[...]litical ideals and ="trms">interests. behind the s="trms">cenes and up the stairs, an ="trms">interested London ="trms">bookseller became a significant actor in cultural events.

nominal ="trms">agency
actual person
principle architect


="large lg2" stl="font-size:110%"> ="trms">systems move in space, time, and process
some archaeological structures (that one uncover) are stable, some in motion, some evolving, some decaying ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='strcls'>*“there is no way of ever getting access to the ="trms">past except through classification ="trms">systems of one ="trms">sort or another”='strcls'>* (at best) the ="trms">past could be reordered to better reflect multiple constituencies now and then. (="ppl">="ppl">Bowker ='lgc'>+ ="ppl">Leigh ="ppl">="ppl">Star)


(my ="nms">ajayeb research='lgc'>: “="trms">epistemic virtues” ='lgc'>[or powers='lgc'>] of the 12th century encyclopedic ="trms">wonder-="trms">books,) “="trms">epistemological decorum” ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> (to capture) “truth-making practices in action” (Shapin)
='lgc'>='lgc'>==> (my commitment to ="nms">ajayeb='lgc'>:) engendering reflection on the ="trms">nature of and function of ="trms">categorization itself

a ="trms">wonderful bit of ="trms"nttrm="metaph,metamorph,metabol,metal">meta-="trms">language


The Exhausted Receiver


Margaret Cavendish description of a new ="trms">world, called the Blazing ="trms">World, her own brand of ="trms">natural philosophy under the guise of a romance... ="trms">science for ladies='lgc'>{
="lstsrd">1- enthusiasm ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> new ="trms">science
="lstsrd">2- study of ="trms">natural philosophy ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> cardinal virtues of ladies, modesty and ="trms">religious reverence
="lstsrd">3- leisure activity, appropriate ="trms">pasttime
='strcls'>*she participated in discussions central to her life and times='strcls'>* (am i participating in discussions central to my life and times='qstn'>?!)
Cavendish self-consciously produced herself as a fantastic and singular... (='lgc'>='lgc'>--> is that what i wish to produce='qstn'>?)
="prgrph">-Cavendish strangely shared with Quaker women an experimental life of proliferating genders, of dress, of personhood, og ="trms">agency, of ="trms">writing, of personae, but not of this ='strcls'>*enabling collectivity='strcls'>*

hermaphroditical view of things='lgc'>: partly artificial, partly ="trms">natural

status of clothing as a signifier of identity ='lgc'>[='lgc'><='lgc'>-- not always='lgc'>]
crossdressing (='at'>#my sticker period)


