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The Materiality & Ontology of Digital Subjectivity

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The Materiality & Ontology of Digital Subjectivity THE MATERIALITY & ONTOLOGY OF DIGITAL SUBJECTIVITY: GRIGORI “GRISHA” PERELMAN AS A CASE STUDY IN DIGITAL SUBJECTIVITY A Thesis Submitted to the Committee on Graduate Studies in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in the Faculty of Arts and Science TRENT UNIVERSITY Peterborough, Ontario, Canada Copyright Gary Larsen 2015 Theory, Culture, and Politics M.A. Graduate Program September 2015 Abstract THE MATERIALITY & ONTOLOGY OF DIGITAL SUBJECTIVITY: GRIGORI “GRISHA” PERELMAN AS A CASE STUDY IN DIGITAL SUBJECTIVITY Gary Larsen New conditions of materiality are emerging from fundamental changes in our ontological order. Digital subjectivity represents an emergent mode of subjectivity that is the effect of a more profound ontological drift that has taken place, and this bears significant repercussions for the practice and understanding of the political. This thesis pivots around mathematician Grigori ‘Grisha’ Perelman, most famous for his refusal to accept numerous prestigious prizes resulting from his proof of the Poincaré conjecture. The thesis shows the Perelman affair to be a fascinating instance of the rise of digital subjectivity as it strives to actualize a new hegemonic order. By tracing first the production of aesthetic works that represent Grigori Perelman in legacy media, the thesis demonstrates that there is a cultural imperative to represent Perelman as an abject figure. Additionally, his peculiar abjection is seen to arise from a challenge to the order of materiality defended by those with a vested interest in maintaining the stability of a hegemony identified with the normative regulatory power of the heteronormative matrix sustaining social relations in late capitalism. The first chapter analyses the formal aesthetics of legacy media representations of Perelman. The second chapter focuses on new media aesthetic productions pertaining to Perelman and the political ontology of digital media. The third chapter interrogates the political ontology of the materials utilized in Perelman’s work and seeks to clarify the status of the conditions of the challenge of a digital hegemony. ii Keywords: abjection; archive; autistic reason; digital subjectivity; Grigori Perelman; materiality; ontological drift; normative matrices iii Acknowledgments In many ways this thesis has changed a great deal since conception. This may well prove to be true of all academic work; experience will tell. Upon beginning to write, it quickly became apparent to me that the project as I had originally envisioned it would be more appropriate to a dissertation than an MA thesis, requiring, as it would, about seven chapters. I began with comparably little interest in either the aesthetic materials or conceptual work that has been made of abjection, thinking instead that I would be writing a delightfully dry and humourless text regarding the changing conditions of materiality as we enter a new digital era with a particular focus on the intersection of digital technology and contemporary topological inquiry. Where the former is a requisite material support for the pursuit of the latter, a number of fascinating questions concerning the relationship between ontology and mathematics in a digital age seemed in need of a worthy treatise. I was giddy at the prospect of tying myself into knots to solve this problem. This is not the document that I have produced. Indeed, undertaking such a project would require many years and more reams than I am able to devote to the current project. Those chapters absented from this document will continue to haunt me until I complete them. iv Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................................. iv Table of Contents .................................................................................................................................... v List of Figures ........................................................................................................................................ vi Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 1 Chapter One: Abjection and Legacy Media ............................................................................................ 5 Abjection ............................................................................................................................................. 5 “Manifold Destiny” ........................................................................................................................... 18 The Man Who Walks Differently ..................................................................................................... 21 ASD & Digitality .............................................................................................................................. 23 Chapter 2: Materiality & New Media ................................................................................................... 32 Satoshi Nakamoto series ................................................................................................................... 38 Life After Poincaré: Grigori Perelman (part 1 of n) ......................................................................... 47 Ferran Esteve Zine ............................................................................................................................ 51 A Remark on Materialism(s) and the Process of Materialization ..................................................... 59 Chapter 3: Authority & Ontological Drift............................................................................................. 64 arXiv.org Overview .......................................................................................................................... 66 The Shing-Tung Yao Affair .............................................................................................................. 75 Ontological Drift ............................................................................................................................... 80 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................ 87 Bibliography ......................................................................................................................................... 89 v List of Figures Figure 1: “subway image no. 1,” paparazzi photo…page 20 Figure 2: “subway image no. 2,” paparazzi photo…page 20 Figure 3: “walking with bag,” paparazzi photo…page 21 Figure 4: “standing in front of keypad,” paparazzi photo…page 21 Figure 5: “walking with mother 1,” paparazzi photo…page 21 Figure 6: “walking with mother 2,” paparazzi photo…page 21 Figure 7: illustration by Antonio Guzman for dailyomnivore.com…page 35 Figure 8: illustration by David Hughes for Playboy article by Brett Forrest…page 35 Figure 9: “anonymous sketch no. ##”…page 35 Figure 10: “anonymous sketch no. ##”…page 35 Figure 11: “anonymous sketch no. ##”…page 35 Figure 12: “anonymous sketch no. ##”…page 35 Figure 13: “anonymous sketch no. ##”… page 35 Figure 14: “anonymous sketch no. ##”… page 35 Figure 15: “anonymous sketch no. ##”… page 35 Figure 16: “anonymous sketch no. ##”… page 36 Figure 17: “Hipster? Genie!” anonymous…page 36 Figure 18: “Stock profile image,” Shutterstock user “mishabender”…page 36 Figure 19: “Wanted,” by Imgur user “perelman”…page 38 Figure 20: “Grisha walks with Zooey,” by Imgur user “perelman”…page 43 Figure 21: “Mining bitcoin,” by Imgur user “perelman”…page 46 Figure 22: “Disappointing mother,” by Imgur user “perelman”…page 46 Figure 23: “Grisha Superhero No. 1,” anonymous…page 50 Figure 24: “Grisha Superhero No. 2,” anonymous…page 50 Figure 25: “Grisha Superhero No. 3,” anonymous…page 50 Figure 26: “Grisha Superhero No. 4,” anonymous…page 50 Figure 27: “Cover page,” from Ferran Esteve’s “Grisha”…page 52 Figure 28: “Grisha walks differently,” from Ferran Esteve’s “Grisha”…page 52 Figure 29: “Grisha as object of study,” from Ferran Esteve’s “Grisha”…page 52 vi Figure 30: “Leviathan/Capitalist Machinery,” from Ferran Esteve’s “Grisha”…page 52 vii Introduction This work argues that digital subjectivity is an emergent mode of subjectivity and makes the case that Grigori ‘Grisha’ Perelman is an instance of such. By grounding this analysis in the figure of Perelman as a case study, it became possible to draw out how generalizable cultural dynamics are at work in constructing this particular subject. The political stakes of this investigation extend to an understanding of the developing foundations of contemporary existence. The political ontology of the digital is shown to structure and predispose subjects to relating to and performatively (re)constructing what constitutes the materiality of an object in the world and interrogates the horizons of possibility for the political future of the commons in a digital ontology. The first chapter presents the argument that Grigori ‘Grisha’ Perelman is an abject subject. It follows a lineage of thinkers pursuing the notion of abjection – from Julia Kristeva and Mary Douglas through the work of Judith Butler – and, in tracing this development, recognizes abjection not as a stable and fully constituted
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