[...]ational ='lgc'>--thacker='lgc'>='lgc'>--> swarm, pack, flock, epidemic ='lgc'>[='lgc'>-='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='gtrw'>go to ERG website's epidemic nodes ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='strcls'>*the image of the ="trms">relational='strcls'>*='lgc'>]
="lsts lst1">•so
='lgc'>}='lgc'><='lgc'>==motivation='lgc'>==
="lstsrd">1. considering the strangeness of life forms act as a template ='lgc'>==to='lgc'>='lgc'>==> think ="trms">differently about life by mobilizing new ='strcls'>***pre="trms">positions of connection='strcls'>*** (with, alongside, between, ="trms">sym-, etc.) ='lgc'>==provoke='lgc'>='lgc'>==> ="trms">different theoretical insights into how ="trms">society might work
="lstsrd">2. ethical political drive to promote radical in="trms">="trms"nttrm="cluster,club">clusivity and to challenge mindsets that fixate on identity and ="trms">difference (='lgc'><='lgc'>-- ="ppl">="ppl">Harawayian) ='lgc'>[='lgc'>='lgc'>--> Isabel, Sara='lgc'>]
="lstsrd">3. work of decentering the human as the premier valance of the universe (may in turn) ='lgc'>==cultivate='lgc'>='lgc'>==> an ethics that is ="trms">ecological, in the sense of global and ="trms">inter="trms">species (='lgc'><='lgc'>-- ="ppl">="ppl">Mortonian)  ='lgc'>[='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="frds">Sina='lgc'>]
="lstsrd">4. conceiving of the ‘other’ as planetmate, messmate, ="trms">natureculture, mind-body, etc. (maybe) ='lgc'>==lead='lgc'>='lgc'>==> new conceptions of camaraderie, ="trms">community, ="trms">society, friendship ='lgc'>[='lgc'>='lgc'>--> artistic research, ="nms">apass, ="ppl">Viveiros ="ppl">de Castro='lgc'>]


bacteria ='lgc'>[also='lgc'>: mushroom, swamp='lgc'>] ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> poster-creatures of the flat ="trms">ontology movement ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> challenging classification
replacing Tree of Life with DNA-based model of life (homo sapiens='lgc'>: a micro-ingredient of an astonishing bacterial soup of prokaryotes, archaea, eukaryotes)

='strcls'>*bacteria='lgc'>: the ground zero life forms='strcls'>* ='lgc'>='lgc'>-->! ='strcls'>***nearest we can get ="trms">imagining the ="ppl">Lacanian Real='strcls'>***

we are more bacteria than human

="large lg2" stl="font-size:110%"> (global) bacterial biome='lgc'>: para-collective (='lgc'>=/= “merely” biological)
='strcls'>*our ways of reacting to bacteria are as political as they are ="trms">scientific='strcls'>*

="display:block;white-space:nowrap;margin-bottom:-1em;overflow:hidden;">...................................

purity ='and'>& pollution ='lgc'>+ their deep-seated link with ="trms">social order and its transgression ='lgc'>--Douglas='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='lgc'>{from ='thdf'>the idea of poisonous vapours (miasma ='lgc'>[unrelated to cleanliness='lgc'>]) ='lgc'>--to='lgc'>='lgc'>-->='lgc'>} discovery of pathogenic organisms بيمارى زا ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> ="trms">modern concept of bacteria

cleansing rituals before the bacteriological age functioned to ward off spirits and restore ="trms">social order and control (='at'>@="frds scrmbld">Elke, ='at'>@Isabel, the artist as medium)

discovery of germs ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> radical re-conceptualization of dirt (='lgc'>='lgc'>--> it is difficult to think of dirt except in the context of pathogenicity)

if we can abstract pathogenicity and hygiene from our notion of dirt ='lgc'>--Douglas='lgc'>='lgc'>--> we are left with the very old de="trms">finition of ='lgc'>[='strcls'>*='lgc'>]dirt='lgc'>: ="trms">matter out of place

='strcls'>**when we see dirt ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> we see a ="trms">system='strcls'>**
='lgc'>--="ppl">Campbell='lgc'>='lgc'>--> when we see bacterial images we are seeing something else

='strcls'>***contamination='lgc'> = a violation of some mythical, ="trms">symbolic, or political ="trms">system ='lgc'>=/= just a physical problem='strcls'>***

bacteria ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="trms">symptom of a disturbed ="trms">system