='lgc'>[modest witness='lgc'>] (='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="ppl">="ppl">Haraway's ="trms">literal and ="trms">figurative queering of ="trms">categories)
the ="trms">rhetoric of the modest witness ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> the naked way of ="trms">writing, undorned, factual, compelling='lgc'>: “naked ="trms">writing” ='lgc'>[="trms">crafted in the context of being virtually ="trms">present at a de="trms">monstration, the ‘practice of credible witnessing’ (='lgc'>='lgc'>==> “truth”) in ="trms">techno="trms">science='lgc'>] was a proper reference point for feminist examination of objectivity and its ="trms">relationship to a ="trms">science founded in ex="trms">="trms"nttrm="cluster,club">clusion of women. the new man of ="trms">science had to be chaste, modest, heterosexual man who desires yet eschews a sexually d="trms"nttrm="danger,stranger">angerous yet chaste and modest woman ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='strcls'>*female modesty was of the body; the new masculine virtue had to be of the mind='strcls'>* ='lgc'>[women's ="trms">presence turns out to disrupt the experiment (of the ="trms">scientist or sufi) altogether='lgc'>] (“='lgc'>[...='lgc'>]best of women, pious, chaste, modest, and compassionate, are rendered unfit for ="trms">science by the very qualities that make them the best of women”)
(="ppl">="ppl">Haraway, why credible witnessing is still at stake='lgc'>:) “this is the culture within which ="trms">contingent facts ='lgc'>[= the real case about the ="trms">world, the object ="trms">world='lgc'>] can be established with all the ="trms">authority, but none of the considerable problems, of transcendental truth. this self-invisibility is the ="trms">specifically ="trms">modern, European, masculine, ="trms">scientific form of the virtue of modesty. this is the form of modesty that pays off its practitioners in the coin of ="trms">epistemological and ="trms">social power. ='strcls'>*this kind of modesty is one of the founding virtues of what we call ="trms">modernity.='strcls'>* ='lgc'>[...='lgc'>] and so he is endowed with the remarkable power to establish the facts.”
="prgrph">-“he ='lgc'>[the civic man of reason='lgc'>] bears witness”='lgc'>: he is objective, he guarantees the clarity and purity of objects, as contestable re="trms">presentations, or as construced documents in their potent capacity to define the facts ='lgc'>=/= queering confidence='lgc'>: enable a more corporal, inflected, and optically ="trms">dense, if less elegant, kind of witness (to the ="trms">matters of fact to emerge in the ="trms">worlds of ="trms">techno="trms">science) ='lgc'>[='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='thdf'>this is why i was trying to enable that kind of “optically ="trms">dense” and “less elegant” kind of corporeality in our work on ="ppl">Olearius='at'>#='lgc'>]
(="ppl">="ppl">Haraway ='lgc'>+ Potter ='lgc'>+ Shapin ='lgc'>+ Schaffer='lgc'>:) elaboration on ='thdf'>the idea of modest witness in which “modesty” might flip between either two sides='lgc'>:
="lstsrd">1- ="trms">historically masking a masculine solipsism as a preciously unmarked ="trms">category='lgc'>: modest witness ='lgc'>=/= haec vir ='lgc'>: God forbid that the experimental way of life have queer foundations
="lstsrd">2- (working across partialities) to create “a more adequate, self-critical ="trms">techno="trms">science committed to ="trms">situated knowl="trms"nttrm="knowledge,Knowledge">edges”


a nameless sin about which, without describing, he sought counsel

oratory

tension between dedication and prevarication (zaban bazi زبان بازی)

(='lgc'>[let's not='lgc'>] being a ="trms">member of) a “class” of those whose truth-telling was privileged
in certain ="trms">sorts of people credibility was ="trms">embodied


="nms">ajayeb.net's style of ="trms">writing ='lgc'>=/= a style of ="trms">writing driven by the needs of ="trms"nttrm="already,spread">readers who are relatively un="trms">skilled (in practical divinity, casuistry, or theology, and so on)


='strcls'>*** what kind of classification work, work of ="trms">historical re="trms">presentation, is necessary now to show over time with greater clarity, in cooperation with more and more ="trms">communities of practice, that in the best of all possible ="trms">worlds, at any given moment, the ="trms">past could be reordered to better reflect multiple constituencies now and then='qstn'>? ='strcls'>***
(="ppl">Katie ="ppl">King ='lgc'>+ ="ppl">="ppl">Bowker ='lgc'>+ ="ppl">Leigh ="ppl">="ppl">Star)

="large lg6" stl="font-size:126%"> ='lgc'>[my ="nms">ajayeb-making is about='lgc'>] partial connections (across time) ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> ="trms">communities


(='lgc'>[my point in work on ="nms">ajayeb:='lgc'>] we need) the possbility of competing and shifting claims on individuals (='lgc'>=/= self-making individual), rather persons with partial connections (across time) and queer ="trms">relations with ="trms">past="trms">present ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> negotiating forms of evidence ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> units of analysis ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> ="trms">past reordered

='lgc'>[with the help of ="ppl">Katie ="ppl">King's figure of ="trms">writing ="trms">technologies:='lgc'>] i am ="trms">interested in and ="trms">interested to help make ="trms">historical re="trms">presentations of nonhuman ="nms">iranians in ="trms">writing ="trms">technological ="trms">ecologies (which are inevitably products of new ="trms">social movements, new research ="trms">agendas, new publics of ="trms">interest, and new contests for ="trms">historical meaning)

with ="nms">ajayeb this became immediately my concern='lgc'>: ='strcls'>*infrastructures of ="trms">historical re="trms">presentation='strcls'>*

