Cybernetic-Existentialism and Being-towards-death in and Performance Steve Dixon

Reviving Past Paradigms I have recently developed a discourse, or theory, of “cybernetic-existentialism,” arguing that impulses and themes from both of these largely forgotten fields have steadily reemerged to manifest in many contemporary artworks and performances (Dixon 2016). Cybernetic systems are employed across a wide range of interactive and technological arts practices, but they are equally evident in many nontechnological works. At the same time, existentialist themes such as freedom, authentic action, self-creation, and what Jean-Paul Sartre terms “Being-for-others” and “Being-towards-death” ([1943] 2003) are increasingly foregrounded by artists. Anticipation of our own death, Sartre’s “Being-towards-death,” is my primary focus. It has been a prevailing theme across modern philosophy, from Søren Kierkegaard and Martin Heidegger through to

TDR: The Drama Review 61:3 (T235) Fall 2017. ©2017 36 New York University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_a_00672 by guest on 29 September 2021 Cybernetic-Existentialism 37 - - (1999), (1999), epitomizes LEONARDO, Dogs That Cannot Cannot That Dogs , Research Performance (since 2009) with integral blood flow, while also pursu- (since 2009) with integral blood flow, uses an analogue cybernetic paradigm in as equally an extreme uses an analogue cybernetic paradigm in a sculpture of what appears to be a giant piece of white chalk that a sculpture of what appears to be a giant Digital , and CTheory book 800-pageDigital . His Creativity Digital — (almost) collide in Sun Yuan and Peng Yu’s cacophonous cacophonous Yu’s Peng and Yuan Sun in collide (almost) —

exhibition at London’s ICA gallery. It featured machines as quasi- It featured at London’s ICA gallery. exhibition

Cybernetic art developed in the 1950s by artists such as Nicholas Schöffer and , Ascott, and Roy as Nicholas Schöffer 1950s by artists such art developed in the Cybernetic the work is interactive firstly, art practices are notably clearer when, Cybernetic aspects of can equally pervade works that are noninteractive and non- cybernetic paradigms However, Contemporary Theatre Review, Contemporary Theatre Installation (The MIT Performance Art and Dance, in Theater, Media A History New of Performance: for Award Publishers including the Association of American 2007) won two international awards Press, [email protected] Arts. and Performing in Music Excellence Figure 1. (facing page) Fighting dogs, information theory, a cybernetic system of treadmills, and existentialist existentialist and cybernetic a treadmills, of system informationdogs, theory, Fighting page) (facing 1. Figure Being-towards-death of notions autonomous art-makers, and computers as interactive agents that collaborated and “performed” “performed” that collaborated and and computers as interactive agents autonomous art-makers, Peter Zinovieff’swith gallery visitors. the tunes that visi- (1968) improvised on Music Computer some words selected by the par cocreated haiku poems by incorporating another tors whistled, and is an interdisciplinary arts of LASALLE in Singapore, of the Arts College is President Dixon Steve Arts and Performance of Journal and Advisory is Cofounder of the International Editor He practitioner. , and has published in journalsTDR, including Media Digital - practitioners includ through the work of in the late 1960s popular consciousness and reached such as the as notable events as well Hans Haacke, and Gordon Pask, Wen-Ying, Tsai ing 1968 Masterman’s Computerized chose from within its thesaurus (Margaret ticipant with others it moment when cybernet- acclaimed exhibition marked a significant The critically Haiku [1968]). began to be reconceived in terms and when artworks in the arts, ics stepped into the foreground rather than objects. of processes and systems, a wider system in which they incorporated as a meaningful node within and the participant is Australian artist are employed. when high technologies and secondly, have concrete agency; cyber employing advanced technological of the latter, Stelarc’s work is a quintessential example a robotic Extended Arm (1998), Exoskeleton netic systems including a large walking robot and a surgically implanted Ear On Arm towards transcendence (from everyday- “grand project” ing what Sartre terms an existentialist appendages). “facticity”) and self-creation (through body modifications and cyborgic ness and “a genetic sculp- in his words: Stelarc is, artist, Perhaps the definitive cybernetic-existentialist the human body; an architect of internal body spaces; a restructuring and hypersensitizing tor, triggering desires; an evolutionary alchemist, transplanting implanting dreams, primal surgeon, (1984:76). transforming the human landscape” mutations, ­ where Stelarc So, and this applies to an area of arts practice as well. technological, Yu’s and Peng Yuan Chinese artists Sun symbiosis, the cybernetic dream of a human-machine 个或所有 (One or All; 2004) leans against the gallery wall It is made out of human bone but in the form of a human-artwork symbiosis. manner as Stelarc, From an existentialist and is one of the artists’ many provocative meditations on death. ash, cadavers into the significance of transforming the real bone ash of numerous human viewpoint, rules writes: we are free to write our own stories, a towering stick of chalk is that it potentially In the face of a monumental and hum- and our presence can endure even after death. and fates, exis- the piece emphasizes the fundamental bling sculptural statement of Being-towards-death, our lives and therefore writing our finitude, tentialist belief in the importance of appreciating meaningfully in response. Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, employed as a revelatory memento mori to emphasize our need memento mori to emphasize as a revelatory employed Simone de Beauvoir, Sartre and assert individual freedom. and to “authentically,” and meaningfully, to act decisively, (2003). (Courtesy of Sun Yuan and Peng Yu) Peng and Yuan (Courtesy(2003). Sun Other of Each Touch Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_a_00672 by guest on 29 September 2021 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_a_00672 by guest on 29September 2021 (Courtesy of Sun(Courtesy Yuan and Peng Yu) (2004) proffers an arresting existential reminder to write our lives meaningfully. Figure 2. Sculpted from human bone ash, Sun Yuan and Peng Yu’s 38 Steve Dixon by cybernetician Warren McCullochtodescribe neuronalnetworksthat operateonequal, The piecethuscreatesaself-organizing andregulating “heterarchic system” feather andflowers, cutherwith theknives, andpointtherealloadedgunather(MAI 2013). taining manyobjectsandreacts entirelypassivelywhengalleryvisitorsadornherwiththe a nontechnologicalcybernetic-existentialist performance. Abramovic; inhabitsaroomcon- Marina Abramovic;’s Being-for-others intense humaninteractionsandBeing-for-others arecoretoauthenticbeing, since: existentialist languageinmanyofhisbook’smostcitedsectionsand, likeSartre, suggeststhat realities, buttoactuallybewaysoflivingandmodelsaction” (13). Bourriaudadoptsovertly “Art isastate ofencounter[...]theroleartworksisnolongertoformimaginaryandutopian existentialist. LikethepositionstakenonlifeandBeingbyphilosophy’smajorthinkers, here: artist’” (2004:61). artist’” Fluxus instructions, 1970sperformanceart, and JosephBeuys’sdeclarationthat ‘everyone isan ing theworkofartasapotentialtriggerforparticipationishardly new impulses withininteractiveartshavebeenstrongthroughout decades: “This ideaofconsider Bishop, whosecritiquemightalsoberemediatedtohint athowcybernetic-existentialist lying theories(aswellassomeofitskeyartworks)havebeen questioned, notablybyClaire his theoryofrelationalaesthetics. However, therigorandoriginalityofmovement’sunder Bourriaud thusremediatesandtransposesSartre’srelationalphenomenology directlyinto artistic practice. (22) which isits “environment,” its “field” (Bourdieu), butalsobecomesthequintessenceof art, inter-subjectivity doesnotonlyrepresentthesocialsettingforreceptionofart, the inventionofrelationsbetweenconsciousness. [...] As partofa “relationist” theoryof ual transactionswiththesubjectivityofothers. [...] The artisticpracticethusresidesin self, heis, inthefinalanalysis, contemplatingnothingotherthantheresultofperpet- way theyseeus[...] When anindividualthinksheiscastingobjectiveeyeuponhim- our “form” ismerelyarelationalproperty, linkinguswiththosewhoreifybythe Rhythm 0(1974)offersanotherinteresting exampleofwhatIwouldterm One or All and rhetoricthatarepatently of exchange,” healsoadoptsideas Bourriaud describesas “an arena digm totheartistic loops providethepivotalpara- systems andinteractivefeedback netic notionsofcommunications ([1998] 2002:14). While cyber action anditssocialcontext” zon therealmofhumaninter taking “as itstheoreticalhori- tral toboth, withrelationalart he drawscloselyonideascen- orexistentialism, tle explicitreferencetoeither Relational Aesthetics, makeslit- Bourriaud’s definingbook, tional” arts. Although Nicholas rary artforms, including “rela- across manydifferentcontempo- inclinations arealiveandwell Cybernetic-existentialist — think ofHappenings,