="trms">symptomatic analysis (='lgc'>=/= feedback)
pioneered by ="ppl">Marxist critics, ="ppl">Althusser

="trms">symptomatic analysis of X='lgc'> = to open the possibility of there being unspoken, unacknowl="trms"nttrm="knowledge,Knowledge">edged or disavowed content in X

="large lg1" stl="font-size:116%"> ="trms">symptomatic analysis ='lgc'>--of='lgc'>='lgc'>--> (content of) antibacterial advertisement ='lgc'>--laden='lgc'>='lgc'>--> with libidinal intensity or ='strcls'>*visual pleasure='strcls'>* (= an image that is visually intense)

='strcls'>**="trms">consumption can be ="trms"nttrm="already,spread">read like dreams='strcls'>** (a text that says more than it consciously expresses) ='lgc'>--reveal='lgc'>='lgc'>--> repressed ="trms">material (disavowed fantasies about='lgc'>: purity, gender, race, family, class, disease, displacement, ="trms">sublimation, etc.)
="lsts lst2">◦what fantasy is upheld by ="trms">presenting repressed ="trms">material as bacteria (or artwork)='qstn'>?
='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="trms"nttrm="already,spread">reading against the grain of the text (Jamesonian)
='lgc'>='lgc'>--> advertising images can be ="trms"nttrm="already,spread">read like ="trms">symptoms of repressed libidinal desire

="prgrph">-i did ="trms">symptomatic ="trms"nttrm="already,spread">reading of ="ppl">Olearius (but not of ="nms">ajayeb nameh='qstn'>?)

="lstsrd">1- accelerating pace of industrial production
="lstsrd">2- population growth
='lgc'>}='lgc'>='lgc'>==> first full flourishing of ='strcls'>*mass ="trms">consumption='strcls'>*

='strcls'>*='lgc'>[='strcls'>*='lgc'>]="trms">marketing='lgc'>: a sphere of cultural production where image conventions co-evolve with non-="trms">marketing imnages as an ="trms">intertextual constantly reciprocal environment='strcls'>*



="lstsrd">1. cuteness
little ="trms">monsters
infant-like
with freakishly funny features
playground of bacterial frolic

cuteness
a minor ="trms">aesthetic ="trms">category (in comparison to its more ="trms">spectacular counterparts='lgc'>: ="trms">sublime, beautiful)
(it is minor because it is ambiguous)
="lsts lst1">•="trms">positive ="trms">affects='lgc'>:
="lsts lst2">◦desire to protect
="lsts lst2">◦desire to touch
="lsts lst1">•negative ="trms">affects='lgc'>:
="lsts lst2">◦helplessness
="lsts lst2">◦pitifulness
="lsts lst2">◦="trms">excessive availability
="lsts lst1">•secondary ="trms">relations='lgc'>:
="lsts lst2">◦resentment at being emotionally manipulated
="lsts lst2">◦contempt for the weakness of cute ='lgc'>--accompany='lgc'>='lgc'>--> desire to='lgc'>:
="lsts lst3">◾touch
="lsts lst3">◾clasp
="lsts lst3">◾dominate
="lsts lst3">◾destroy
="lsts lst3">◾
='lgc'>}='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='strcls'>*cute='lgc'>: a site of visual intensity that is both pleasurable ='and'>& disgusting='strcls'>*

='strcls'>****three objects that are most often rendered cute in ="trms">consumer ="trms">aesthetics='lgc'>:
="lstsrd">1- women
="lstsrd">2- ="trms">technology
="lstsrd">3- ="trms">children
='lgc'>}='lgc'><='lgc'>-- (in psychoanalytic terms) inherently d="trms"nttrm="danger,stranger">angerous ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> in need of control='strcls'>****

="ppl">Campbell > why is it useful to see bacteria as cute='qstn'>?
='strcls'>***cuteness as a deep link to violence='strcls'>***
='lgc'>[='strcls'>*='lgc'>]cuteness='lgc'>: ="trms">aestheticization of powerlessness ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> a necessary step in permitting its extinction ='lgc'>[to make everybody like unto little ="trms">children is not such a bad way of disposing of them='lgc'>]

="lsts lst1">•re="trms">presenting the Other (the enemy) as despicable ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> powerful effect
="lsts lst1">•re="trms">presenting the Other as domesticated ='lgc'>+ infantalized='lgc'>:
="lsts lst2">◦de="trms">monstrates the ="trms">sublime Otherness of bacteria
="lsts lst2">◦we are relieved of guilt ='lgc'><='lgc'>== the bacteria is rendered beneath the threshold of ethical consideration



