Distinction Machine / Kim Albrecht (DE)
In the midst of exploring and understanding cyberspace, it is intriguing to ask about the boundaries of computation itself. Ludwig Wittgenstein said the limits of our language define the limits of our world. What limits the language of computation? And how is it defining our worldview? This set of experiments asks the computer to perform a simple task, placing two differently colored rectangles at the same position in a three-dimensional space. As none of the two is in front of the other, the machine is confronted with a problem of what color to show. The decision for one color and against the other happens on the lowest level of computation in which electricity flows through the silicon circuits. The computer represents one or the other, but never an in-between. The vagueness of our world, the betweenness is nothing that could be computed. This certainty in the uncertain shines through on every level of mediation between us and the computer.
Credit: Kim Albrecht
Distinction Machine / Kim Albrecht (DE)
In the midst of exploring and understanding cyberspace, it is intriguing to ask about the boundaries of computation itself. Ludwig Wittgenstein said the limits of our language define the limits of our world. What limits the language of computation? And how is it defining our worldview? This set of experiments asks the computer to perform a simple task, placing two differently colored rectangles at the same position in a three-dimensional space. As none of the two is in front of the other, the machine is confronted with a problem of what color to show. The decision for one color and against the other happens on the lowest level of computation in which electricity flows through the silicon circuits. The computer represents one or the other, but never an in-between. The vagueness of our world, the betweenness is nothing that could be computed. This certainty in the uncertain shines through on every level of mediation between us and the computer.
Credit: Kim Albrecht