New materialities in the digital age, narrated through sound experiments

By: Doreen A. Ríos

2018

Introduction

For nearly three decades, the Internet has orchestrated a dance of digital material among the masses, reshaping our social fabric and architectural landscapes. William J. Mitchell's assertion that the World Wide Web replaces spaces sparks an exploration into how the Internet mirrors architectural functions. Mitchell's insights dive into how people leverage metaphors and paradigms of space creation, shaping their electronic agoras. He posits that the Internet, in essence, emerges as a player capable of fulfilling architectural roles—creating spaces for action, observation, and visibility (Lunenfeld, 1999). Building upon Mitchell's perspective, this essay delves into the implications of three decades of digital materialities, navigating through a myriad of platforms and devices that have become intricately interwoven into our daily lives.

This essay focuses on addressing the contemporary notion of new materialities, emphasizing those that have been enunciated within different contexts and have tried to make sense of the material exchanges of contemporary creative production and, especially, to establish a new language that encompasses its complexities.

New materialities in the digital age

In the landscape of creative production, new materialities unfold as a fusion of digital technologies, computerized drawing, digital modeling, and more—comprising a whole universe within a broader creative process. This essay zooms in on sound experiments as case studies, serving as a lens to explore the intricate layers of contemporary material transactions. The exploration aims to shed light on the transformation of sensory experiences, adopting diverse forms in the context of contemporary production.

It's important to highlight that, within the scope of this research, the characterization of digital objects moves beyond the conventional perception of them as immaterial. While the term immaterial suggests an intangibility, these digital entities are, in reality, always accessed through an interface—a bridge that connects them to the realm of traditional objectuality. With this premise as our launchpad, the essay proceeds to define three key concepts nestled within the framework of new materialities. Each concept finds its complement in examples drawn from the rich landscape of sound experiments, allowing a deeper understanding of their implications and applications in the digital age.

Hypermaterials

At the forefront of new materialities lies the concept of hypermateriality, a term coined by Bernard Stiegler in his work The Hypermaterial Economy and Psychopower. This concept encapsulates the intricate processes of exchange between digitization and rematerialization, notably in fields like architectural design where the final outcome is intricately tied to CAD technologies.

Stiegler defines hypermateriality as a complex interplay of energy and information, blurring the distinction between matter and form. In a simple design process, the journey unfolds—from hand-drawn sketches to digital models, reflecting the seamless integration of digitization. Furthermore, the digitization process isn't always a conscious choice but often a mandatory step dictated by production conditions.

This transformative process extends beyond architecture, permeating various creative domains. Graphic design, for instance, often reveals traces of the tools and processes used, advocating the notion that an object's complete objecthood is not solely represented by its final physical form but also encapsulated in its digital file. This aligns with the idea of expanded materials—a single object existing in diverse material conditions, both physical and digital.

Stiegler prompts us to recognize these objects' different materialities, asserting that neglecting this perspective leads to a loss of their essence. Hypermateriality thus emerges as a concept seeking to comprehend this new material condition as an inseparable whole.

An example on hypermateriality in action is the artwork Speculative Communications (2017 - 19) by the collective Interspecifics. This venture translates bacterial movement into sound and image, creating an audiovisual score through a machine observing and learning from microorganisms. The piece embodies a hypermaterial cycle where tangible biological entities undergo digitization, propelled by external stimuli, and subsequently rematerialize in image and sound after being processed through a custom made AI model developed by the collective. The artowork emphasizes the interconnected significance of tangible and intangible components, fostering a rich language developed through these material exchanges.

Speculative Communications stands as a testament to Stiegler's conceptualization of hypermateriality, showcasing its objectives as a piece and a material exploration. It brings to the forefront the real-time gestures of life, expressing tangible instability through visual and sound representations. The project bridges science, fiction, life, and engineering, aiming to appropriate the social imaginary and create connections with the seemingly alien, yet intrinsic, ontology of our species.

Neomateriality

In 2015, Christiane Paul introduced the concept of neomateriality as a means to describe objecthood that integrates networked digital technologies. Unlike hypermateriality, Paul's neomateriality delves into the intricate processes of digitization, rematerialization, and the consequential gains and losses within material exchanges. She highlights the importance of recognizing the changes occurring within these cycles, promoting transparency and understanding of what transpires inside the black boxes of digital processes.

