what Virilio calls
‘telepresence’. Thus distance, time, and space are automatically
miniaturized into a virtual configuration through the use of technology.