— a termcoined movement - - - - Cybernetic-Existentialism 39 and (1974) (1974) 0 Rhythm — the freedom of others (Sartre [1943] 1994). the freedom of others (Sartre [1943] 1994). — Figure 3. Marina Abramović’s perilous six-hour performancesix-hour perilous Abramović’s Marina 3. Figure participants audience cybernetic enables and to micro-systems utilizesdifferent master-slave the freedom, including principles Existentialist explore practically (Courtesy Marina of Naples. Morra, Studio Being-for-others. and dialectic, Archives) Abramović - - -

An open interactive system, An open interactive which confers absolute freedom on individuals to Simone do what they wish. de Beauvoir calls freedom “the original condition of all justification of exis- ([1947] 2000:284) tence” and Sartre asserts that: “Human freedom precedes essence [...] and makes it possible; the essence of the human being is suspended [...] Man in his freedom. in order does not exist first to be free subsequently; there is no difference between the being of man ([1943] ” and his being-free This in turn 1994:25). opens up moral and ethical questions (de Beauvoir [1947] 2000) involving conundrums of authenticity (Kierkegaard [1843] 1986; Heidegger since, [1927] 1962) and responsibility for one’s actions (Camus [1942] 1991; Marcel 1949) we should not inhibit while we should be courageous in asserting our own freedom, should rather promote and advance . Sartre discusses how the judging “look” of another person can “look” Sartre discusses how the judging . A system of Being-for-others the appearance of the “With for example: jolt us into fundamental existential revelations, of my transcen- Other’s look I experience the revelation of my being-as-object; that is, for which I am responsible. [...] dence as transcended [...] [and] my being-there-for-others the The shock of the encounter with the Other is for me a revelation of emptiness of Recognition ([1943] 2003:375). existence of the body outside as an in-itself for the Other” also operates to temper solipsistic tendencies when asserting personal of Being-for-others “self” of a defined and illuminates the (false) notion (Karl Jaspers’s notion of freedom, “I am for existenz [1935] 1955) by reversing conventional subject-object relationships:

1. 2. action (1945). At its heart, cyber At its heart, action (1945). technology-specific netics is not focuses on systems of but rather connect and inter any type that nonhierarchical systems of inter nonhierarchical , despite a lack despite 0, In Rhythm act. technol- of computers or high such systems a number of ogy, play, are nonetheless put into evolve and interconnect and Moreover, with dynamic results. that all of these microsystems in the converge and synthesize performance can simultaneously to exis- be seen to relate strongly including tentialist principles, the following: Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_a_00672 by guest on 29 September 2021 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_a_00672 by guest on 29September 2021

40 Steve Dixon bear onthehistory andphilosophyofthefield. Hesuggeststhatcybernetics isnotsomuchan Beer andthree other pioneeringBritishcyberneticians, andhasbroughtfresh perspectivesto sion theory, psychology, andsocialsciences. Elevenyearslater, StaffordBeerwrote: ments anddisciplinaryfields, fromengineeringandneural networkstoinformationanddeci- digital electroniccomputersystems, italsofusedtogether vastlydifferentscientificdevelop- While ithighlightedandcelebratedthepotentialsofhightechnologies including(thennovel) and Communicationinthe Animal andtheMachine mostclearlyannouncedanddefinedthefield. Warren Weaver (1949), aswellNorbert Wiener, or, whose1948book Cybernetics: Control Cybernetics emergedinthe1940s, itsfoundingfigures includingClaudeShannonand Cybernetic Attitude The than thirdperson: passive Abramovic ; asamereobjectorslave,the andaffordedherrespectinthesecond, rather by maintainingtheiropennessand “availability” totheOther, theyultimatelyresisted treating ing others’freedomprevailed. To applyMarcel’snotionofdisponibilitétothegalleryvisitors, the gunwielderswhofaced Abramovic; didnot,- andthenotionofresponsibilityrespect ful. Hewasfree” ([1949]1963:217, 225). years hehadtried, invain, toact,” writesSartre. “He fired. Hewascleansed. Hewasallpower freedom” (Priest2000:15)andmakesadecisivechoicetoshootGermaninfantryman: “For ineffectual schoolteacherprotagonist, forthefirsttimeinhislifehas “recognitionofhisown tic” choiceandaction, asintheconclusionofSartre’snovelIronSoul(1949). Mathieu, the of nothingnessandtheabsurd, asinCamus’sL’Etranger (TheOutsider, 1942)orwith “authen - murder pervadeexistentialistliterature, andareequatedeitherwithmomentsofrecognition Andrew Pickering’sbook, Brain: TheCybernetic Sketches of Another Future (2010)focuseson and alsowhynoneofthemismuch tothepoint. (1959:vi) understand bothhowthesewonderfully differentnotionscanbesimultaneouslycurrent, to buildacomputercapableof runningthecountry. Myhopeisthat[...]people will cerns experimentswithrats;some thatitisabranchofmathematics;otherswants Some peoplethinkthatcyberneticsisanotherwordforautomation; somethatitcon- because heisalsofreedomandnotonlynature. (Marcel1949:106–07) as “Thou,” Itreathimandapprehendquafreedom. Iapprehendhimquafreedom object whichworksinsomewaysandnotothers. If, onthecontrary, Itreattheother If Itreata “Thou” asa “He,” Ireducetheothertobeingonlynature;ananimated But whiletheheroesandantiheroesofexistentialistliteratureinvariablypulltrigger, Pointing theloadedgunat Abramovic; marksanextremeexistentialmoment, andactsof 4. 3. notes, “intensity ratherthanserenityistheexistentialistgoal” (2010:23). actual anticipationofBeing-towards-death, andconferring “intensity”: asMichaelFoley in myriadways, andincluderealinstrumentsofdeaththatmaybeemployed, elicitingan cybernetician GregoryBateson(1972). InRhythm 0, toolsarereconfiguredanddeployed and Merleau-Ponty’softheblindman’sstick([1945]2002), alsodiscussedatlengthby ism followingHeidegger’sdiscussionoftheontologyhammer([1927]1962) A systemoftools(theprops), whichweretheobjectofextendeddiscourseinexistential- adoption oftheother” (Reynolds2006:108). ongoing master-slave dialectic act asbothsadistsandmasochists(Sartre[1943]1994), and “oscillate betweentheminan ity” (Nietzsche[1887]1996)andtorecognizethatinourrelationswithotherpeople, we A master-slave systemthatmanifestsexistentialism’sconcernsbothtocounter “slave moral- act oftotalexistential “availability,” whatGabrielMarceltermsdisponibilité(1949). 1994:460). Abramovic;offersherselfupasanobjectintheserviceofothers, inahumble others, theOtherisrevealedtomeassubjectforwhomIamanobject” (Sartre[1943] — the failureofonemodalityreferstoandmotivates - Cybernetic-Existentialism 41 - - his —

of fear, of of fear, — a foreboding sense — and draws down — and in this it shares much with the phenomenolog- and in this it shares much — (2014) is a 16-foot-diameter hole in the floor the in hole 16-foot-diameter a is (2014) Descension and an all-consuming anxiety in the face of nothingness. of nothingness. and an all-consuming anxiety in the face —

an entirely dark and endless-seeming hole into the earth, within the an entirely dark and endless-seeming hole into the earth, —

