The Bodiless Shadow

Towards a Meta-Medial Framework

Abstract

This paper seeks to unlock alternative perspectives on both the practice of theory and the theory of practice through the construction of a meta-medial mental framework based on intertwining socio-cultural and architectural conditions (or, rather, force fields). The topic of this investigation is the specific role of (the use of) media in this construction, but of greater importance is the exposé of meta-media as an expression of meta-agency. The field within which this piece of research sits is demarcated by the intrinsic relation between medium, desire and affect, and this paper will be directed towards the exploration of the role of media in the interplay between what was formerly known as perception and the independent force of desire, rendering the hegemony of anthropocentric will obsolete. To this end the following essay is structured around the four ‘scapes’ proposed by Arjun Appadurai (etho-, techno-, ideo- and mediascape) and centres on a fundamental premise around which numerous questions recur, namely: What does the medium want? What is the affective capacity of the medium? How does the medium behave in the different ‘scapes’?

Read the full article online at: https://drawingon.org/Issue-01-03-The-Bodiless-Shadow