Humanity Measures Itself Self-Measuring and a new "Post-Measuring" Discourse
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Reading
Department Name: Art
Abstract
Abstract
This research will critically examine the aspect of the ongoing data revolution driven by contemporary numerical self-measuring methods, as exemplified by the proliferation of personal apps, wearables, and data-gathering sensors. It is a timely study, responding to and exploring our current logocentric thinking society that sanctifies numbers, focusing on the causes and the personal and social implications of the bias in favour of so-called objective information. I am motivated in part by my dyscalculia condition, where numbers are meaningless, and I aim to suggest what I call a "post-measuring" alternative to data-driven phenomenology. By combining philosophical and phenomenological analysis with thought-provoking artistic practice, I strive to introduce 'voices' that challenge current objective ways of valuing the self. My project follows two strands. The first is the timeline of measuring-technologies' development that materialised into sophisticated personal hi-tech products. The second is the Western epistemological discourse, which ranges from the empirical method of gathering knowledge to the embodied method that unveils the individual's "lived experience" (Husserl, 1970 p.240). Within these boundaries, I raise the following research questions:
What encourages individuals to prefer instrument self-measuring to subjective approaches? What are the implications of this preference for our society? Are there hidden intentions designed to influence the way we consume self-data, and if so, who benefits? How could art practice create a new mediative language that will balance embodied knowledge and data-driven measuring, and how may this generate a wider social impact?
My research's contribution to the fields of art and philosophy is the desire to develop a new mediative "post-measuring" language, which can form a bridge between human and digital dialogues. It aims to amplify the voices that speak from embodied knowledge positions and apprehend the body directed as 'lived', not as an external object that needs to be translated by technical tools. This new language will invite the user to experience a new way of self-measuring, giving legitimacy to various 'voices' and perceptions of reading the self. For its creation, I will use multiple media, such as text and sensory tools, to experiment with the impact of this new language on the way society manages the current technological data explosion. Thus, I wish to expand the discourse in philosophy and art history regarding different perceptions of self-measuring.
This research will critically examine the aspect of the ongoing data revolution driven by contemporary numerical self-measuring methods, as exemplified by the proliferation of personal apps, wearables, and data-gathering sensors. It is a timely study, responding to and exploring our current logocentric thinking society that sanctifies numbers, focusing on the causes and the personal and social implications of the bias in favour of so-called objective information. I am motivated in part by my dyscalculia condition, where numbers are meaningless, and I aim to suggest what I call a "post-measuring" alternative to data-driven phenomenology. By combining philosophical and phenomenological analysis with thought-provoking artistic practice, I strive to introduce 'voices' that challenge current objective ways of valuing the self. My project follows two strands. The first is the timeline of measuring-technologies' development that materialised into sophisticated personal hi-tech products. The second is the Western epistemological discourse, which ranges from the empirical method of gathering knowledge to the embodied method that unveils the individual's "lived experience" (Husserl, 1970 p.240). Within these boundaries, I raise the following research questions:
What encourages individuals to prefer instrument self-measuring to subjective approaches? What are the implications of this preference for our society? Are there hidden intentions designed to influence the way we consume self-data, and if so, who benefits? How could art practice create a new mediative language that will balance embodied knowledge and data-driven measuring, and how may this generate a wider social impact?
My research's contribution to the fields of art and philosophy is the desire to develop a new mediative "post-measuring" language, which can form a bridge between human and digital dialogues. It aims to amplify the voices that speak from embodied knowledge positions and apprehend the body directed as 'lived', not as an external object that needs to be translated by technical tools. This new language will invite the user to experience a new way of self-measuring, giving legitimacy to various 'voices' and perceptions of reading the self. For its creation, I will use multiple media, such as text and sensory tools, to experiment with the impact of this new language on the way society manages the current technological data explosion. Thus, I wish to expand the discourse in philosophy and art history regarding different perceptions of self-measuring.
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Kate Allen (Primary Supervisor) | |
| Haya Sheffer (Student) |