This is the second experiment in mapping the mixed-reality city.

As before, we will draw upon recent controversies. This time the controversies concern “feral” technologies. Such controversies are sites where realities meet over disputed rights, unresolved questions, and conflicting values. These controversies are manifest through material traces such as newspaper articles.

First, choose a feral technology controversy traceable through one of the articles included. If you have another controversy in mind and you can find a relevant news article, please send an inquiry to yanni@metalab.harvard.edu.

Second, create a list of human and non-human actors identifiable in the article. An actor is any entity defined by the article that performs work within the controversy, including people, plants, non-human animals, buildings, technologies and institutions. Set a limit on the number of actors you define and articulate a rationale for that limit; this experiment is intended to be illustrative rather than exhaustive.

Third, select one actor that troubles you and create a dossier on that actor. The actor might be invisible, in flux, a cyborg (see Haraway), or simply a reified concept (see Marx). Collect material on the actor, including alternate articles, visual media, quantitative data and other representations. Experiment with ways of presenting this material visually in ways that shed light on the original controversy. Include these experiments in your dossier along with the original material.

Create a new project on the website to host your dossier and a short description of your process (~300 words). Be prepared to present and discuss your findings in class.

For more on actors, traces, and associations see: Latour, Bruno. 2008. Reassembling the Social: An Introduction to Actor-Network-Theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press.