Yo semioticians! I just want to remind everyone that the theme of the next issue of Semikolon is Artefacts - a very relevant subject for semioticians! The whole concept of semiotics rests on the idea of human meaning-making as it manifests itself culture and artefact, be it the writing system or the custom of table manners. We want you to - through semiosis - create semiotic artefacts about artefacts. In other words: Send us an article, please! (The issue after this one will have the theme Love) Visit our website - where you can also read earlier issues: semikolon.au.dk/ And like us on Facebook: https://facebook/semikolon.au?fref=ts Here is the call for papers: Semikolon 28: Artefacts An artefact is an object or a phenomenon created for a purpose. Be it a computer, a table, or the christmas eve it is, in some way, useful to its creators. Some artefacts may seem lifeless and uninteresting, but in their form and function lies human intention. Since artefacts are created with a certain goal in mind, their purpose is defined by the creators. Creating products is one of the most (if not the most) important skills for the development human society. It is especially humanity’s unique ability to, on a large scale, manipulate its surroundings that has lead to civilization, as we know it today. Beside creative thinking and keen problem-solving abilities, it takes great social intelligence to develop artefacts from the idea stage to the product stage, in collaboration with others. The smart phone and the space rocket are not invented and build from scratch; an invention hinges on earlier ideas and products. The ability to accumulate knowledge, and via sign systems hand it down through generations, is a very important trait in human social evolution. But just as we influence the artefacts; they too influence us. After computers have become part of our daily life, they have changed our perception of concepts such as information, memory, space/storage etc. Earlier the phone and the telegraph changed how we view distance. Furthermore, every time a new artefact surfaces, it alters the way we interact with the world and each other. As an example Wolfgang Schivelbusch described how the railway revolutionised our conceptualisation of time and space in ”The Railway Journey”. The subtitle ”The Industrialization of Time and Space in the 19th Century” captures the idea that the railway didn’t just change the physical world, but also the conceptual, very well. Artefacts are not just external things; they’re also integrated with us in the form of artificial hearts, (Google) glasses, and pacemakers and so on. They’re an extended part of our cognition, as when we use computers, smart phones, or just old-fashioned notebooks. We are becoming more and more integrated with artefacts, and they’re an increasing part of us. Are we becoming cyborgs? Half human and half artefact? Or has it already happened? Are we creating artefacts, or are they creating us? In this issue of Semikolon, we’re creating artefacts about artefacts. What is our relationship to artefacts today? Our phenomenological experience of our surroundings is often taken for granted, but can we go a bit beyond the surface? We are looking for articles that can shed light on the phenomenon “artefacts”, and how we relate to it. The deadline is 02-10-2014.
Posted on: Thu, 11 Sep 2014 09:11:44 +0000