In a recent interview, Geert Lovink called the internet perhaps the mistake of his generation. According to him, the idea that people can control it is naive. ‘Platform Brutality’ is the eighth book in Lovink’s series about the internet and forms a trinity with ‘Sad By Design’ (2019) and ‘Stuck On The Platform’ (2022), which… Continue reading dreaming
Author: theoploeg
we no longer understand nature
Leicht wie Nebel / Schwer wie Blei / Musik ergibt sich / Strömt wie Gas / Eine Lichtung / Schweres Gepäck / Einstand im Jenseits / Der Tod hat sieben Katzen / Weltkulturerbe Rausch / Endlich UnendlichWolfgang Voigt (2018) Das Ich denke, Ich bin, ist, seit Cartesius, der Grundirrtum in aller Erkenntnis; das Denken ist… Continue reading we no longer understand nature
materialism
There is a connection between our lost faith in a better future and the growing popularity of science fiction, German A. Duarte, Andrea Facchetti, and Seçil Uğur Yavuz from the Faculty of Art and Design at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano in Northern Italy argue. By analyzing the work of author Philip K. Dick, they… Continue reading materialism
speculative realism
For theorists, the 2007 conference on speculative realism at Goldsmiths College in London is like the first Nirvana concerts in Belgium and the Netherlands. Afterward, everyone was there or wanted to be there. The conference brought together several thinkers with more in common than in difference: criticism of the prevailing continental philosophy. Four philosophers stood… Continue reading speculative realism
what is sci-fi?
How do you define science fiction? That is the question that has occupied Steven Shaviro for decades. Now that he is approaching sixty, he still has no answer. That is precisely as it should be, writes Shaviro: science fiction has no clear boundaries, which is good. Science fiction is an important genre, he emphasizes. For… Continue reading what is sci-fi?
utopia as practice
future thinking as a tranquilizer in an accelerating world “Bist du bereit für eine kleine Utopie?”, Blumfeld in ‘Wir Sind Frei’ “I miss the future”, Jaron Lanier The 1977 album ‘Trans Europa Express’ by the German band Kraftwerk is peculiar. Although the arrangements, the use of synthesizers, and layers of noise are very modern, the overall feel… Continue reading utopia as practice
design pessimism
Design has become an empty shell, Silvio Lorusso argues, and he does so with a lot of humor and serious theoretical and practical observations. Lorusso refers to the word design and the entire discipline. This creates a difficult situation: many designers feel responsible for improving the world, while they have to do so with resources… Continue reading design pessimism
The Future of Journalism: speculation
In a world where we lack understanding of new developments, the journalist increasingly emerges as a clarifier of the near future. Well-founded speculative journalism is required. “Bioprinters aren’t toys, so stop printing unicorns,” headlines The New York Times. Now that toy manufacturers are launching child-friendly printers that allow the printing of living material, the time… Continue reading The Future of Journalism: speculation
Vaporrave Virus
How the fragmented spectre of rave spreads through the digital network Rave has been declared dead several times. There is hope. In this new decade, the spectre of rave manifests itself online and spreads through the digital network like a virus. The moment the beat comes in is pure bliss. The tension disappears and gives… Continue reading Vaporrave Virus
Why we need design sociology
“Man becomes, as it were, the sex organs of the machine world, as the bee of the plant world, enabling it to fecundate and to evolve ever new forms. The machine world reciprocates man’s love by expediting his wishes and desires, namely, in providing him with wealth.”Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media (1964) In Coded Bias, MIT Media… Continue reading Why we need design sociology