Why DIY?

TRACKING tekhnē accompanies the tekhnē project as a glossary in progress/process. It has started with an ongoing collection of words some of which become terms to think/write about, to work with, to (re-)define—and sometimes also to reject and to dismiss.

Here comes a list that mirrors just one of the transitions each of which is a substantial part of the work (for more details see the comments below); while at this stage there has been already some processing, there are still many steps of selection and reflection necessary in order to end up with the final choices to be made.

A abstraction(s) accessibility accident(s) act(s) action(s) activism adventurous aesthetic(s) agency algorithm(s) alignment(s) almanac(s) ambivalent analogue anatomy / anatomies antenna(s) anthem(s) anthropomorphic apparition(s) appendage(s) archaeology architecture archive(s) artificial(ity) assemblage(s) audibility audience(s) audiovisual aural(s) author(s) automatic autonomy available avatar aware(ness) B background(s) bagpipes bags balance balloon(s) basic(s) battery / batteries be(ing) / being(s) become / becoming begin(ning) behave / behaving belief(s) bend(ing) bleep(ing) / bleep(s) blend(ing) blossom(ing) body / bodies book(s) border(s) boundary / boundaries broadcast(ing) / broadcast(s) break(ing) / break(s) brevity bridge(s) bring(ing) browser(s) build(ing) burn(ing) burst(ing) buy(ing) C call(ing) campaign(s) canon(s) capability / capabilities capacity / capacities capitalism care / caring career carry(ing) case(s) cause(s) cell(s) centred challenge(s) / challenging chamber chance / chance(s) change(s) / changing channel(s) chaos chiptune(s) choice(s) circle(s) circuit(s) circuit-bending circumstances cis-gendered city / cities classical clip(s) clock(s) co-creation(s) code(s) / coding collaborate / collaborating / collaboration(s) collapse(s) collect(ing) collective(s) collectivity combination(s) / combine / combining commercial commitment communicate / communicating / communication compare / comparing compassion compatible / compatibility compel(ling) competence(s) competitive / competitor(s) complete complexity compose / composing / composer(s) / composition(s) comprise / comprising compute / computing / computer(s) concept(s) / conceptual concert(s) conclusion(s) concrete condense / condensation condition(ing) / condition(s) conduct(ing) conductivity configuration conflict confrontational conjure / conjuring connect(ing) / connection conscience conservatory constant constitute / constitution constraints construct(ing) / construction consume / consuming / consumption consumerism contemplation contemporary content context(s) context-determined contextualise / contextualising continue / continuing contrast control conventional conversation(s) conversion(s) copper copy core cosmic costs counterflows course create / creating / creation(s) / creator(s) / creative(s) / creativity critical cross-disciplinary crossroads crowd culprit cultural / culture(s) curate / curating / curator(s) custom cyberspace…

…and so forth; so this is only an A to C excerpt of the current state. Of course the list is from A to Z, although not all letters of the alphabet are represented in the raw retrieval. However, for now it has not been decided how many terms the glossary will encompass, in how far the alphabet will be matched and how many letters will be matched with more than a single selected term.

The list of terms has not been generated by a machine, by a software running on a computer – although, obviously, nowadays text analysis and text mining are jobs that can be efficiently run on and done by machines. But the aim of TRACKING tekhnē is of course not to do a quant job in the most efficient way, or to build its research on machine-based interpreters and interpretations in order to conduct some kind of discourse analysis. At the same time the project is not at all about rejecting computer based methods—actually it is quite curious about experimental and creative uses of everyday technologies, including soft- and hardware. However, the most important focus perspective is on synergies between analogue and digital, organic and machine-based actors and agencies. For exactly this reason it strives to explore the tensions and potencies of mixed method approaches. Thus, while simple information and word processing tools are applied to the digital body of publicly available texts produced by and for tekhnē, it has been important to keep with arbitrary acts, subjective interests and affinities, and to combine these with—anyway also not really objective and for sure never neutral—research methodologies, be them computer based or not. Generally TRACKING tekhnē is trying to take a closer look at the multifold interrelations and dynamics of analogue and digital tools, techniques and technologies, using them—and sometimes also abusing them creatively—in order to at the same time critically think about them. Actually we imagine tekhnē as a collective endeavour walking on kindred paths.

Apropos walking: It takes quite some time to walk through almost 200 pages of words, and to think over each. Once started, it is almost impossible to stop. Yet pauses are important, and the collection of words with its preliminary selection as well as the accompanying fragments of thoughts and musings can be considered—and indulged—as a breakfast snack offered here to share.

Initially the plan had been to go for substantives and verbs only, and to end up with a sober list of mostly singulars and infinitives, just as in encyclopedias and dictionaries. But then a glossary related to the subject matter(s) of tekhnē, a glossary on contemporary art and artistic research exploring creative and critical uses of technology should also have plurals and present participles to be able to aptly mirror related practices, concepts, and discourses—shouldn’t it? Indeed the material collected directly pointed in this direction. Likewise, looking at adverbs and prepositions, certain accumulations seemed to demand to be included; e.g. there were just so many “between” and “beyond.” Not to mention certain special characters found in substantial flocks. However, all of the latter were of course no serious candidates to become terms for a glossary in their own right. But then, wait: Of course? Who decides about in(s) and out(s)?

Glossaries, just as encyclopedias, are collections based on methods, criteria, and principles of inclusion and exclusion. There is no objectivity or neutrality, but a provisional common ground that will always remain a contested zone, telling a lot or rather not about underlying ideas and concepts, power structures, and ideologies. The same goes for techniques and technologies of collecting; even for those that at first may seem merely mechanical. Scanning and mining—how telling technological metaphors are: the former a non-extractive copy, but delivering repetitions that as such will confirm and thus strengthen existing canons, the other literally an extractive/extractivist act. However, that does not mean these cultural techniques and formats are not open for critical reflection and creative uses – as also many artistic appropriations make the proof. Moreover, given the importance and the so far unabated dominance of these techniques and formats not only within in institutional knowledge cultures it may seem even more appropriate to re-think and to re-work them in theory and practice whenever there is an opportunity to do so. It is always worth a try.

From our records of characters: A COLLECTION OF A(s)A A A A A a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a

The reference date for the collection on which the selection presented above has been based is March 1, 2024. New additions to the tekhnē website are being gathered and processed on an ongoing basis.

Bio

Verena Kuni is a scholar in the field of art, culture and media studies, and a professor for visual culture studies at Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main. Among her passions is the development of inter- and transdisciplinary projects and programs at the intersections of theory and practice. Her research and teaching, projects and publications focus on transfers between material and media cultures; media of imagination; technologies of transformation; DIY and critical making; toys and/as tools; workshops, toolboxes, and kits for inventive methods and methodologies; creative entanglements between imagination and invention; (in)visibilities and (im)materials; visual epistemologies and (con)figurations of knowledge; biotopes, biotopias, and technonaturecultures; alternate realities; and (trans)formations of time. She has published widely (print & online) on contemporary arts, culture and media.
www.kuniver.se – www.under-construction.cc – www.visuelle-kultur.info