loriemerson

sister labs cont. // the Trope Tank

Over the past year, I’ve had the chance to tour several labs I consider siblings to the Media Archaeology Lab. Last February, for example, I posted about my tours of the Signal Lab and the Media Archaeological Fundus at Humboldt-Universität in Berlin. This past week, while I was in Boston researching the MIT Media Lab, […]

by Lori Emerson

the MIT Media Lab, from Machine Shop to Wet Lab

Below are pictures I took of the MIT Media Lab while I was there for a one-week research trip. While I was open to discovering anything unexpected that I could from wandering around the space and from taking a generational approach to interviewing long-time research scientists, full Professors, associate and assistant professors, and the lab’s […]

by Lori Emerson

As If, or, Using Media Archaeology to Reimagine Past, Present, and Future

Below is an interview Jay Kirby conducted with me that’s been published in a special section, titled “Media Genealogy” and edited by Jeremy Packer and Alex Monea, of the International Journal of Communication 10 (2016). I’m grateful to Jay, Jeremy and Alex for all they work they did to put this issue together. * Abstract: […]

by Lori Emerson

master class // Critical Infrastructure Studies, from Interface to Network

In preparation for today’s workshop I suggested you read excerpts from Reading Writing Interfaces. A couple other readings I’ll be drawing on today are “Against the Frictionless Interface! An Interview with Lori Emerson” and “What’s Wrong With the Internet & How to Fix It: An Interview with John Day.” I hope to use these readings as […]

by Lori Emerson

Minitel, 1978-2012 // an other network

The premise of “Other Networks,” the book project I’m working on right now, is simple and draws heavily from the premise of the Media Archaeology Lab: uncover what was, what could have been, to reimagine what still could be. This mantra applies just as much to the dead-ends in computer hardware and software you can […]

by Lori Emerson

on sport, women, academia, access, & daily affirmation

Thank you, sincerely, to Erin Wunker and Hook and Eye for giving me this opportunity to write out how much sport has meant to me over the years, as both a woman and an academic. * I thought I was going to use this much appreciated opportunity to write out some kind of overarching argument […]

by Lori Emerson

workshop // Othernet, Alternet, Darknet

Once more, thank you very much for inviting me to talk with you about “Other Networks” and give a workshop on “Othernet, Alternet, Darknet // the Past, Present, and Future of Alternate Networks.” In preparation for today’s workshop I suggested you read “Against the Frictionless Interface! An Interview with Lori Emerson” and “What’s Wrong With the Internet & […]

by Lori Emerson

selling the future at the MIT Media Lab

The following is the text of a talk I gave at Transmediale on February 5, 2016 as part of a panel with Jussi Parikka, Ryan Bishop, and John Beck on “The Persistence of the Lab.” The text of the talk will eventually find its way into THE LAB BOOK. * What follows are some of my […]

by Lori Emerson

sister labs // Signal Lab & Media Archaeological Fundus

For years now, I’ve been yearning to go to Berlin to visit two labs that have the closest kinship to my own Media Archaeology Lab: the Signal Lab, run by Stefan Höltgen, and the Media Archaeological Fundus, founded by Wolfgang Ernst and now also run by Stefan. I finally got my chance to tour both labs in early […]

by Lori Emerson

media archaeology is literary studies

Katie Price and the good folks at Jacket2 Magazine requested short answers to a quick question on how media archaeology informs literary studies. Along with great responses by Aaron Angello, Jussi Parikka and Jane Birkin, I contributed the following paragraph: If you believe that media archaeology largely coalesces in the writing of Friedrich Kittler, then […]