Doomscroll with Joshua Citarella Vilem Flusser's Combination Game
6 snips
May 29, 2024 The discussion kicks off by exploring the interplay between socialite status and socialist activism post-2008 financial crisis. Vilem Flusser's insights on photography reveal the impact of digital media and technology on artistic expression. The conversation dives deep into Facebook's algorithmic shift, changing user interactions and community dynamics. It also addresses the role of advertising bots and advocates for platform cooperativism as a response to control in digital spaces. Lastly, the disconnect between rising productivity and stagnant wages sheds light on the issues plaguing the modern workforce.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Platform Culture As A Combination Game
- Flusser frames culture on platforms as a probabilistic "combination game" where improbable cultural mixes inevitably arise over time.
- Skilled practitioners can intentionally seed novel combinations into that game to shape memetic culture.
Jogging Collective Seeded Viral Critique
- Josh describes how his artist collective Jogging used Tumblr to plant viral images and critique consumer identity.
- They treated virality as a tool to spread embedded political and cultural critiques.
Images Robotize Experience
- Flusser argues the photographic universe programs society into robot-like, staccato actions by reducing experience to discrete images.
- This cybernetic restructuring replaces linear narrative with automated, punctuated behaviors across culture.
