This project will attempt to produce a Harrawayen (sp?) string figure analysis of the subjectivities produced through the production of interfaces. This will be a New Materialist analysis which will highlight the different relationalities in embedded in the materiality of digital devices. As interfaces produce our subjectivities as users of digital resources, they also build the subjectivities of the individuals who work to assemble these devices. The purpose of this paper is to connect our own subjectivities with the subjects who are interwoven in our devices: child labor, conflict minerals, and ecological catastrophes. My hope is to raise awareness of our response/ability (Barad) to the faces behind our interfaces. And to further the project of thinking about speculative ethics (Maria Puig Le Bellacasa) in our more than human worlds.
This is an extremely interesting line of thought. I suspect that Hookway and Galloway will be of use to you as you press forward. You might also be interested in Jennifer Wicke’s essay, “Postmodernism: The Perfume of Information,” an early (1988) exploration of some of these questions. Let me know if you run into questions as you proceed!