Anxiety is the recognition of a certain nothingness, a groundlessness in our existence. As a groundlessness in our existence. Anxiety is the recognition of a certain nothingness, have anxiety leads us into a kind of vertigo where we literally Sartre will later describe it, up in a But anxiety thus serves to reveal that we are caught no ground beneath our feet. (2000:241) is not a matter of indifference for us. structure of care about the world; that it empty back of being [or in Sartre’s formula- which is the dark and the back of the cave, which paradoxically is full the void, nothingness] [...] It is the place of tion, darkness. Whether you represent it with a mirror or with a dark form, it is always the Whether you represent it with a mirror or with a dark form, darkness. (in Jobson 2015) the point that attracts my interest and triggers my creativity. “back,” and his earlier Descent into Limbo (1992) featured Such themes are central to Kapoor’s work, Thus, the presence of technology or computation is not intrinsic to making a system cyber of technology or computation is not intrinsic the presence Thus, The 2015 installation of Anish Kapoor’s Anish of installation 2015 The Descension Anish Kapoor’s in which a seemingly perpetual spiral of black water circles, froths, and spills into itself like a froths, water circles, in which a seemingly perpetual spiral of black (The initial installation was 10 feet across and all-consuming plughole into the unknown. giant, classic 20:50 (1987) oil installation an Wilson’s restricted by a guardrail.) It shares with Richard Wilson’s whereas But unknowable depth. deathly blackness and the sense of an infinite, eerie, kinetic fury, Kapoor achieves it through a stillness, black oil inspires awe through implacable violent aquatic splendor that compels the viewer’s presenting a dramatic spectacle of darkly “nothingness” It is a vivid reminder of Sartrean disappearing vortex. gaze into a churning, As Dermot Moran puts it: language in describing the piece as akin to the metaphor Kapoor adopts Sartrean Interestingly, we to Being), rather than looking towards the outside world (equivalent of Plato’s cave whereby, instead contemplate: another circular void ies,” and calls it “a general theory, applicable to all sorts of complex systems” from the brain and complex systems” to all sorts of applicable theory, “a general and calls it ies,” - emphasizes the central He also (2010:8–9). of the species economy to the evolution the British - Ashby’s con and Ross Walter These include Grey British cybernetics. systems to ity of adaptive “team syntegrity” of the metaphor Beer’s applications to physiology and psychology; tributions and robot artworks Gordon Pask’s adaptive management models; organizational and to social, of adaptive systems within psychiatry; Laing’s developments R.D. interactive theatre creations; subject or self” (8).“the adaptive innovations concerning and Gregory Bateson’s in a way of going on a form“cybernetics is better seen as of life, that Pickering suggests netic. but to across scientific disciplines, (9) that can be applied not only attitude” even an the world, culture and everyday life business, society, these broader paradigms that I It is within principles of existentialism. ical Being-in-the-world technologies are either not pres- impulse in contemporary arts when high locate the cybernetic one discerns what Pickering terms It is where factor in the artwork. or else not a decisive ent, purposeful sys- “a certain attitude to complex Apter calls or Michael J. “attitude” a cybernetic itself or through force (either within or where an artwork acts as an adaptive (1969:261); tems” types of synthesizing and synergizing processes that its impact on the audience); or through the lie at the heart of the cybernetic project. is equally important to acknowledge, he stresses, which, “being,” ontological counterpoint to and accept within our lives confront, Descension reaches another dimension conceptually, But floor of an off-white cuboid building. offering up a vertiginous spiral into in evoking a sense of Heideggerian Being-towards-the-end, and the installation is a very are harrowing and haunting, Its gushing noises the existential void. real and dangerous force of nature that eerily offers up of the uncanny. interdisciplinary field as an “antidisciplinary” one “riding roughshod over disciplinary boundar “riding roughshod one “antidisciplinary” field as an interdisciplinary Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_a_00672 by guest on 29 September 2021 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_a_00672 by guest on 29September 2021

42 Steve Dixon perpetual flux, andunknowableoutcomes: to theparadigmsandlanguageofcybernetics, including boundarycrossing, auto-generation, ple ofcircularity. The cataloguedescription significantlymakesreferencestoaspectsspecific within itanautonomousrotarymotorsystem, designed accordingtothecyberneticprinci (Photo by Ela Bialkowska © Anish Kapoor) and the existential void. It was exhibited at the Galleria Continua, San Gimignano, Italy in 2015. Figure 4. Anish Kapoor’s Muziris Biennaleinvolved50workersdiggingalargehole for anentireweek, andplacing “motor” (Tomazzo Gallina2015). Nonetheless, itsoriginalconstructionforthe2015Kochi- stealth satellites, which reflects almost no light at all ( Jones2016). stealth satellites, whichreflectsalmostnolightatall the blackestpigmentonearth, Vantablack, developedbytheBritishcompany NanoSystemsfor “absolute” blackextendedtohispurchaseoftheexclusiverights tobetheonlyartistableuse in herinfluentialarticle “SculptureintheExpandedField.” In2014, Kapoor’s fascinationwith and moreaspurenegativity[...]akindofblackholeinthespaceconsciousness” (1979:34) brings tomindRosalindKrauss’sdescriptionofmodernistsculpturebeing “experienced more Descension’s worldisintensifiedbythewater’sextremeblackness(createdusinghairdye), which to facewiththe ‘nothing’ oftheworld” ([1927]1962:321). The “uncanny nothingness” of Dasein [oftentranslatedas ‘being there’]isdisclosed, itputsDasein’sBeing-in-the-worldface tically inthebasicstate-of-mindofanxiety;andmostelementalwaywhichthrown heart ofexistentialistphilosophy. As Heideggermaintained: “Uncanniness revealsitselfauthen- petual forceandadownwardpull intoanunknowableinterior. (Tomazzo Gallina2015) auto-generated form. In thestateoffluxandmotion, Descensionconfrontsuswithaper between objectandnon-object [...]ItbuildsonKapoor’sconcernwithnon-objectsand Kapoor’s objectssituneasilyand haveunstableboundariesbetweeninteriorandexterior, The technologybehindDescensionispowerfulyetrelativelysimple The artworkexcitesthephenomenologicalsenseofunease, anxiety, andnothingnessatthe Descension offers an aquatic spiral into Jean-Paul Sartre’s notions of nothingness — described onlyasa

- -

Cybernetic-Existentialism 43 is — not only while staring in the face of — and ours when experiencing Kapoor’s installation — Figure 5. The original iteration of Anish Kapoor’s cybernetic black Kapoor’s Anish of iteration original The 5. Figure India. Biennale, Kochi-Muziris 2014 the at exhibited whirlpool, Kapoor) Anish © Thakur Dheeraj by (Photo - - perpetuating and to

Never shall I forget the sensations of awe, horror, and admiration with which I gazed horror, Never shall I forget the sensations of awe, radiance [...] streamed in a flood of golden glory [...T]he gleaming and ghastly about me. The [...] into the inmost recesses of the abyss. and far away down along the black walls, Time and general burst of terrific grandeur was all that I beheld [...] a pathway between (Poe [1845] 2005–2017) Eternity. The blackness of Descension’s water is so intense that it is red- “liquid olent of the violent Allan whirlpool in Edgar ebony” Kapoor’s title may or may not be a ([1845] 2005–2017). Descent Into the Maelström” “A Poe’s of the whirl- but its effect is precisely akin to Poe’s ecstatic descriptions direct homage to Poe, “nearer and near to its horri- gradually moving hour, pool that the narrator’s boat circles for an Kapoor’s creation is equally mesmeric, and turning his hair from black to white. ble inner edge” I positively felt “possessed with the keenest curiosity about the whirl itself. making one become for] the mysteries I even at the sacrifice I was going to make [... a wish to explore its depths, contemplation as with existentialism’s viewpoint that So, (Poe [1845] 2005–2017). should see” Poe’s contem- of liberation and transcendence, of Being-towards-the-end can confer a type plation of the descent towards death Blackness, Authenticity, Authenticity, Blackness, and the Sublime have the potential to continue have the potential to swirling vor The ad infinitum. netic system whose cycles appear netic system whose cycles to be self-­ tex is always subtly changing its aquatic and metamorphosing, pre- swirls and splashes never one rev- cisely the same from While olution to the next. cybernetic systems typically use or incorporate some form Descension is of feedback loop, It is a self-­ in and of itself. one, and self-consuming, creating, centrifugal continually evolving, feedback loop. While by no means the “self- means the While by no that John machine” replicating conceived as the von Neumann wave” “second of exemplification or “second order” as (also known - it is none “new”) cybernetics, cyber theless a highly recursive simultaneously terrifying, thrilling, and uplifting. As Poe’s boat continually circles the “belt” of “belt” the As Poe’s boat continually circles and uplifting. thrilling, simultaneously terrifying, and he recounts that: “flying rather than floating” it seems to be the whirlpool, Heidegger Poe here describes what Sartre would term an existentialist transcendence and what would describe as an authentic experience of temporality death, but also while encountering the sublime. “Sublime” is a word that has been used by many is a word that has “Sublime” sublime. but also while encountering the death, Jonathan Jones’s critics in describing Kapoor’s proto-cybernetic vision of Poe’s black whirlpool. Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_a_00672 by guest on 29 September 2021 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_a_00672 by guest on 29September 2021

