Sentience and the Virtual Body, from Dual Subjectivity to the Eros Effect
Symposium:
Session Title:
- Machinic Sense & Sensibility: Code, AI & Performance
Presentation Title:
- Sentience and the Virtual Body, from Dual Subjectivity to the Eros Effect
Presenter(s):
Abstract:
Theoretical notions about sentient and emanating bodies, dual subjectivity and the Eros effect are appended to my previous analysis of the ‘future’ metaverse. This latter term refers to technical, subjective and social-behaviour arrangements triggered by the condition of living, communicating, and interacting online when one is (almost) permanently logged into information and social networks. The sentient body is able to feel itself and the world even at mass level, preceding and exceeding perception, language and physical location (virtually); it is also capable of reality and sensecreation. A few questions addressed in this text are: Within the metaverse are our extended virtual bodies, sentient bodies? Do they act, react, and behave as emanating bodies? And if so, in which fashion: synthetic, virtual, hybrid? Are our virtual bodies able to create ‘magnetic allure’ (the vibe) to spawn mass mobilisation, as invoked in heuristics of the Eros effect? Answering these questions is important to broaden analyses of social networks and virtual worlds aesthetics merging through online interaction. The notions of bodily emanation (the vibe), autoempathy, and dual subjectivity are examined as constitutive parts of the rich transference between sentience and subjectivity production in the metaverse.
