This thesis is aimed at investigating virtual embodiment and how it can affect a performer's experience of; and relationship to the physical body. With this auto ethnographic case study I hope to shed some light on the  ways virtual reality technology enables critical experiences and what effects these experiences could have, through my own personal journey. The study was conducted in the setting of  my home using a Pico 4 VR head mounted display and HTC vive full body tracking. The project used for the case study was an audiovisual pole dance performance that was performed on the platform Neos VR and streamed to Studio 44 in Stockholm. The research is rooted in the artistic field but draws knowledge from psychological and social research on VR as a cognitive and embodied technology. The research methods used to gather and analyse the research material were visual research, phenomenology and deep listening. The data collection consisted of visual and text based data. On the visual data I applied thematic analysis, coding and categorising of the text based data and analysing hyper reflections with a phenomenological approach. I found that the experience of virtual embodiment did change my relationship to my own body in a positive way by feeling more grounded and accepting. I was less anxious about performing and felt more confident in myself. Because of the entanglement of the study it was not possible to solely contribute the outcomes of the effect to virtual avatar embodiment in itself. It did however demonstrate how these VR technologies could be used to enable norm critical experiences by the use of norm critical design applied to avatars challenging beauty ideals and societal norms of performativity. My virtual embodiment and its effects on me can give a unique insight that would benefit developers and users active in these platforms as well as for personal introspection and self development. The study serves as a good base to build future research on and I intend to further elaborate on the extensive research data that was gathered.

The works of Philip K. Dick act as an ideal template for readers to explore what it means to be human in a technologically dominated world. Dick’s emphasis on the usage of androids and artificial intelligence as literary monsters allows for a posthuman reading of the traditional literary monster, notably in how their uncanny nature and behavior helps reveal the synthetic tendencies of humanity. In Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, “Imposter,” and “I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon,” each narrative incorporates artificial intelligence and androids acting as others to reveal the machine-like qualities of Dick’s human characters. This approach ultimately reveals Dick’s greater commentary on the nature of humanity’s tendencies to fall into machine-like patterns and expectations within the historical world. By asking questions of what it means to be human through posthuman monsters, Dick challenges the traditional definition of what it means to be both human and alive.

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Architectural discourse has begun to explore a new domain of discussion regarding Posthuman theory, Speculative Realism, New Materialism, and Object-Oriented Ontology. The response within academia to these relatively new areas can be seen in architectural school pedagogy, studio topics, syllabi, scholarly works, and projects published by academics and architects. Therefore, speculating about a probable architectural domain or an experimental domain of architectural theory carries significant value in terms of its potential contributions to architectural theory and criticism. Since objects have always been the focus of the architecture profession by the nature of the discipline, architecture has never considered humans as objects until the emergence of Object-Oriented Ontology. Engaging Object-Oriented Ontology in the architectural domain is often understood as a literal translation of philosophy to architectural design. Although Object-Oriented Ontology can be discussed during the design process in terms of positioning humans as objects, aesthetics of objects, and the representation of objects, it is not possible to design an Object-Oriented Architecture due to its level of abstraction. Hence, Object-Oriented Ontology can engage with architecture in three different ways: (1) questioning objects with architectural theory and criticism, namely Object-Oriented architectural criticism, (2) creatively thinking about the methods of representation of architectural objects, and (3) intentionally misreading it and experimenting on the intersection of philosophy and architectural design. This thesis explores the probable architectural domain by discussing the philosophy of Object-Oriented Ontology with architectural objects, and intentionally misreads and misconceptualizes Object-Oriented Ontology by highlighting the potential of the creative dislocation of the philosophy in architectural design. / Master of Architecture / Architectural discourse has begun to explore a new domain of discussion regarding Posthuman theory, Speculative Realism, New Materialism, and Object-Oriented Ontology. Therefore, speculating about a possible architectural domain, or an experimental domain of architectural theory, carries significant value in terms of its potential contributions to architectural theory and criticism. Since objects have always been the focus of the architecture profession by the nature of the discipline, architecture has never considered humans as objects until the emergence of Object-Oriented Ontology. Engaging Object-Oriented Ontology in the architectural domain is often understood as a literal translation of philosophy to architectural design. Even though Object-Oriented Ontology can be discussed during the design process in terms of positioning humans as objects, aesthetics of objects, and the representation of objects, it is not possible to design an Object-Oriented Architecture due to its level of abstraction. However, we can intentionally misread it and creatively experiment on the intersection of its philosophy and architectural design. This thesis explores the probable architectural domain by discussing the philosophy of Object-Oriented Ontology with architectural objects and intentionally misreading and misconceptualizing Object-Oriented Ontology by highlighting the potential of the creative dislocation of the philosophy in architectural design.