44 Steve Dixon tive YBA workswereexamplesofcybernetic-existentialism. many ofhisfellow YBAs inthe1990s. Moreover, manyofthemostgroundbreaking anddefini- ria, Iwouldventurethatinsomeofhisearlywork, Hirstcertainlydidactauthentically, asdid carry outauthenticactsandlivemodesoflife” (Golomb1995:54). Usingthiscrite- tinual questandstruggle: “authentic selvesdonotexist;thereareonlycertainindividualswho interesting inrelationtoexistentialism’sviewsonthesubject, whichemphasizethatitisacon- losophy. Jones’sjudgmentonKapoor’sauthenticityversusDamienHirst’sinauthenticityis withering critiqueofwhathecalledTheJargon of Authenticity ([1964]1973)inHeidegger’sphi- the wilderness, followingpostmodernism’sdisbeliefinsuchaconcept, and Adorno’s brilliantly Jacob Golomb: of thecrowd life orart, requirescourageandoriginality, andrejectionofconventionsfrombeingpart 1962) andSartre’s([1943]1994)extensivediscoursesonthesubject. Authenticity, whetherin ([1885] 2006);andfromMarcel’sideasonservicetowardsothers(1949), toHeidegger([1927] phy, fromKierkegaard’s “leap offaith” ([1846]1992)toNietzsche’sconceptoftheUbermensch ism: thequestforauthenticexperiencesandanexistencethatpervadesthisphiloso- Jones2015). tically creative” ( designs hotelroomsforthemega-rich. [...]ButKapooristherealthing. [...]Kapoorisauthen- while Kapoorhadseemedconservative, now “Hirst isartisticallybankruptand Antony Gormley he arguesthatwhereartistslikethe YBAs () hadpreviouslybeenradical headline intheGuardian announces “a sublimespectaclefromthemagicianofmodernart” and metamorphose intofliesthatin turnflyinto, andarekilled by, anInsect-O-Cutor hanging sections. A bloody, severedcow’sheadliesrottingonthefloorandproduces maggots, which on Being-towards-death, using acyberneticsystemwithinlargeglassboxdividedintotwo Death intheMindofSomeoneLiving. As GaryCoxsummarizes, Sartreconteststhat: Sartre takesanoppositeperspective, emphasizingHirst’s notionofThePhysical Impossibilityof ity andindividuality: “death individualizes[...;]deathisjustone’sown” ([1927]1962:309). But it differ. ForHeidegger, itmarksamomentofultimatesignificancesinceconfirmsoriginal- While deathanditsanticipationisacorethemeformostexistentialist writers, perspectiveson Sartre’s philosophy:ThePhysical ImpossibilityofDeathintheMindSomeoneLiving(1991). 14-meter-long sharkfloatinginatankofformaldehyde, thetitleofwhichdirectlyechoes Hirst’s earlysculpturesandinstallationsrelatecloselytoexistentialistideas, includinghis andthe YBAs Systems andCircularitiesofLifeDeath The word “authenticity” hasrecentlymadeareturntocriticaldiscourseaftermanyyearsin event ofourdying. [...A]nxiety “liberates” oneforauthenticity. (Golomb1995:108–09) forced todecideifweareattainourauthenticselvesorlosethembeforethefactual domination. [...]Being-towards-deathenablesonetodothismosteffectively[...W]eare acter.” The ethosoftheanyoneissopervasivethatonlydeathcan “wrench” onefromits conducted undertheshadowofdeath. [...A]uthenticDaseinistheauthorofits “own char The mostvigorousclashbetweenthewilltoauthenticityandinauthenticanyoneis His useoftheword “authentic” underlinesanotherfundamentalpillarofexistential- Hirst’s (Cox 2011:166) in mylife, justasmydeathcanonlybeaneventinthelivesof thosewhooutliveme. real sense, deathonlyhappenstootherpeople. Only thedeathofotherpeopleisanevent rience [...since]deathistheutterannihilationofpoint view thatsheis. Inavery a persondoesnotdieherowndeathbecauseis notaneventshecanexpe- A ThousandYears (1990)combinesanother, evendarkerexistentialistmeditation — as Heideggerputit, frombeing “lost inthe Anyone” ([1927]1962:435). For - Cybernetic-Existentialism 45

-

(1991). (Photo by Roger Wooldridge © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights rights All Ltd. Science and Hirst Damien © Wooldridge Roger by (Photo (1991). became proto-cybernetic when members of (Burgin 2002:229). Jennicam

(1991). Emin’s –nominated installation is an unmade bed surrounded Turner Emin’s Self (1991).

(1991) is a life-size rendering of his head in a Perspex refrigeration unit, ’s Self (1991) is a life-size rendering of his head in a Perspex refrigeration unit, Many of the YBAs made similarly intense and performative proto-existentialist reflections YBAs made similarly intense Many of the by the litter of human experience from condoms and an empty vodka bottle to soiled knick by the litter of human experience from condoms and an empty vodka bottle to soiled Burgin Victor to use a phrase coined by “eroticism of absence,” which conjures a type of ers, that was also distinctly cybernetic-­ “real-life” in relation to another work concerned with existentialist: art students who had a pillow fight; and Christine including two Chinese the public intervened, to London to attempt to Wales woman who had driven 200 miles from “outraged” an Ville, de but was stopped by gallery attendants (BBC brand detergent, Vanish clean the installation with News 1999). Quinn has made constructed with 10 pints of the artist’s blood and immersed in frozen silicone. where flies hatch out of a bloody cow’s head only to meet their fate in an Insect-O-Cutor, in Damien Hirst’s Hirst’s Damien in Insect-O-Cutor, an in fate their meet to only head cow’s bloody a of out hatch flies where Years A Thousand 2016) DACS reserved, as Marc such Emin’s My Bed (1999); and on Being-towards-death, Tracy including on life, Quinn’s above the cow’s head. While exploring mortal themes, Hirst works like a scientist or cyberne- Hirst works like a scientist mortal themes, While exploring above the cow’s head. (Tomio “an aesthetic world that is thoroughly systematized and rationalized” tician to create is classically cybernetic in combining elements from, Koyama Gallery n.d.) and the system itself dynamic cycle the organic and the machinic; and involving a and crossing boundaries between, a perfect exam- it is nonetheless distinctly low-tech, Though of evolutions and feedback loops. is an evolving circuitry system and self- A Thousand Years ple of cybernetic-existentialist art. confront us not only with a vivid and visceral regulating organism whose theme and materials and meaningless wholly absurd, but also an authentic performance of the brief, representation, of aesthetic horror and existential angst in the inexora- This in turn elicits a type cycle of life. is that the ultimate effect of this is positive and awak- The existentialist view ble face of death. can frighten “You : and Hirst echoes this perspective in his discussion of A Thousand Years ening, (in or it can actually give them vigour” mortality, people with death or an idea of their own Sooke 2011). Figure 6. The brief cycle of birth, of cybernetic autonomous an within actuated is death and cycle life, brief The 6. system Figure Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_a_00672 by guest on 29 September 2021 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_a_00672 by guest on 29September 2021

