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Semiotic Flesh

Information and the Human Body

Phillip Thurtle editor Robert E Mitchell editor

Format:Paperback

Publisher:University of Washington Press

Published:1st Aug '02

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Semiotic Flesh cover

For much of the 20th century, an apparently solid conceptual wall allowed us to separate information and bodies. Information is that which exists between elements; bodies are the elements themselves. One is abstract the other corporeal. One is intricately involved in signs and syntax, the other in cells and organs. Yet in the last few decades, it has become increasingly clear that this conceptual wall leaks--bodies and information will not stay separate from one another. Data have become flesh just as flesh has become data. Semiotic Flesh marks an important contribution to the emerging field of information studies, providing multiple perspectives on the implications of burgeoning information technologies and biotechnologies.

The essays and responses in this volume focus on the sites where flesh and information productively intermingle, including the strange connections between LSD and DNA research, the implications of computer-assisted surgery, and the role of the human body in virtual reality installations.

"Semiotic Flesh registers an array of intense engagements between the informatic and the fleshly, in arenas as disparate (or as close) as surgery and performance art, the chemistry of hallucinogens and the chemistry of life."--Susan Squier, Pennsylvania State University

ISBN: 9780295982007

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: 249g

80 pages