This study examines how themes, conventions and concepts in Gothic discourses are remediated or developed in selected works of contemporary interactive fiction. These works, which are wholly text-based and proceed via command line input from a player, include Nevermore, by Nate Cull (2000), Anchorhead, by Michael S. Gentry (1998), Madam Spider’s Web, by Sara Dee (2006) and Slouching Towards Bedlam, by Star C. Foster and Daniel Ravipinto (2003). The interactive fictions are examined using a media-specific, in-depth analytical approach. Gothic fiction explores the threats which profoundly challenge narrative subjects, and so may be described as concerned with epistemological, ideological and ontological boundaries. In the interactive fictions these boundaries are explored dually through the player’s traversal (that is, progress through a work) and the narrative(s) produced as a result of that traversal. The first three works in this study explore the vulnerabilities related to conceptions of human subjectivity. As an adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s famous poem “The Raven,” Nevermore, examined in chapter one, is a work in which self-reflexivity extends to the remediated use of the Gothic conventions of ‘the unspeakable’ and ‘live burial’ which function in Poe’s poem. In chapter two, postmodern indeterminacy, especially with regard to the tensions between spaces and subjective boundaries, is apparent in the means through which the trope of the labyrinth is redesigned in Anchorhead, a work loosely based on H. P. Lovecraft’s terror fiction. In the fragmented narratives produced via traversal of Madam Spider’s Web, considered in chapter three, the player character’s self-fragmentation, indicated by the poetics of the uncanny as well as of the Gothic-grotesque, illustrates a destabilized conception of the human subject which reveals a hidden monster within, both for the player character and the player. Finally, traversal of Slouching Towards Bedlam, analyzed in chapter four, produces a series of narratives which function in a postmodern, recursive fashion to implicate the player in the viral infection which threatens the decidedly posthuman player character. This viral entity is metaphorically linked to Bram Stoker’s vampire, Dracula. As it is the only work in the study to present a conception of posthuman subjectivity, Slouching Towards Bedlam more specifically aligns with the subgenre ‘cybergothic,’ and provides an illuminating contrast to the other three interactive fictions. In the order in which I examine them, these works exemplify a postmodern development of the Gothic which increasingly marries fictional indeterminacy to explicit formal effects, both during interaction and in the narratives produced.