46 Steve Dixon Documentaries 2014). he resumed. HelaterreflectedthatBreak Down “was the bestthingIeverdidinmylife” (Art this piece, Landyclaimed hecouldseenopointinmakingart, anditwasover a yearbefore Media 2008). The experience wassoexistentially “authentic” andtransformativethat following can moveon. [...Itwas]a hugerush, Iwasoncloud9[...]I’dnegatedeverything” (Illuminations creation throughauthenticaction. “I’m alwaystryingtogetridofmyself,” saysLandy, “so thatI of ongoingnegationanderasure ofthepastselfinfavorcontinualregenerationandself- existentialism’s palimpsest-likephilosophyofidentitywhereby thereisacontinualprocess tocompleteitscircuitbeforebeingpulverizedattheend.ing 10 minutes Landythusperforms which JenHarviehascalleda “disassembly line” (2013:91) alongwhicheachitemtraveled, tak- tificate topassport. Fortheprocessofdestruction, he builtacomplexsystemofconveyorbelts, ings (7,227items, painstakinglycatalogued)includingevery identityvalidationfrombirthcer identity crisis, atwo-weekperformanceinvolvingthedestruction ofallhisworldlybelong- Fullerton 2014:76). the livingplantwasmadefrom, butit’snolongeralive. [...B]eautyanddeathgotogether” (in of frozenflowersculptures(since1998), which, hesays, were “madefromthesamemolecules developed byfreezingtheheadinliquidsilicone first versionwasbesetwithproblemsduetoaircapturedinthechamber, butasolution was aries, synthesizingprocesses, andadisplaysystemthatunderwentprocessofevolution. The visceral andexplicit, whileitscyberneticimpulsesincludedthecrossingof(epidermal)bound- Portrait Gallery, London) Self (Quinnof the artist’s 2015). Photo of ageing and changing self” what he describes as “anblood to construct ongoing self-portrait a refrigeration system, liquid silicone, and 10 pints of his own Figure 7. Every five years since 1991, Marc Quinn has used ’sBreak Down(2001)wasanultimateartisticexpressionoftheexistential (2006 version). (Courtesy of (2006 Marcversion). (Courtesy Quinn and the National — a techniqueQuinntookfurtherinhisseries Its existentialiststatementwas White CubegalleryinLondon. Jay Jopling, thedirectorof ing thefirst YBAtobesignedby YBAs, andledtoQuinnbecom- towards-death expressionsofthe original andimpactfulBeing- blood bustwasoneofthemost would destroyit. This eerie that asimpleelectricalshort and fallingapart)thefact be filledwithdentsanddefects, 1991 exhibitionitappearedto fragility (whenIsawitsoriginal power alsorestsonitsevident new life” (76). theoretically, beclonedtomake mori ofrealmatterthatcould, lates lifeanddeath Fullerton noteshowit “encapsu- (in Fullerton2014:76). Elizabeth Beckett versionofRembrandt” tialism whendescribingitas “a strongly associatedwithexisten- n.d.), andhereferencesawriter (Quinn ing andchangingself” self-portrait oftheartist’sage- passing timeandanongoing sion: “a cumulativeindexof since theoriginal1991ver a newiterationeveryfiveyears Equally, ofcourse, thework’s — a memento - - Cybernetic-Existentialism 47 (2001), Michael Landy encapsulated and performedand encapsulated Landy Michael (2001), a Break Down Down Break which was the title of Lau’s 2013 solo exhibition in — classic existential identity crisis and through concrete, authentic action he “negated “negated he action authentic concrete, through and crisis identity existential classic belt conveyor elaborate an Using 2008). Media (Illuminations everything” car. his including every owned, he thing single destroyed ritualistically he system, London) Gallery, Dane Thomas and Landy (CourtesyMichael of Figure 8. In In 8. Figure

Intersection: Video Video Diptych Intersection:

Both artists can be seen as illuminating existentialist philosophy by working with an avowed Both artists can be seen as illuminating existentialist philosophy by working with an Both Gordon’s and Lau’s (1993) is an elevated two-sided elevated two-sided (1993) is an celebrated 24-Hour ’s Scottish artist two frames in slow motion at (1960) plays Hitchcock’s Psycho Alfred where screen installation, (and thus lasts an per second - creating an unnerv entire day), A sim- ing and hypnotic effect. ilar approach is employed, and a parallel effect elicited, Urich in Singaporean artist large dual Lau’s two-channel, screen vio- where a disturbingly (2004), from lent 18-second sequence 1995 film Mathieu Kassovitz’s La Haine is slowed down to last the screens One of 5 minutes. the plays in forward motion, and their cli- other in reverse, mactic moments coincide explo- when a character being sively, threatened with a gun is acci- The dentally shot in the face. latent menace of the movie foot- age is mirrored and magni- fied by the excruciatingly slow which ren- (x13) playback speed, ders the dialogue elongated and incomprehensible. installations appropriate and repurpose found footage to excite a sense of the inexorable and of the uncanny that trans- ports the original film clips into As each an entirely new realm. still frame gradually replaces the filmic mechanism the last, perception becomes is revealed, and time seems, disordered, ominously omni- simultaneously, present and achingly absent. Both works accord closely with principles of cybernetic-­ (where the existentialism: placing the viewer at the heart of a second wave cybernetic system and psychological disruption cognitive, human subject is inside the system) that prompts visual, (see for “persistence of vision” through a reversal and negation of Peter Mark Roget’s notion of Anderson 1993) Anderson and example but concretely man- and Lau’s works not only explore, Gordon’s Most significantly, Singapore. anticipation, central existentialist concepts concerning the ontology of time, ifest and convey and authenticity. Being-towards-death, Image, Time, Time, and Anticipation Image, intent to disturb their audience at a primordial level so as to effect concrete shifts in their intent to disturb their audience at a primordial level so as to effect concrete shifts in Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_a_00672 by guest on 29 September 2021 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_a_00672 by guest on 29September 2021 Diptych Ross).but found/Bert Fig. 10: Urich Lau’s video installation Distributed by Paramount Pictures © Universal City Studios. Photo © studio lost 48 Steve Dixon Psycho (1993) (from of Being-towards-death. Fig. 9: Douglas Gordon’s video installation and also manifest Existentialistcybernetics concepts of temporality and anticipation from violent movies operate in relation to the principles of “second-wave” Figures 9 & 10. The intense psychological effects of slowing down found footage (2004). (Courtesy of Urich(2004). (Courtesy Lau) contemplation of one’sownmortalityisseenas theultimateexistentialwake upcall. Firstly, to unlocking, understanding andembracingtheconceptofBeing-towards-death, wherethe perceptual andexistentialinnature. by virtueofnewtemporalinsights andanexperienceofintenseanticipation;theyareboth changes occurwithintheviewer(oratleastsomeinterested viewers);theyarebroughtabout reception theoriestoaffectcomplexshiftsandconcretechanges withinthewholesystem. These artwork andaudiencethatgoesbeyondnormativeimage-viewer relationshipsortraditional ment, thattriggersitscyberneticeffect:connectingand activatingafeedbackloopbetween The existentialistsdiscussedanticipation andexpectationatlength, seeingthemaskeys It isthecontinualandconcentratednatureofthis “charging,” likeaheatedelectricalele- tively charged, tothepointofbecomingpracticallyunbearable. (244–45) halted progressionofthisnarrative, thisprocessofanticipation becomesevermoreaffec- moment ofchange;moreover, astheviewerbecomesmoreandcaughtupin [T]he viewerquicklyfindsherattentionintenselyconcentrated onanticipatingthis Psycho [1960] produced and directed by . Intersection: Video 24-Hour simultaneously,” hereflects (144). you cancoexistonvariouslevels the factthatasahumanbeing changing. “I’m fascinatedby tic mustbeevermovingand thatinordertobeauthen “self” and rigorousreflectionona cacy forcontinualself-­ invoking existentialism’sadvo might be” (Camhi1999:144), where youwereor tual shiftfromwhereyouareto as “trying toinduceapercep Gordon describeshisartworks perception oftimeandDasein. and revealed, anticipationis key: of the movie is slowly progressed is disturbedandeachstillframe (243–44). As perceptionoftime insight intotemporalrelativity” tion accompaniedbyasobering rience ofprotractedanticipa- effects through “an eerieexpe- artworks produceprofound contemporary perception, such become theprivilegedmodeof that sincefilmicimageshave per se)” (2004:249). Heargues ness (andhenceconsciousness origin oftemporalconscious- art forcesustoconfrontthe with thetemporallimitsofvisual “Gordon’s experimentations Psycho intermsofhow Hansen reflectson24-Hour Media (2004), Mark B.N. In New Philosophy forNew creation - - - Cybernetic-Existentialism 49 (2008). The sculpture has been exhibited in in exhibited been has sculpture The (2008). Angel “in expecting, one leaps away from the possible and from the possible and one leaps away “in expecting, — different ways in galleries internationally, including as a solitary figure lying face face lying a solitary as including figure internationally, galleries in ways different netting and metal a circular within situated and 11), (fig. floor bare the on down Yu) Peng and Yuan Sun (Courtesy 12). (fig. installation of Figures 11 & 12. Sun Yuan and Peng Yu’s eerie and poignant meditation on age, age, on meditation poignant and eerie Yu’s Peng and Yuan Sun 12. & 11 Figures transcendence, and lost hopes, -