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

(what are the) stickiness of ="nms">ajayeb's being (='qstn'>?) or, in which ="trms">affective economy they are ‘passed around’='qstn'>? ='lgc'>[="trms">social goods, accumulating ="trms">affects, contagious مسرى='qstn'>? it tends to pick up whatever comes near, or gives us a certain kind of angle on what comes near='strcls'>*='lgc'>]
="lsts lst1">•="trms">wonder
="lsts lst1">•cause ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> ='qstn'>?
="lsts lst1">•
='lgc'>}='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="trms">social bond is always rather sensational='strcls'>*

(="ppl">Ahmed sug="trms">gests) thinking through ="trms">affect as “sticky”='lgc'>: ="trms">affect is what sticks, or what sustains or preserves the connection between ideas, values, and objects
='lgc'>{ ="trms">affects as contagious ='lgc'>=/= (inside/outside) “outside in” model of emotions (for axample, when we say='lgc'>: atmosphere “getting into the individual”)='lgc'>='lgc'>-->='lgc'>[part of the intellectual ="trms">history of (crowd) psychology and the ="trms">sociology of emotions='lgc'>] ='lgc'>}='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="trms">affect becomes an object only given the ="trms">contingency of how we are ="trms">affected
“what we will receive as an impression will depend on our ="trms">affective ="trms">situation” ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> Julia's post-="ppl">Lacanian feedback='lgc'>: bodies never arrive neutral
='strcls'>*everything depends on the angle of our arrival='strcls'>* (='lgc'><='lgc'>-- my point in ="trms">lecture-performances) ='lgc'>~-> ='strcls'>**pedagogic encounter is full of angles='strcls'>** (='lgc'>='lgc'>--> is that why i am becoming increasingly pedagogic='qstn'>?)
(by distinguishing between “did/how it work for you” and “did/how it work for the artist” ='lgc'>='lgc'>-->) ='strcls'>*="trms">internal ="trms">communication ='lgc'>=/= external ="trms">communication='strcls'>* ='lgc'>[what goes on inside the text on the level of ="trms">fictional mediation is not to be confused with the non-="trms">fictional realm inhabited by the ="trms"nttrm="already,spread">reader nor by the ="trms">author='lgc'>]

(we are facing the ="trms"nttrm="righ,rigo,riga,rigi,trig,rign">right way ='lgc'>='lgc'>-->) ='strcls'>*aligned ='lgc'>=/= alienated='strcls'>* (='lgc'><='lgc'>-- we are out of line with an ="trms">affective economy)
='strcls'>***(then how to) share an orientation ='lgc'>[, also refuse to share an orientation toward certain things='lgc'>]
='lgc'>[an ="trms">aesthetic ="trms">question which is moral. how two of my teachers, Julia and Phil, did this='qstn'>?='lgc'>]

to get along ='lgc'>=='qstn'>? to share direction


politics of good feelings

(slide between) ="trms">affective and moral economies

='strcls'>*how feelings participate in making things (good) ='lgc'><='lgc'>--='not'>✕='lgc'>='lgc'>--> germanicity
how bodies turn toward things

='lgc'>[='strcls'>*='lgc'>]="trms">affect='lgc'>='lgc'>-->='lgc'>{
="lsts lst1">•messiness of the experiential
="lsts lst1">•un="trms">folding of bodies into the ="trms">worlds
="lsts lst1">•drama of ="trms">contingency

