Nesting complex systems

Thesis: S.M. in Art, Culture and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Architecture, 2017.

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Chen, Angel Chia Ling
Other Authors: Gediminas Urbonas.
Format: Thesis
Language:eng
Published: Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2017
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/111700
_version_ 1826202206543544320
author Chen, Angel Chia Ling
author2 Gediminas Urbonas.
author_facet Gediminas Urbonas.
Chen, Angel Chia Ling
author_sort Chen, Angel Chia Ling
collection MIT
description Thesis: S.M. in Art, Culture and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Architecture, 2017.
first_indexed 2024-09-23T12:03:51Z
format Thesis
id mit-1721.1/111700
institution Massachusetts Institute of Technology
language eng
last_indexed 2024-09-23T12:03:51Z
publishDate 2017
publisher Massachusetts Institute of Technology
record_format dspace
spelling mit-1721.1/1117002019-04-12T22:24:22Z Nesting complex systems Chen, Angel Chia Ling Gediminas Urbonas. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Architecture. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Architecture. Architecture. Thesis: S.M. in Art, Culture and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Architecture, 2017. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. Includes bibliographical references (page 64). This thesis discusses an artistic method of engaging with complex systems. The engagements take the form of inserting a certain something (an object, a task, a conversational prompt, myself) into a complex system with well-defined and elaborate technical processes serving specific and declared goals. The insertion is not meant to interrupt, disrupt, or destroy the system. The inserted thing is foreign to the system and is often understood as unproductive or absurd by it. However, the system can digest and process the thing successfully and spit it out the same way it does with what the system is meant to and does take in every day. This insertion is an act of nesting in the biological sense-making a nest from concocting foreign materials with existing materials-where the thing inserted becomes an anchor or an entry point from which a particular network of existing knowledge and relations are drawn out and revealed. Then, rigorous observations about what is revealed are made; materials produced by these encounters (between the things inserted and the systems) are collected. This gesture of insertion is an attempt at understanding a complex system without abstraction, reduction, or simplification. It is not possible to "see the whole picture" of these complex systems. However, one could, nonetheless, engage with it and allow a part (perhaps arbitrary to the system) to speak to the whole. The projects presented in this thesis engage with the complex systems of nanoscale fabrication, campus building construction, synthetic biology, and imaging technologies in the sciences. These seemingly disparate fields are united by an investigation of how emerging science and technology challenge an understanding of what a person is and how a person understands, as well as an interest in the very costly infrastructure that supports the new developments. by Angel Chia Ling Chen. S.M. in Art, Culture and Technology 2017-10-04T15:04:23Z 2017-10-04T15:04:23Z 2017 2017 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/111700 1003854363 eng MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 68 pages application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology
spellingShingle Architecture.
Chen, Angel Chia Ling
Nesting complex systems
title Nesting complex systems
title_full Nesting complex systems
title_fullStr Nesting complex systems
title_full_unstemmed Nesting complex systems
title_short Nesting complex systems
title_sort nesting complex systems
topic Architecture.
url http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/111700
work_keys_str_mv AT chenangelchialing nestingcomplexsystems