Of course, many artworks provide a catalyst or space for a similar type of contempla - for a similar type a catalyst or space many artworks provide Of course, one by anticipation, When, becomes free for one’s own from one is liberated death, one is one’s lostness [...] and liberated in such a way that for the first time one can authentically understand and Anticipation dis- choose [...] closes to existence that its uttermost possibility lies in giving itself up [...] It guards “becoming too itself against (Nietzsche). old for victories” ([1927] 1962:308) In Sun Yuan and Peng Yu’s 天使 Yu’s and Peng Yuan In Sun a hyperrealistic 2008), , (Angel life-size figure of a white-haired, wrinkled old woman in a white gown lies face down on the From apparently dead. ground, featherless her back sprout large, wholly ineffective chicken wings, The image is simulta- for flight. neously grotesque and beautiful, Like humorous and harrowing. “fallen this many of their works, hints at human existential angel” where Sartre’s complex tragedy, ideas of transcendence (a major section in Being and Nothingness ([1943] 2003) come down to and I have seen crowds of gallery visitors spend far It has a striking pathos earth with a crash. Like the philos- longer in contemplation of it than is the norm with contemporary artworks. and the ontology on shattered hopes and potentials, it is a meditation ophies of existentialism, “the shimmer of nothingness on reveals that time is in Sartre’s words, of time and death which, It conjoins imagery that derives ([1943] 2003:238). the surface of a strictly a-temporal being” emaciated and sociopolitical sources (this angel is a frail, mythical (Icarus), from Biblical (angel), Sun Yuan Yu and Sun Yuan Peng gets a foothold in the actual” (Heidegger [1927] 1962:306); and secondly, positively embracing positively embracing and secondly, [1927] 1962:306); (Heidegger in the actual” gets a foothold with the crowd, any impulse to conform for Dasein to reject is seen as a spur our own finitude authentic existence. seek to forge an and to instead particular deconstruction allure of this But the seductive death. meditations on including tion, coupled with the , in extremis technological elements of film projection and distillation of the viewer a posthuman cybernetic renders the (active and engaged) intense sense of anticipation, mor subject facing her own awak- and consequently tality, and ened to her own freedom possibilities. Heiddeger: such anticipation grounds us in the actual grounds us in such anticipation Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_a_00672 by guest on 29 September 2021 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_a_00672 by guest on 29September 2021

50 Steve Dixon bumping intoeachother. cal leaders(someasleepanddrooling)travelapparentlyrandomly aroundaroom, continually for manyyears, 13dynamoelectricwheelchairscarryinglife-sizesculpturesofgeriatricpoliti- take asimpleexample, thespokenmessage fromthesender(information source)intoatele- receiver andisdecodedatitsinformation destination, andthensubjecttoafeedbackloop. To variant thatcomesfromoutside thelinearsystemdiagram. Thereafter, themessagereachesa ted asamessage, whichissubject totheinfluenceof “noise” onitspath (1949:23). Itinvolvesalinear system, withaninformationsourcebeingencodedand transmit- written lettersorwords, ormusicalnotesspokenwords, orsymphonicmusic, orpictures” is generalenoughtoembracethe transmissionofallkindsmessagesandsymbols “whether by audiences. Shannonand Weaver evenmadereferencetoarts, notingthatinformationtheory whereby artistsencodeandsendtheirmessages, which arereceived, decoded, andinterpreted and itsformulationhasalwaysbeenpertinenttoartsasageneral modelofreceptiontheory, tion theory)wasmostprominentlyarticulatedbyClaudeShannon and Warren Weaver in1949, ories: information, control, andautomata. The first, informationtheory(a.k.a. communica- In “Cybernetics and Art” (1969)MichaelJ. Apter beginsbydefiningthreekeycybernetic the- Communication Theory andNoise Off exhibition in Shanghai. of Sun (Courtesy Yuan and Peng Yu) twin babies in decided to get married, giving blood to the cadavers of conjoined- Figure 13. Sun Yuan (left) and Peng Yu after they (right) shortly Body Link (2000) at the Bu fangshi/Fuck hezuo gallery’s permanentcollection as partoftheLondonSaatchi Sun andPengn.d.), ondisplay (Old Person’s Home, 2007;see tems (Fok2013);andin老人院 receiving bloodintotheirsys- drip, withthedeadchildren babies throughanintravenous nected tothecadaversoftwo two artistswerephysicallycon- 连体婴儿 (Body Link, 2000), the their controversialperformance cybernetic understandings. In back loops, alsoanchoritwithin of recursivesystemsandfeed- aspects, andparticularlytheuse existentialist philosophy, other work withintheparametersof the absurdplaceSunandPeng’s such meditationsondeathand Merewether 2009:19). Butwhile are wewalkingtowards?” (in hope. ... What kindoffuture expectations andtoomuchlost ers. There aretoomanyfailed some people, toolongforoth- kinds ofdaysaretooshortfor Weiwei has putit: “These contemporary art, andas Ai a tellingthemewithinChinese and anuncertainfutureremains mori bothbleakand uplifting. old woman)toofferamemento The concernoflosthope — the onlyinputor Cybernetic-Existentialism 51 - (2007). (2007). Home Person’s Old Figure 14. A type of malfunctioning cybernetic chaos is enacted as hyper-real, life- cybernetic malfunctioning of type A 14. hyper-real, as enacted is chaos Figure into bump continually wheelchairs in politicians close-to-death of sizesculptures satirical Yu’s Peng and Yuan Sun in another one (Courtesy of Sun Yuan and Peng Yu) Peng and Yuan (CourtesySun of - of blogs, tweets, retweets, “likes,” ready opinions, and convergent ready opinions, “likes,” retweets, tweets, of blogs, moving from information to coupling, from data transmission to moving from information to coupling, — — can turn noise into auras that render messages and artworks toxic, or lauded and or lauded and and artworks toxic, can turn noise into auras that render messages

—

Noise became an increasingly important and central aspect of second order cybernetics Noise became an increasingly important In arts and performance In arts and performance Killer Dogs heart The system itself is the creative instigator of the noise at the cacophonous and chaotic For the perfor Other; 2003). Each Touch That Cannot 犬勿近 (Dogs Yu’s and Peng Yuan of Sun mance, the artists arranged four pairs of gymnasium treadmills facing each other, just a few gymnasium treadmills facing each other, the artists arranged four pairs of mance, down the mid- A large sheet of clapboard separated the facing treadmills, centimeters apart. A live pit bull terrier was placed on each of the eight treadmills and fitted with dle of the space. the cen- a special harness and chains that restricted the reach of their noses to very close to each one lunged On suddenly seeing the dog opposite, which was then lifted. tral clapboard, snarl- eyes, aggressively towards its counterpart and in an extraordinary spectacle of psychotic these eight killer dogs attempted to attack and and deafening barking, spitting saliva, ing teeth, Although the power drives for the treadmills had been disabled, destroy the one opposite them. circulating the treadmills at furious speeds as the dogs ran at a ferocious pace on the same spot, within millimeters of each other. nose-to-nose, they strained, ticular messages, but of the but ticular messages, and atten- transmission systems of partic- that are “noise” dant ular relevance to the aesthetics In of cybernetic-existentialism. for exam- online environments, the blessings and compli­ ple, cations of hypermediation and instant feedback loops ­messages genres of Interest in noise has also extended to its role as central content within certain viral. and across the entire field of glitch art (see Betancourt 2017). video art and net.art, Moving away from and Gordon Pask. Gregory Bateson, in the work of Heinz von Foerster, sec- this and machines, physics, focus on mathematics, “first order” classical Wiener’s Norbert and drew more on models from living organisms ond order emphasized self-reflexive systems 1992 discourse (Pask and de Zeeuw 1992) on the Pask and Gerard de Zeeuw’s and biology. changes of focus also taking place within arts and cybernetic shift in emphasis reflects pertinent online culture at that time and from Erwin Schrödinger’s from external observation to active participation, conversation, Tom According to (1960). “order-from-noise” ([1944] 1992) to von Foerster’s “order-to-order” ‘noise’ as using “to overcome entropy by task was also second order cybernetics’ main Darby, (1982:220). positive feedback” practice, it is the dramatically it is the dramatically practice, of the par changing nature not phone (transmitter) is encoded is encoded phone (transmitter) signals and sent into wave where it is sub- through cables and “noise,” jected to system at the receiving then decoded the receiver whereupon end, by may instigate feedback which trans- speaking in reply, back mits another message and the through the system, effect is recursive. Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_a_00672 by guest on 29 September 2021 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_a_00672 by guest on 29September 2021