Using social media and norm-breaking material as an empirical touchstone this thesis elaborates, investigates and explores the entangled relationships between humans and technology in social media settings. Guided by uncomfortable, emotional and bodily online sharing the thesis gives voice to stories that are seldom heard, by people whose lives are rarely spoken of. By exploring the performative entanglements of/with/through technology, design and human intent the overall aim is to offer a critical and new understanding of our online togetherness and posthuman becoming. The conceptual framework throughout the thesis is based on posthuman theory and feminist technoscience, two closely connected theories providing a new onto-epistemological way of understanding the world’s becoming. The thesis should be seen as the product of an empirical practice of making theory about digital things, culture, humans and non-humans. By exploring diffraction and touch as not only theoretical standpoints but also hands-on methodology the thesis contributes to the development of new ways of doing research. Important findings arising from the practice of diffraction and touch are Technoemotions – conceptually agents built on a posthuman understanding of how emotions are entangled between and within the phenomenon, becoming important agents in the apparatus creating the phenomenon. Four Technoemotions seem particularly prominent in the material: Trust, Truth, Time and Embodiment. The thesis concludes by providing a discussion on critical alternatives for ethics, politics and power in relation to social media and the norms and norm-breaking practices most of us participate in. The responsibility and ability to respond are addressed, as well as social justice and hope for the future to come. / Sociala medier har för många människor blivit en naturlig del av vardagen där den digitala gemenskapen är lika viktig som den analoga. På platser så som Facebook, Twitter, bloggar och Instagram kommunicerar vi genom att dela med oss av tankar, händelse och åsikter i vår vardag. Vi varvar bilder från vår semester med politiska artiklar, delar vidare kloka citat eller resultatet från ett test av något slag, skryter på våra barn, filmar våra husdjur, delar med oss av sjukdomstillstånd och barnafödande och allt annat som en vardag kan vara fylld av. Just själva delandet är ett viktigt fundament i sociala mediers blivande och dess design är ofta optimerad för att kunna dela samma inlägg till flera olika sociala plattformar med ett enkelt klick. Denna avhandling handlar om hur vi genom sociala medier blir tillsammans på nätet, hur vi formar varandra men även hur vi formas av de tekniska scripts och den design som sociala medier är uppbyggt av. I avhandlingen får läsaren ta del av ett stort normbrytande empiriskt material. Med avstamp i detta normbrytande undersöker sedan författaren hur feministisk teknovetenskap och posthumanistisk teori kan användas som konkret metod för analys. Genom att applicera både närhet och diffraktion till det normbrytande empiriska materialet finner författaren det hon valt att kalla Teknoemotioner – konceptuella agenter som har sitt ursprung i sammanflätningar av digitala, sociala, mänskliga och icke-mänskliga material och kompositioner. Fyra teknoemotioner är särskilt framträdande, dessa är: förtroende, sanning, tid och förkroppsligande men författaren nämner också friktion och frusna berättelser som viktiga för att förstå fenomenet normbrytande delningar i sociala medier. Förtroende, sanning, tid och förkroppsligande är teknoemotioner som befinner sig i mellanrummet mellan skilda delningspraktiker i sociala medier. Dessas teknoemotioner skapar förutsättningar och påverkar upplevelser, ger indikationer om möjliga skillnader och likheter som är av betydelse för hur vi blir tillsammans med digitala material genom sociala medier. Författaren ger exempel på att det visserligen ofta är först i sin frånvaro som teknoemotioner blir uppenbara och får agens. Därmed konstaterar författaren att teknoemotioner också ofta är sin motsats. Analysen visar vidare att användare ofta uppfattar teknoemotionerna som valbara, exempelvis sanning. I sociala medier är sanning ofta en komplex agent, som ifrågasätts eller behandlat som något var och en får/kan avgöra på egen hand. Förtroende likaså. Med teknoemotionen, förkroppsligande, framgår också en tvetydighet, där kroppen (den fysiska) saknas i det virtuella rummet även om digitala kroppar är högst närvarande. Kan det vara så att känslan av anonymitet växer sig starkare om jag kan välja att vara i eller utanför min kropp?  Slutligen, tid. Tid är inte detsamma på internet som vi är vana. Där är tid ett högt arbiträrt begrepp och vi befinner oss i vår historia, samtid och till viss del även får framtid simultant. Avhandlingen avslutas med en metareflektion över hur det är möjligt att skapa kunskap om komplexa posthumanistiska fenomen där mänsklig handlingsförmåga vävs samman med digitala material och dess skilda rationaliteter. Genom att efterfråga alternativa ideal för kunskapsutveckling och design där etik, politik och makt är viktiga inslag hoppas författaren på en kritisk och alternativ förståelse av den verklighetsproduktion som sociala medier (och andra posthumana fenomen) bidrar till.