Paul's proposition emerges during an era marked by a growing awareness of the drawbacks of digital devices, incorporating a critical perspective into the discourse. As issues like privacy loss and hypervigilance gain prominence, neomateriality becomes a lens through which to scrutinize the impacts of digital technologies on our lives.

The concept of neomateriality converges ideas from Bernard Stiegler's hypermaterialities and James Bridle's New Aesthetic. Bridle, an artist and media theorist critical of the swift acceptance of technological conditions, explores the aesthetic aspects of digital systems off-screen. The New Aesthetic project, existing within the vernacular of the network, attempts to write critically about the network itself, utilizing mediums like Tumblr, blog posts, and YouTube videos.

Bridle's exploration aligns with neomateriality, reiterating the importance of understanding what lies beyond the digital images we consume daily. This raises the question: What cognitive processes occur beyond the objective in the cycle of materialization, digitization, and rematerialization? Neomateriality seeks answers, describing the embeddedness of the digital in everyday objects, images, and structures. It manifests in contemporary culture and artistic practice through works that use embedded networked technologies, reveal their coded materiality, and reflect the perceptions of digital machines and processes.

A piece reflecting neomateriality is Wesley Goatley's The Dark Age of Connectionism: Captivity (2017). This installation explores the limitations of devices like the Amazon Echo through a multi-channel audio and sculptural setup. It exposes the opacities in the function of personal assistants, revealing how they not only detect voices but also movements. Goatley's work demonstrates a deep understanding of the physical and digital components of personal assistants, offering insights into how to navigate and be invisible to these machines—an act aligning with Christiane Paul's vision of neomateriality.

Metamateriality

In the realm of speculation, the concept of metamateriality, as introduced by Timur Si-Qin, takes us beyond the physical composition of materials and into the realm of shape-shifting entities. The term emerges in Timur's essay Metamaterialism, drawing connections to Manuel de Landa's ideas. De Landa emphasizes the need for an antidote to the virtual layers we've constructed, acknowledging their reality while recognizing their dependence on a material basis.

Metamaterials are akin to shape-shifters, capable of assuming various forms depending on the context. Si-Qin extends this concept to the materiality of art, suggesting that these materials can seamlessly take the place and functions of other entities, adapting functionally. This idea resonates with entities like bots and AIs, which emulate human behaviors within specific contexts without entirely replacing them.

Bots and AIs exhibit metamaterial characteristics by adopting behaviors suited to human-centric platforms. However, their interactions are confined to predefined functions, limiting their ability to engage in diverse dialogues. The analogy extends to more advanced AIs, which, despite multifaceted interactions, remain confined to the objectives programmed by their creators.

Understanding the evolving relationships within contemporary production requires considering new affective conditioning, the rise of non-human intelligences, and the fulfillment of creative qualities. Holly Herndon's project Spawn (2016-19), in collaboration with Mat Dryhurst, exemplifies this shift. Herndon explores and humanizes technology through intimate and alien music. Spawn, an artificial neural network, reproduces the voices of its creators and interacts with the sounds of spectators in the installation.

Herndon's project prompts questions about technological developments, limitations on non-human entities, and the role of mimicry in a data-based musical ecosystem. Should we restrain the capabilities of entities like Spawn, or is there a symbiotic path of machine-human collaboration that redefines our identity and creativity? This resonates with Si-Qin's vision of metamateriality—searching for resilient and adaptable nodes that challenge traditional boundaries.

Conclusions

The digital era has undeniably ushered in a plethora of opportunities for creative production. Yet, harnessing the full potential of these technologies and understanding their implications for the contemporary creative ecosystem requires a deep exploration. Failure to grasp these processes may result in missed opportunities on one hand and an oversight of their limitations, vulnerabilities, and sociopolitical consequences on the other.

This comprehension is not just pivotal for technological innovation; it also serves as fertile ground for integrating creative thoughts. By researching the intricacies of these technologies, we pave the way for greater accessibility and foster a critical examination of their looming ubiquitous domain. Unveiling the black boxes that conceal these innovations becomes imperative, inviting us to question and understand the inner workings that await exploration.