52 Steve Dixon towards individualfreedom, since deathbecomes “Dasein’s ownmostpossibility” (307): mediocrity oftheeverydayand theconformityofcrowd(the “they”) andtospurus on a ing death “as thepossibilityofimpossibility” ([1927] 1962:307)themoredeathbecomes Being-towards-death. others), andwhereweexistinacontextcannever “fully control” sincewearealways-already life iscontinually “adaptive” and “performative” (throughBeing-with-others andBeing-for- with Nothingness, where “becoming” isperpetual (sinceselfandidentityareneverfixed), where Parallel themesrunthroughoutthephilosophyofexistentialism, where “unknowability” equates The projectsofcyberneticianssuchasStaffordBeercanbeunderstoodas: Unknowability, Performativity, andPossible Impossibilities Conclusion ceral impactthatitexcitesandawakenstrueexistentialangstfear. Above all, itpresentsamomentofBeing-towards-deathwithsuchexplosiveoriginalityandvis- tence ofhumanswhocontinuallyruntowardsbutareforeverunabletoreachwhattheyseek. in relationtomyriadexistential “meanings,” fromlifebeinganabsurdtreadmilltotheimpo- death. The messagesitsendsarenotonlyloudbutmultiple, andcanbedecodedbythereceiver gle moment(astheclapboardislifted)fromcalmtochaos, frompeacetowar, andfromlifeto trol. Itspeakstotheunpredictabilityandfragilityoflife, andthewaythatitcanturninasin- and externalnoise, whichinturnrendersitevolutionaryandthuspotentiallyoutofcon- combining precisemeasurementsandscientificcontrolswithunpredictableinternalforces Noises,” firstmootedbyLuigiRussoloandtheFuturistsina1913manifesto([1913]2005). ear piercingandunforgettable, offeringawholenewperspectiveontheconceptof “The Art of from thoseaffixingtheirbodyharnessestothetopbeamofrunningmachines. Theeffectis clanking oftwosets(andrhythms)chains an enclosedroom, theirgnashingteethandrunninglegs, combineeerilywiththemechanical the historyofart. The horrificintensityandviolenceofthesounddogsbarkingwithin (Zhenqing 2003). Zhenqing hasdescribedthedogsasundergoingnotaphysicalfight, but “acontestofthespirit” in apparentperpetualmotion, oratleastuptothepointofphysicalexhaustiondeath. Gu Their commitmentistotalandthefeedbackloopscontinual, sendingmessagestooneanother lished thatishyperactiveandrecursive, duetothepitbulls’ “fight tothedeath” instincts. the formofanaudiovisualspectacleterrifyingaggression), andafeedbackloopisestab- dogs), therearecomplicationsofnoise(inthiscase, literal), thereisaresultingoutput(artin open andpart-closed(placedslightlyapartwithexactprecision), inputsareintroduced(the tems thinking.” There isadynamictechnologicalsystem(therunningmachines)thatpart- positive destination. Itacts, heargues, asacatalysttodraw usawayfrombeinglostinthe brings itface toface withthepossibilityofbeingitself... inanimpassioned freedomtowards have projecteditexistentially:anticipationreveals toDaseinitslostnessinthethey-self, and We maynowsummarizeourcharacterization ofauthenticBeing-towards-deathaswe Heidegger maintainedthatthemoreintenselywecontemplate therealityofourimpend- (Pickering 2004:499) systems thatcouldadaptperformativelytoenvironmentsthey couldnotfullycontrol. never dominateitthroughknowledge. The thrustofBeer’s workwas, thus, toconstruct becoming: astancethatrecognisestheworldcanalwayssurpriseusandwe specific instantiationsandworkingsoutofacyberneticontologyunknowability It isatraumaticperformanceofaestheticaggressionthatquintessentiallycybernetic, The literalnoisegeneratedthroughthesystemisarguablyunlikeanythingeverheardin Dogs That Cannot Touch Each Otherfuseshot, existentialterrorwithcool, cybernetic “sys- — from thecirculatingtreadmillmechanismsand Cybernetic-Existentialism 53 What Do Artists Do All Day ?” YouTube, 29 October. 29 October. YouTube, All Day ?” Artists Do What Do — . Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Toronto University of Toronto: . Time and Meditations on Politics The Feast: a freedom which has been released from the Illusions of the “they,” and is factical, certain and is factical, “they,” the Illusions of the from has been released which a freedom

—

Accessed 16 November 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EqVPZwiT5Q. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EqVPZwiT5Q. Accessed 16 November 2015. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/485270.stm. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. 277–93. MacDonald, London: Routledge. Paris: Les Presses du Réel. Weibel, and Peter Ursula Frohne, Levin, Y. Thomas edited by Brother, from Bentham to Big Surveillance The MIT Press. Art and Media; and Cambridge: Karlsruhe: ZKM Center for 228–35. monoskop.org/images/0/03/Burnham_Jack_1968_Systems_Esthetics_Artforum.pdf. 1:11–30. Media 12, 45, 1:3–12. 1:3–12. 45, Video and Film death (311) and anxious. of itself, are not cybernetic-existentialism ideas of what I term of the converging Manifestations are novel and efficacious, of the notion of Being-towards-death These artists’ explorations an experience and groundlessness of our existence, to the dizzying formlessness is that given by liv- [...T]he only possible meaning a life has which provokes anxiety highest human challenge. the challenge to live authentically is the and therefore ing it, (Moran 2000:362) many contemporary artworks and performances. Indeed, Indeed, and performances. artworks to many contemporary central but also within, only evident and critically of the most groundbreaking aspect of some is a defining cybernetic-existentialism and Peng. Sun, Lau, Gordon, Landy, Quinn, Hirst, Kapoor, ;, Abramovic acclaimed art by to which are, to their works, and cybernetic paradigms are integral Different systems theories “in transition from an object- “Systems Esthetics”: influential 1968 text quote Jack Burnham’s but from the way not from things, Here change emanates . oriented to a systems-oriented culture (1968:24). done” things are to the types of feelings of anxi- which leads of death in their audiences, exciting an anticipation and that wake us up: vertigo that existentialists see as revelatory, and nausea, ety, . Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Chicago: University of Chicago Steps to an Ecology of Mind. 1972. Gregory. Bateson, Accessed 19 November 2015. 25 October. ‘Outraged’ by Dirty Bed Exhibit.” “Housewife 1999. BBC News. edited by Paul S. , In The Existentialist Reader and Freedom.” “Ambiguity (1947) 2000. de. Simone Beauvoir, London: English Universities Press. . Cybernetics and Management 1959. Stafford. Beer, Aesthetics . and Post-Digital Critical Failures Theory and Practice: Art in Glitch 2017. Michael. Betancourt, October 110:51–79. Aesthetics.” and Relational “Antagonism 2004. Claire. Bishop, Woods. by Simon Pleasance and Fronza Translated . Relational Aesthetics (1998) 2002. Nicholas. Bourriaud, Rhetorics of In CTRL [SPACE]: “Jenni’s Room: Exhibitionism and Solitude.” 2002. Victor. Burgin, https:// Accessed 3 October 2016. September:30–35. Artforum, “Systems Esthetics.” 1968. Jack. Burnham, Summer:144. , ARTNews and Impossible to Find.” ... Visible “Very 1999. Leslie. Camhi, Books. Vintage New York: . The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays (1942) 1991. Albert. Camus, London: Bloomsbury. and Nothingness. the Universe The Existentialist’s Guide to Death, 2011. Gary. Cox, 1982. Tom. Darby, Arts and Digital of Performance International Journal “Cybernetic-Existentialism.” 2016. Steve. Dixon, 2, 3:257–65. 2, Leonardo Art.” “Cybernetics and 1969. Michael J. Apter, “1/2 Michael Landy 2014. Art Documentaries. References London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. . Authenticity of (1964) 1973 The Jargon Theodor. Adorno, of Journal Revisited.” Vision “The Myth of Persistence of 1993. Anderson. Barbara and Joseph, Anderson, Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_a_00672 by guest on 29 September 2021 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_a_00672 by guest on 29September 2021

