Insect media

University of Minnesota Press

2010

320 p.

Posthumanities ; vol. 11

978-0-8166-6740-6

Contents: Introduction : insects in the age of technology -- Nineteenth-century insect technics : the uncanny affects of insects -- Genesis of form: insect architecture and swarms -- Technics of nature and temporality : Uexkøll's ethology -- Metamorphosis, intensity, and devouring space : elements for an insect game theory -- Intermezzo -- Animal ensembles, robotic affects : bees, milieus, and individuation -- Biomorphs and boids : swarming algorithms -- Sexual selection in the biodigital: teknolust and the weird life of SRAs -- Epilogue : insect media as an art of transmutation.

With Insect Media, Jussi Parikka offers a theory of media that challenges our traditional views of the natural and the artificial. Parikka not only understands insects through the lens of media and mediation, he also unearths an insect logic at the heart of our contemporary fascination with networks, swarming, and intelligent agents. Such a project requires the ability to interweave cultural theory with a deep understanding of the sciences—something for which Parikka is well-suited. Most importantly, Insect Media reminds us of the non-human aspect of media, communication, intelligence. Insect Media is a book that is sure to create a buzz.

Английский