“hap” ='lgc'>='lgc'>-->='lgc'>{
="lsts lst1">•happening ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> chance
="lsts lst1">•happiness ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> stickiness
='lgc'>}='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="trms">contingency of what happens as something good ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='strcls'>*="trms">worldy ="trms">question of happenings='strcls'>*
='lgc'>=/= (21st century) hard work, Aufgabe, happiness as an effect of what you do

happiness is
="lsts lst1">•intentional='lgc'>: directed toward objects ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="trms">phenomenological sense
="lsts lst1">•="trms">affective='lgc'>: contanct with objects


="large lg14" stl="font-size:123%"> happiness puts us into intimate contact with things, ='lgc'>[...='lgc'>] even if that something does not ="trms">present itself as an object of consciousness (="ppl">Ahmed) ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='strcls'>*coming and going of objects='strcls'>*

“to be ="trms">affected by something is to evaluate that thing”


='at'>#my ="trms"nttrm="righ,rigo,riga,rigi,trig,rign">Rigs='qstn'>? simulate a course of action of description
="lsts lst1">•near the object='qstn'>?
="lsts lst1">•near sphere (='lgc'><='lgc'>== happiness)
="lsts lst1">•core sphere
="lsts lst1">•orientation
='lgc'>='lgc'>--> practical action
="lsts lst1">•course of action

we come to have our likes, which might even establish what we are like. the bodily horizon could be redescribed as a horizon of likes. to have our likes means ='strcls'>*certain things are gathered around us='strcls'>*
='lgc'>[what about “beyond”='qstn'>? ='lgc'>=/= near-sphere Zolmat='lgc'>]

='lgc'>[='strcls'>*='lgc'>]orientation='lgc'>: registers the proximity of objects as well as shape what is proximate to the body

(="frds scrmbld"nttrm="Robin,Robot,Robert,Robocop">Robin='lgc'>:) happiness does not have an object
(="ppl">Freud='lgc'>:) ="trms">anxiety does not have an object
='lgc'>=/= (="ppl">Ahmed='lgc'>:) cor="trms">respondence between objects and feelings is not any simple ='lgc'>~~='lgc'>='lgc'>--> proximity, “unattributed happiness”


='lgc'>[...='lgc'>] ='lgc'><='lgc'>-- ( us )"subject” ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ( ='heart'>♥ )"object”

things ='lgc'>--move='lgc'>='lgc'>--> us ='lgc'>--make='lgc'>='lgc'>--> things ='lgc'>~~> ...

='at'>@="frds scrmbld">Arjang, how happiness is displaced by the how of its arrival
(happiness can often recede or become ="trms">anxious, when the feeling becomes an object of thought)

what it means for happiness to be thought in these terms (as an end for its own sake)
what it means for ="trms">apparatus to be thought in these terms (of ="ppl">Agamben)
what it means for ocean to be thought in these terms (of ="frds scrmbld">Marialena)


in Islam, how does the good life get ="trms">imagined through the proximity of objects='qstn'>?

='lgc'>[='strcls'>*='lgc'>]taste='lgc'>: “manifest preferences”='lgc'>: “practical affirmation of an inevitable ="trms">difference” (="ppl">Bourdieu)

="trms">history becomes second-="trms">nature ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> ="trms">affects become ="trms">literal ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> (we assume we experience delight because) “it” is delightful

(often with ="trms">animals) the ="trms">affective ="trms">differentiation ='lgc'>==(basis of)='lgc'>='lgc'>==> (an essentially) moral economy


cheerfulness is the most ="trms">communicative of emotions (='heart'>♥ ="ppl">Ahmed)

(="ppl">Ahmed's take on) ="trms">loving (happily)='lgc'>: knowing the peculiarity of a ="trms">loved other's likes and dislikes, an intimacy with what the other likes and is given ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> on conditions that such likes do not take us outside a ='strcls'>*shared horizon='strcls'>*


='strcls'>***who/what introduces what feelings to whom='qstn'>?='strcls'>***

‘="trms">question of power'='lgc'> = do you go along with it='qstn'>?