54 Steve Dixon Pickering, Andrew. 2004. “The scienceoftheunknowable: StaffordBeer’scyberneticinformatics.” Pask, Gordon, andGerardde Zeeuw.Some Applications. 1992. Amsterdam: and Interactionsof Actors, Theory Nietzsche, Friedrich. (1887)1996. OntheGenealogyofMorals: A Polemic . Translated by Douglas Smith. Nietzsche, Friedrich. (1885)2006. ThusSpoke Zarathustra. Translated by Adrian DelCaro. Cambridge: Moran, Dermot. 2000. IntroductiontoPhenomenology. London:Routledge. Merleau-Ponty, Maurice. (1945)2002. PhenomenologyofPerception. Translated byColinSmith. London: Merewether, Charles. 2009. Ai Weiwei:. UnderConstruction Kensington, Australia: Universityof McCulloch, Warren. 1945. “A Heterarchyof Values Determinedbythe Topology ofNervousNets.” Marina Abramovic;Institute(MAI). 2013. “Marina (1974).”Abramovic; onRhythm 0 Vimeo. Accessed Marcel, Gabriel. 1949. BeingandHaving . Translated byKatharineFarrer. Westminster, UK:DacrePress. Krauss, Rosalind. 1979. “Sculpture intheExpandedField.” October8:30–44. Kierkegaard, Søren. (1846)1992. ConcludingUnscientific Postscript toPhilosophical Fragments, Volume 1 Kierkegaard, Søren. (1843)1986. Fearand Trembling . Translated by Alastair Hannay. London: Jones, Jonathan. 2016. “Can anartisteverreallyownacolour?” TheGuardian, 29February. Accessed Jones, Jonathan. 2015. “Kapoor’s bottomlesswhirlpool:asublimespectaclefromthemagicianofmodern Jobson, Christopher. 2015. “Anish Kapoor’sPerpetualBlack Water Whirlpool InstalledintheFloorofa Jaspers, Karl. (1935)1955. ReasonandExistenz. Translated by William Earle. New York: NoondayPress. Illuminations Media. 2008. “theEYE Heidegger, Martin.and Time (1927)1962.. Being Translated byJohnMacquarrieandEdwardRobinson. Harvie, Jen. 2013. Fair Play: Art, Performance andNeoliberalism. Basingstoke:PalgraveMacmillan. Hansen, MarkB.N. 2004.NewPhilosophy forNewMedia. Cambridge: The MITPress. Golomb, Jacob. 1995. InSearch of Authenticity: From Kierkegaard toCamus. London:Routledge. inthe Fullerton,Age ofSelfies.” Elizabeth. 2014. ARTNews ,“‘Self’ May:76. Accessed 6March2017. http:// Foley, Michael. 2010. The Age of Absurdity: Why LifeMakes Modern itHard. tobeHappy London: Fok, Silvia. 2013. LifeandDeath: Art andtheBody inContemporary China. Bristol:IntellectPress. Kybernetes 33, 3/4:499–521. OOC/CICT/Universiteit Amsterdam. Oxford: OxfordUniversityPress. Cambridge UniversityPress. Routledge. New South Wales Press. MathematicalBiophysicsBulletin of 7, 2:89–93. 2015.11 November https://vimeo.com/71952791. Princeton UniversityPress. (Kierkegaard’s Writings, Vol12.1). Translated byHoward V. HongandEdnaH. Hong. Princeton, NJ: Penguin Classics. -vantablack-paint. 2016.7 March https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/shortcuts/2016/feb/29/anish-kapoor /jonathanjonesblog/2015/feb/12/anish-kapoor-bottomless-whirlpool-installation. art.”Guardian, 12February. The Accessed 9October2016. www.theguardian.com/artanddesign /2015/05/anish-kapoor-decension. Former Movie Theater inItaly.” Colossal, 24May. Accessed 7March2016. www.thisiscolossal.com 2014.5 October www.youtube.com/watch?gl=SG&hl=en-GB&v=6hYUnkW4sNA. Oxford: Blackwell. www.artnews.com/2014/05/12/marc-quinn-as-middle-aged-young-british-artist/. Simon & Schuster. — Michael Landy — Break Down.” YouTube, 14March. Accessed Cybernetic-Existentialism 55 . Chicago: University of University Chicago: . Future Another of Sketches The CyberneticBrain:

Chicago Press. http://poestories.com/read/descent. 2015. London: Routledge. 1–19. /studio/studio-diaries/the-making-of-self. University of Illinois Press. www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-features/8245906/Damien August 2016. 25 Accessed 8 January. -Hirst-Were-here-for-a-good-time-not-a-long-time.html. CA: JP Publications. Davis, 76. with Stelarc, www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfLHz60cqeA. /artgallery/2016/02/damienhirst.shtml. Pergamon. York: New 31–50. and Scott Cameron, Yovits edited by Marshall C. Systems, Inc. & Sons, Wiley John www.sunyuanpengyu.com/article/2003/1.html. 2015. Pickering, Andrew. 2010. 2010. Andrew. Pickering, August Accessed 25 PoeStories.com. Into the Maelström.” Descent “A (1845) 2005–2017. Allan. Edgar Poe, edited by Stephen Priest, , Writings Basic Sartre: In Jean-Paul World.” in the “Sartre 2000. Stephen. Priest, http://marcquinn.com 5 January 2015. Accessed marcquinn.com. “The Making of Self.” n.d. Marc. Quinn, Publishing. Acumen UK: Stocksfield, . Existentialism Understanding 2006. Jack. Reynolds, Pendragon Press. York: New Art of Noises. The (1913) 2005. Luigi. Russolo, Routledge. London: by Hazel Barnes. Translated Being and Nothingness. (1943) 1994. Jean-Paul. Sartre, Routledge. London: by Hazel Barnes. Translated Being and Nothingness. (1943) 2003. Jean-Paul. Sartre, Harmondsworth: Penguin. Hopkins. by G. Translated Iron in the Soul. (1949) 1963. Jean-Paul. Sartre, University Press. What is Life? Cambridge: Cambridge 1992. (1944) Erwin. Schrödinger, Urbana: Theory of Communication. The Mathematical 1949. Weaver. Warren and E., Claude Shannon, , The Telegraph a long time.’” not here for a good time, ‘We’re “Damien Hirst: 2011. Alastair. Sooke, Paffrath edited by James D. , In Obsolete Body/Suspensions/Stelarc Trajectories.” “Strategies and 1984. Stelarc. www.sunyuanpengyu.com/works/all.html. April 2017. Accessed 25 “Works.” n.d. Yu. and Peng Yuan, Sun Accessed 10 November 2015. 5 February. YouTube, “anish kapoor descension.” 2015. Gallina. Tomazzo www.hikarie8.com 25 September 2016. Accessed Hirst: Prints. Damien n.d. Koyama Gallery. Tomio In Self-Organizing “On Self-Organizing Systems and their Environments.” 1960. Heinz. von Foerster, New York: . and the Machine Animal Control and Communication in the Cybernetics: or, 1948. Norbert. Wiener, Accessed 17 October sunyuanpengyu.com. Other.” Each Touch Which Cannot “Dogs 2003. Gu. Zhenqing, Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_a_00672 by guest on 29 September 2021