Ben Basan

I'm writing my dissertation on arts and literature that use or represent pervasive computing technologies. The dissertation aligns both desktop and pervasive/ubiquitous computing technologies with certain urban utopias that shaped late nineteenth and twentieth century urban space. The works I examine are William Gibson's Neuromancer, David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas, Paula Levine's Shadows from another Place, J.R. Carpenter's in abstentia, Loca Labs' Loca: Set to Discoverable, Hou Je Bek's .walk, Iain Sinclair's London Orbital, Allen Fisher's Place, and quite a few examples from Archigram, Fluxus/Fluxshoe, The Independent Group, and others.

I have a strong interest in twentieth century art, architecture, and literature, particularly the so-called avant-garde and particularly those that are engaged with urban space, sound, and (left) social change. Although initially interested in North American poetics, my research is increasingly concerned with arts from Britain.

Location

Iowa City, IA

Disciplines

Affiliation

The University of Iowa

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