The Non-Deterministic Apparatus, From Index To Icon
With a recent Samsung Galaxy Smartphone, one can no longer photograph the real moon. Instead, when trying to do so, the result contains details that were never optically present. How does one navigate the ontological shift of images that have photographic authority, yet display an increased displacement of indexicality? This essay follows the introduction of computational supplementation, the replacement of the shutter via text prompts, and machine learning models that average singular traces into statistical multitudes. The new boundaries of the post-photographic universe are self-referential, post-corporeal, post-light icons that only intensify the question of how to read images.
Non-Deterministic Apparatus (PDF 184.14 KB)