This dissertation explores the role and significance of the ancient Greek myth of Prometheus in Western philosophy from Antiquity to today. Paying particular attention to its moral and existential meanings, an analysis of this in-depth investigation produces an overview of the exceptional array of the myth’s functions and themes. It demonstrates that the most significant functions of the Prometheus myth are its social, epistemic, ontological and moral functions and that the myth’s most significant themes are fire, rebellion, creation, human nature and ambiguity. The dissertation argues that this analysis brings to light meaningful information on two sides of a reference to the Prometheus myth: it reveals the nature, functions, themes and connotations of the myth, while information about these functions and themes provides access to fundamental meanings, moral statements and ontological concepts of the studied author. Based on its findings this work claims that, as in history, first, the Prometheus myth will still be meaningful in philosophy today; and second, that the analysis of the myth’s functions and themes will provide access to essential ideas underlying contemporary references to the myth. To prove the validity of these claims this thesis examines the contemporary debate on ‘human enhancement’. Advocates as well as opponents of enhancement make use of the Prometheus myth in order to support their arguments. Employing the acquired knowledge about the myth’s functions and themes, the dissertation analyses the references encountered. The results of this analysis confirm that the Prometheus myth still has a significant role in a contemporary philosophical context. They improve our understanding of the philosophical argument, ontological framework and ethics of the debate’s participants; and thus demonstrate that the information about the Prometheus myth acquired in this thesis is a useful means to reveal fundamental ideas and conceptualisations underlying contemporary (and possibly future) references to the myth.

La problématique à l’étude dans ce mémoire est la représentation et conceptualisation de la notion de posthumanité dans trois romans de Philip K.Dick : The Three Stigmata Of Palmer Eldritch, Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? et Ubik. L’analyse de ces romans nous permettra de montrer que l’auteur américain focalise sa réflexion sur le posthumain sur la subjectivité transcendante de personnages qui absorbent, et se substituent à la réalité d’autres personnages dans leur environnement. Nous montrerons également que l’écriture de Dick a évolué vers une vision plus spirituelle ou mystique en se détachant graduellement du récit de science-fiction traditionnel. Ce développement aura des répercussions significatives sur sa postérité cyberpunk. / This thesis examines the problematic of posthumanity in three novels by Philip K. Dick: The Three Stigmata Of Palmer Eldritch, Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep and Ubik. I shall argue that the notion of “transcendent subjectivity” is central to Dick’s conceptualization of the posthuman and that the novelist’s engagement with this notion enables a shift in his writing towards a more spiritual or mystical vision. Dick’s vision of the posthuman had a profound impact on cyberpunk authors such as William Gibson, Bruce Sterling and Neil Stephenson. The questioning of the posthuman is a recurring strategy in the work of these writers.

Esta pesquisa contextualiza e analisa poéticas artísticas polêmicas e visionárias de alguns ciberartistas que vêm refletindo continuamente sobre o avanço da tecnologia nos campos da genética, robótica e telemática e de sua relação com o corpo e a consciência. Essas tecnologias são elementos fundamentais para a configuração de obras que questionam a própria condição biológica da espécie humana, vislumbrando uma possível relação de simbiose entre a tríade \"homem, máquina e biotecnologia\" que poderá resultar em uma nova espécie, pós-humana. Como produto poético, parte experimental desta tese - resultante da contextualização e análise -, o autor relata o desenvolvimento de um universo ficcional inspirado por essas obras e pelas reflexões de seus criadores, para o qual são apresentados múltiplos trabalhos artísticos em suporte papel e nas hipermídias. / This research contextualizes and analyzes the polemic and visionary artistic production of some cyberartists that have been constantly thinking over technological advances in the areas of genetics, robotics and telematics, and their relationship with the body and the conscience. These technologies are of central importance to the configuration of works that question the biological condition of the humankind and lay eyes on a possible symbiotic relation between man, machine and biotechnology, which might result in a new posthuman species. As outcome of the research the experimental part of this thesis the author narrates the development of a fictional universe inspired by those works and their creators\' considerations, and also presents several artistic works framed in paper and in hypermedia.