metaphors

“It is the most common way of trying to cope with novelty: by means of metaphors and analogies we try to link the new to the old, the novel to the familiar. Under sufficiently slow and gradual change, it works reasonably well; in the case of a sharp discontinuity, however, the method breaks down: though we may glorify it with the name “common sense”, our past experience is no longer relevant, the analogies become too shallow, and the metaphors become more misleading than illuminating. This is the situation that is characteristic for the “radical” novelty.”
—E.W. Dijkstra, On the cruelty of really teaching computer science

It is often explained in Computer Science and Interface Design that a good method for introducing  new technologies is through the use of metaphors. Our text processors look like sophisticated but cold virtual typing machines; our computer desktops are organized in folders and subfolders with tabs; music production suites copy literally the physical image of classical synthesizers, etc. Our computers and programs are usually conceived with the objective to mimic our “real world”.

Artists: Alberto Boem, Davide Bevilacqua, Alessio Chierico, Cesar Escudero, Chiara Esposito, Isidora Ficovic, Jorge Gálvez, Đejmi Had, Mihaela Kavdanska, Oliver Kellow, Veronica Krenn, Sopon Kulkijja, Maruska Polakova.

Organized by nomadenetappe (nomadenetappe.net) and Art Academie Linz Interface Cultures Faculty

Curator: Enrique Tomás