sometimes the ="nms">Iranian orientation is toward maximal comfort of the others
(maintaining) ‘comfort'='lgc'> = (your or some) bodies “go along with it”


bond='lgc'>='lgc'>-->='lgc'>{ ="trms">affect ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> we search for an object ='lgc'>}


...certain objects al="trms"nttrm="already,spread">ready circulate as ="trms">socila goods before we “happen” upon them ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> we do not just find happy objects anywhere (='lgc'>='lgc'>--> how happy objects are found in Tasavof='qstn'>? located, lost, transported, sold, advertised, criticized, etc.) ='strcls'>*happy objects point us somewhere, a “where” from which we expect so much (='lgc'>='lgc'>--> happy objects of Tasavof ='lgc'>[or HOT='lgc'>] ='lgc'>{Qur'an, khezr, woman, ="trms">poetry, .../ قرآن / خضر / زن / شعر='lgc'>}='lgc'>='lgc'>-->their sense of values, practice, styles, and aspirations; where do they point ="nms">Iranians='qstn'>? beyond, Zolmat, ="trms">animal, shadow, everyday objects, etc. what are the feelings involving the “points” of alignment wuth these objects='qstn'>?) ='lgc'>~~='lgc'>='lgc'>--> relocation of expectations='lgc'>:
="lsts lst1">•from beyond to earth
="lsts lst1">•from global to local
="lsts lst1">•from future to now
="lsts lst1">•

in ="trms">situations where feelings are shared or are in common (which is usually the case in the environments that I am involved with,) how do I usually play a role='qstn'>? ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> (re)location of ="trms">responsibility

self-ex="trms">="trms"nttrm="cluster,club">clusion

to make ="nms">Iran or India or Germany happy “in bed”

(='at'>@="frds">Sina) ='strcls'>*what ever there is in the hear and now, it does not mean you do not have to rebel or not get into trouble.

idio="trms">syncratic likes (or dislikes) ='lgc'>=/= jouissance

="ppl">Ahmed ="trms"nttrm="already,spread">reading many ="trms">narratives of freedom, in which an in="trms">difference is “directed” as the apparent gift of freedom (, father becomes in="trms">different to what her daughter does as long as it makes her happy) ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> the unhappy objects of ="trms">difference

fantasies of proximity (in sense8 TV series) ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> if only we could be closer, we would be as one
the happiness of the characters of sense8 is the promise of “the one”

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

how to learn to ="trms"nttrm="already,spread">read the discursive practices of being of ="nms">ajayeb='qstn'>? the ways each being proposes its own (or another's) changing ="trms">geometry and topology, their boundary-drawing practices, their ="trms">differential productions, and how each being makes sense of its ="trms">world
="prgrph">-(the ="trms">authors and beings of ="nms">ajayeb,) what are their capacity to discern the reality of their (="trms">relational) ="trms">nature='qstn'>?
="prgrph">-how their determinate ="trms">position (in their ="trms">relational ="trms">nature) is or may be (usefully) (con)figured as ='strcls'>*="trms">specific connectivity='strcls'>*='qstn'>? ='lgc'>[the ="trms">question of ="trms">specific connectivites of ="nms">ajayeb='lgc'>]='lgc'>='lgc'>--> this requires from me ="trms">poetics='lgc'>: diffractive descriptive acts
="prgrph">-what are the ="nms">ajayeb's beings and mine ="trms">intertwined practices of knowing and being='qstn'>?

the ="trms">agential cut of the brittlestar is a survival kit='lgc'>: the arm is “cut” and becomes part of the other (predator)

="ppl">="ppl">Barad is ="trms"nttrm="already,spread">reading the brittlestar to rework (challenge conventional conceptions of) her discipline's ="trms">ontologies and boundaries ='lgc'>=/= ="trms">scientist's usual frame of application and amusement of “discovery” that feeds ="trms">technological advancement, “the ex="trms">citement and romantic overtones that inevitably accompany the ="trms">story of the ="trms">scientist as explorer breaking into new frontiers” (="ppl">="ppl">Barad)


