Nanoculture

by Hayles, N. Katherine

• ISBN13: 9781841501130
• ISBN10: 1841501131
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-01-01
• Publisher: Intellect L & D E F A E

Summary

"Nano" denotes a billionth; a nanometer is a billionth of a meter. New instrumentation and techniques have for the first time made possible materials research and engineering at this level, the scale of individual molecules and atoms. Extraordinary visions of material abundance, unprecedented materials, and powerful engineering capabilities have marked the arrival of nanotechnology, as well as dystopian scenarios of self-replicating devices running amok and causing global catastrophe. Largely a future possibility rather than present actuality, nanotechnology has become a potent cultural signifier. NanoCultureexplores the ways in which nanotechnology interacts with, and itself becomes, a cultural construction. Topics include the co-construction of nanoscience and science fiction; the influence of risk assessment and nanotechnology on the shapes of narratives; intersections between nanoscience as a writing practice and experimental literature at the limits of fabrication; the Alice-in-Wonderland metaphor for nanotechnology; and the effects of mediation on nanotechnology and electronic literature. NanoCultureis produced in collaboration with thenanoart exhibit at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (December 2003-September 2004), created by an interdisciplinary team led by media artist Victoria Vesna and nanoscientist James Gimzewski.NanoCultureis richly illustrated with images from thenanoexhibit, which also provides the basis for an ethnographic analysis of collaborative process and an exploration of changing concepts of museum space. The dynamic uniting these diverse perspectives is boundary crossing: between art, science, and literature; cultural imaginaries, scientific facts, and technological possibilities; actual. virtual, and hybrid spaces; the science of fictions and the fictions of science; and utopian dreams, material constraints, and dystopian nightmares. The first book-length study focus on cultural implications of nanotechnology,NanoCulturebreaks new ground in showing the importance of the new technoscience to contemporary culture and of culture to the development, interpretation, and future of this technoscience.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. 9
Connecting the Quantum Dots: Nanotechscience and Culture	p. 11
Art & science
The Invisible Imaginary: Museum Spaces, Hybrid Reality and Nanotechnology	p. 27
Working Boundaries on the NANO Exhibition	p. 83
Science & fiction
Nanotechnology in the Age of Posthuman Engineering: Science Fiction as Science	p. 109
Less is More: Much Less is Much More: The Insistent Allure of Nanotechnology Narratives in Science Fiction	p. 131
Atomizing the Risk Technology	p. 147
Dust. Lust, and Other Messages from the Quantum Wonderland	p. 161
Science & literature
Needle on the Real: Technoscience and Poetry at the Limits of Fabrication	p. 173
Nano Narrative: A Parable from Electronic Literature	p. 191
What's the Buzz? Tell Me What's A-Happening: Wonder, Nanotechnology, and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland	p. 201
Table of Contents provided by Rittenhouse. All Rights Reserved.