="lstsrd">2. overpopulation
cramming of many life forms into tiny spaces ='lgc'>~= (="trms">literally) an uncanny microcosm of the ="trms">imagined and feared ="trms">socio-economic order

='strcls'>***new ="trms">technologies to visualize the ="trms">world ='lgc'>==produce='lgc'>='lgc'>==> new ="trms">imaginateis of life itself='strcls'>*** ='lgc'>[='lgc'><='lgc'>-- ='mywrk'>my research on ="trms">bestiaries='lgc'>]

microscope (19th century) ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> microbial visuality ='lgc'>--="ppl">="ppl">Latour='lgc'>='lgc'>--> new modes of ="trms">interacting with and in="trms">gesting/="trms">consuming the ="trms">world

bacteriology as a discipline emerged at the same time as the (so-called) transformation “from industrial capitalism ='lgc'>--to='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="trms">market ="trms">society”
="lsts lst1">•overpopulation
="lsts lst1">•bacterial proliferation
='lgc'>='lgc'>--> a ="trms">trope in visualizing contemporary bacteria

bacteria live in obs="trms">cene proximity to each other ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='strcls'>*bacterial intimacy ='lgc'>=/= individualizing force of ="trms">modernity='strcls'>*

the fantasy of there is some ="trms">sort of “away” which can absorb what we overproduce

removal of excrement (in all its quises) ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> de="trms">monstrating the ="trms"nttrm="disturban">urbanites class distinction ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> (an apparent) desire to reorganize ="trms"nttrm="disturban">urban space ="trms">according to a logic of repugnance مغايرت (='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='thdf'>this is why i am so uncomfortable with “clean” streets)
="lsts lst1">•='thdf'>the idea that a veritable subterranean ="trms">system delivering ='strcls'>*shit-free cleanliness='strcls'>* ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> citizen's physical, moral, sipritual cleanliness ='lgc'>--with='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="trms">materila markers of the civilized ="trms">society='lgc'>: cubicles, toilets, drains, sewers

(="ppl">Lacan > ="ppl">="ppl">Morton > ="ppl">Campbell >) the problem of human ="trms">society ='lgc'>: what to do with one's shit

anti-bacterial advertising ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> fantasy of awayness

keeping ="trms">nature at a distance ='lgc'>==="ppl">="ppl">Morton='lgc'>='lgc'>==> (act out an ="trms">imagined preservation ='lgc'>='lgc'>-->) dumps on the rest of the ="trms">world
='lgc'>[sadistic admiration='lgc'>] putting something called ="trms">nature on a pedestal and admiring it from afar (for the environment) ='lgc'>~= what patriarchy does for the figure of the woman

="large lg3" stl="font-size:111%"> bacteria adhere to each other and to their environment ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='strcls'>*they make any environment cohere as itself='strcls'>* ='lgc'>: without bacteria there is no environment



="lstsrd">3. lower classes
overweigth
bad skin
bad teech
criminally deviant

="large lg4" stl="font-size:111%"> griminess سياهى
slick sheen ليز
dinginess چرکى
slouch اويخته
decay

in advertisement='lgc'>:
bacterium suicide bomber
ear-picking homeless man='lgc'>: the incarnation of bacterial cross-infection

='strcls'>**="trms">community ='lgc'><='lgc'>='lgc'>--> infection='strcls'>**
(health of the ="trms">community is theatened by undesirable ="trms">members)

='strcls'>*bacteria ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> ="trms">community can come into full self-expression='strcls'>*
bacteria='lgc'> = disruption of ="trms">social order ='lgc'>~-='lgc'>=> bacteria stabilizes the ="trms">social order

='strcls'>***bacterial threat='lgc'> = biological model for a political necessity='strcls'>***

="large lg5" stl="font-size:129%"> (familiar terrain of) hand='lgc'>: a vast and foreign bacterial colony

in a ="trms">world of microbial resistance ='lgc'>[in which common infections and minor injuries can kill ='lgc'><='lgc'>-- real possibility for 21st century and not a apocalyptic fantasy='lgc'>] ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='strcls'>*antibacterials carve out spaces of near-perfect security='strcls'>*

bacteria='lgc'>:
="lsts lst1">•overwhelm us
="lsts lst1">•outnumb[...]