Notes

Outline

Material Metaphors N. Katherine Hayles Departments of English and Design/Media Arts University of California, Los Angeles

Greg Egan, Permutation City Thomas Riemann is a Copy Metaphor of board room His body is a metaphor Discarding the Kantian a priori of time and space

Interface and Metaphor Interface transfers information from one medium or format to another Metaphor moves meaning from one word to another

What is a Material Metaphor? Metaphor: ”A figure of speech in which a name or descriptive term is transferred to some object different from but analogous it that to which it is properly applicable.” From a Latin root meaning to transfer, to bear or carry     (Oxford English Dictionary) Material Metaphor is itself a metaphor connecting the material to the verbal/semiotic

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Metaphors Work Across Differentials From Abstract to Concrete Sorrow is a rock worn away by rain From Embodied to Social The boss is down on him From Unknown to Familiar An atom is a golf ball From Familiar to Defamiliarized Cauliflower ear

Physical Artifacts as Delivery Vehicles Artifacts have specific material properties Properties create differentials when embedded with verbal constructs Traffic between physical properties and metaphorical associations Physical properties provide networks of associations that can be mobilized for meaning transfer to verbal constructs

Book as Delivery Vehicle Lubb Dup, Ann Tyler The Weight of the Body, Michael Reed Parallax, Karen Chance A Maze of Daze, Susan E. King

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Jenny Jones’ TV Show Jonathan Schmitz Scott Amedure and Donna Riley Episode entitled “Secret Admirer” Audience told the “secret”—Jonathan’s admirer is Scott, not Donna

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Computational Objects as Delivery Vehicles Research in Experimental Documents, Xerox PARC Rich Gold, Maribeth Back, Anne Balsamo, Mark Chow, Steve Harrison, Dale MacDonald, Scott Minneman Images courtesy of D. Hovarth, Xerox PARC

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Programming Language as Delivery Vehicle Squeak Derived from Smalltalk, first object-oriented programming language Goal is to create a language that is dynamic, has behaviors, and whose smallest active unit is the letter

Squeak Each letter is an agent it knows what letter precedes and follows it can sense (position of surrounding letters) it has properties it can perform behaviors

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Hiroshi Ishii Tangible Media Group MIT Media Lab

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"Bill Seaman," Bill Seaman, UCLA Hybrid Invention Generator

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