Objects and interaction

Abstract

Framed by the process philosophy of Alfred Whitehead and the more recent work in object-oriented philosophy of figures such as Steven Shaviro and Graham Harman, this article develops an object-oriented approach to understanding interaction. By way of illustration I explore interactive artworks from Ken Rinaldo, Wolfgang Müench and Kiyoshi Furukawa, and Paul Sermon, which emphasise the intersection of a layer of technology in our sensory and physical experiences of the world. In order to develop an object-oriented exploration of these works, and our day-to-day interactions with technology in a broader sense, I explore digital interaction as a process that involves the transductive relationships set up between objects and the milieu in which these objects find themselves. Central to this argument is setting all objects, including human users, technology and artifacts, on the same ontological footing.