="large lg3" stl="font-size:110%"> (="trms">embodiment='lgc'>='lgc'>-->) ='strcls'>*bodies are not ="trms">situated in the ="trms">world. They are ‘of’ the ="trms">world (in its dynamic ="trms">specificity)='strcls'>* (="ppl">="ppl">Barad) (='at'>@="frds scrmbld">Femke)

='lgc'>[='strcls'>*='lgc'>]objectivity
='lgc'>=/= occupying a determinate ="trms">position in a given environment
='lgc'>=/= occupying a particular coordinates in space and time, in culture, and in ="trms">history
='lgc'>=/= seeing from somewhere ='lgc'>[='lgc'>=/= “objectivism” (view from nowhere) or “everywhere” (relativism)='lgc'>]
='lgc'>=/=


(like ="ppl">="ppl">Barad's brittlestars) which ="nms">ajayeb's being's bodily dynamism resists (or constructs) the familiar notion that space is preexisting container='lgc'>:
="lsts lst1">•space='lgc'>: a ="trms">stage on which actors take their place
="lsts lst1">•time='lgc'>: the mere uniform ticking of clock
(how ="nms">ajayeb's ="trms">worlding is similar or ="trms">different than the familiar notion of ="ppl">Shakespeare's “="trms">world is a ="trms">stage...”='qstn'>?)

="large lg4" stl="font-size:112%"> ='lgc'>[="ppl">="ppl">Barad, ="trms">poet of ="trms">matter, time and space:='lgc'>] “="trms">Matter does not move in space and time. ="trms">Matter ="trms">materializes and dynamically en="trms">folds ="trms">different spatialities and temporalities.”='strcls'>*

='strcls'>*there is only exteriority within='strcls'>*
='lgc'>--='qstn'>?='lgc'>='lgc'>--> models that ="trms">position re="trms">presentation as the lens that mediates between the object ="trms">world and the mind of the knowing subject ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> (an optics that reflects) a ="trms">geometry of absolute exteriority between ="trms">ontologically and ="trms">epistemologically distinct kinds ='lgc'>=/= ="nms">ajayeb's diffractive ="trms">differential ="trms">materializations

perhaps that arm that got detached from you, could have a chance of not becoming a jettison ="nms">phantom limb forever haunting the missing amputated ‘you,’ rather, a part of “companion ="trms">species being helping out”='qstn'>? ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='strcls'>*connectivity does not require physical contiguity='strcls'>* (='at'>@="frds scrmbld">Luisa's string “theory”)
='lgc'>[='strcls'>*="nms">phantom limb='strcls'>* (a concept every theorist/artist should take ="trms">seriously), in ="ppl">Descartes='lgc'>: used as an illustration of the deception to which the inner senses are prone.
“fossil images,” persistence of pathological ex="trms">citation to the peripheral nerves. (the condition of ‘amputees’ for the one who re-="trms">members and builds archives for his phantasmatically lost limb) ='strcls'>*="trms">imaginary loss of a penis='strcls'>* ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> a “tool” for a recovery of what was “always al="trms"nttrm="already,spread">ready” missing ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="ppl">Freud='lgc'>: libidinal ="trms">memorial to the lost limb (='at'>@="frds scrmbld">Elen's kind of mourning for preoedipal (='lgc'>~= precastrated) body, and her (erroneous) localization of it on the motorbike)
="ppl">Grosz='lgc'>: “It is only through controlled use of the phantom that the artificial limb can (gradually) take the place of the lost limb”
='at'>#="nms">body image='lgc'>]


="trms">ecologies of reflection and diffraction ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> resolution of ="trms">nature

="large lg5" stl="font-size:151%"> ='lgc'>[='strcls'>*='lgc'>]diffraction='lgc'>: an effect that limits the ability of a lens (or a ="trms">system of lenses) ='strcls'>*to resolve an image='strcls'>*
="lsts lst1">•(to evolve a creative tension,) a trade-off, between the resolution of detail and diffraction effects, between ="trms">geometrical[...]