In the midst of exploring and understanding cyberspace, it is intriguing to ask about the boundaries of computation itself. Ludwig Wittgenstein said the limits of our language define the limits of our world. But what are limits of the language of computation? And how are they defining our worldview?
This set of experiments asks the computer to perform a simple task, placing two differently-colored rectangles in the same position in a three-dimensional space. Since neither of the two will be facing the other, the machine will be confronted with the problem of which one to show. The decision for one color and against the other will take place at the lowest level of computation, in which electricity flows through the silicon circuits. The computer represents one or the other, but never an in-between. The vagueness of our world, its in-betweenness, cannot be computed. This certainty in the uncertain shines through on every level of mediation between the computer and ourselves.
Distinction Machine/Kim Albrecht (DE), Credits: Kim Albrecht
Distinction Machine/Kim Albrecht (DE), Credits: Kim Albrecht
Project Credits:
- Distinction Machine is a project by Kim Albrecht in collaboration with metaLAB (at) Harvard, which is part of the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society.
Website:
Biography:
Kim Albrecht (DE) visualizes cultural, technological, and scientific forms of knowledge. His diagrams are meant to unfold and question the structures of representation and to explore the aesthetics at the intersection of technology and society through the sensual knowledge of tracing information. Kim is a researcher for metaLAB (at) Harvard and is writing his dissertation at the University of Potsdam.
https://kimalbrecht.com/vis/
