[Synapse elist] Fwd: Situated being

[ju90]

I've only just realised that this went to Brad 10 days ago and not  
the list - apologies.

Begin forwarded message:

> From: ju90 <mail at ju90.co.uk>
> Date: 12 May 2008 10:47:30 BDT
> To: Brad Nunn <bradnunn at bigpond.net.au>
> Subject: Re: [Synapse elist] Situated being
>
> I absolutely agree. The aid that I have 'bonded' with most is a  
> handmade walking stick - you can see a photo of it here http:// 
> www.ju90.co.uk/cylife4.htm
>
> In the past few years I have used a wheelchair or scooter most of  
> the time outside my home/studio, but when I largely used this stick  
> and walked, I very much saw it as an extension of my own body.  
> Losing it was a common anxiety dream, so I did not see it as an  
> inseparable bond. But when watching a film or television,  
> especially when I was tired, it seemed 'wrong' if a character got  
> up or walked without using a stick, meaning that I DID see it as a  
> normal part of the human body.
>
> As an artist, I have always felt a particular bond with my camera -  
> when choosing a new one, I reject anything that doesn't 'bond' with  
> me. Do others feel like this?
>
> Ju
>
> On 12 May 2008, at 04:48, Brad Nunn wrote:
>
>> Regarding the conversation between Erika and Mike on cognition,  
>> bodies
>> and devices and I would also like to layer in the idea that on some
>> levels people can also have emotional and embodying relationships  
>> with
>> devices/prosthetics. In ‘The Embodied Computer/User’ Deborah Lupton
>> suggests that ‘users invest certain aspects of themselves and their
>> culture when ‘making sense’ of their computers, and their use of
>> computers may be viewed as contributing to the individuals image of
>> their selves and their bodies’. Following Lupton’s lead I put forward
>> the idea that certain devices/prosthetics can be labelled as  
>> ‘personal
>> prosthetics’ and as such play an important role in the we exist and
>> understand the world. ‘Personal prosthetics’ could be understood to
>> signify a technology that the user ‘knows’ as direct extensions of
>> their will and their subjectivity and as being quintessential to the
>> way they live their life. In this recognition there must be an  
>> element
>> that sets these technologies apart from all others, but it also must
>> be remembered this technology can be low-tech or hi-tech, simple or
>> complex, natural (generic technology) or unnatural (disability aids).
>> In the end it is only self-awareness that can elevate these
>> technologies to the level of a ‘personal prosthesis’.
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>

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