In Formation
Abstract
In this article, I investigate how the characteristics of information— speed, instantaneity, newness, impersonality—influence human perception. I contrast these characteristics with the artwork Moule by Anna Lena Grau, a work that slows down understandings and asks its audience to take their time in making sense of it. If an artwork slows down processes of meaningmaking, it allows recipients to become aware of their own semiotic activities. I argue that information is a specific form of message, that is far from objective because it does not take personal experiences and historical, cultural, and geopolitical situatedness into account. With both kinds of procedures, I will ask what is at stake and develop an alternative vision of connecting people, histories, and events that are taking place afar.
