Navigation or filtration: Vilém Flusser and the vampiric alternative of the digital imaginary

2016/01/01 by Yves Citton · 1 voice
Computer Science · Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Digital Media and Philosophy #Molecular Communication and Nanonetworks #Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life

paper · pdf · doi:10.4000/hybrid.937

openalex publication_date 2016/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/22

Abstract

This paper offers a reading of the strange book written during the 1980s by the media philosopher Vilém Flusser entitled Vampyroteuthis Infernalis, recently translated into French. Through this unsettling fable with a deep-sea octopus as a subject, Flusser describes our new algorithmic and digital world as the other side of a world to which we got used to before its advent. We discover a universe full of bioluminescent filters, immediate mediations, brain sculptures and so-called “data” that actually represent “plugs”.

Discussions

• “Vampire squids light up the abyss with their bioluminescent emissions (chromatophores, mucus, sepia), producing forms—“artworks”—quite similar to our paintings, sculptures and shows” On vampire squi [bsky, 6 points, 0 comments]

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