Experiential Tools and Face Masks: Entanglements of Human Beings and Artifacts

Date/Time
Thursday
1 Dec 2022
2:00 pm - 3:30 pm

Event Type
Talk

Chiara Cappelletto

Pii Telakivi

Please note the change in location for this event:

Hotel Shattuck Plaza, Golden Bear II:
2086 Allston Way,
Berkeley, CA 94704

https://www.hotelshattuckplaza.com/

The material basis of certain conscious experiences can extend to the tools and instruments we use (Telakivi, forthcoming).In those cases, the interface between the tool and the user has shifted – instead of two separate systems,they should be considered as a hybrid, coupled system.In this talk, they will distinguish between different levels of extension–from more fleeting to more robust–which constitute a continuum.Within this continuum, the differences in the degrees of attachment will be revealed: how important the external part is and how it should be treated: as an external tool or as a part of the experiential self?

The answer we incline to give is that the tool enacts a feedback effect on the sense of self. A case study will be presented, which represents the first result of an experimental phenomenological research developed by Cappelletto & Calbi on face masks (forthcoming). Contrary to the mainstream idea for which the mask is a veil that hides the identity of which the face is considered a stable emblem, the research 1) validates the hypothesis that the mask functions as an artifact that exerts performative power over our bodies, and 2) suggests that it reconfigures a new topology of affects, redistributing the identitarian focus to previously neglected body parts.

This event is sponsored by CSTMS.
Additional sponsorship comes from:  CSTMS