Abstract
This chapter establishes the defining shift in the functions of consciousness that differentiates physical and digital modes of reality: the inversion of Existence and Meaning. The shift in alignment of these with the Virtual and the Real is shown to control the fundamental forces at play in each reality and the self-mediation of the subject. The control of this inversion of function is analysed in online media that challenge conventional mediation by technology, focusing on a case study of Maurice Benayoun’s digital art practice. Concerns over mediation by digital technology are shown to be secondary to the internal functioning of consciousness in concealing its own machinic processes and the illusion of separate realities in the parallax of physical and digital worlds.
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Benjamin, G. (2016). The Open Subject: Media(tion) Between Worlds. In: The Cyborg Subject. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58449-6_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58449-6_2
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