Horn, or The Counterside of Media

Horn, by Henning Schmidgen, explores the bidirectional nature of touch and how surfaces constitute sites of mediation between interior and exterior. It engages with artists, scientists, and philosophers to reconfigure understandings of the dynamic phenomena of touch in media, such as Dalí's "rhinoceros phase" and Thomas Pynchons' "The Crying of Lot 49."

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 320 pages
Publication date: 11 February 2022
Publisher: Duke University Press

We engage in frequent contact and manipulation of media devices, while media devices like body scanners, car seat pressure sensors, and smartphones simultaneously scan and interact with our bodies. In his essay "Horn," Henning Schmidgen delves into the reciprocal nature of touch and the role that surfaces play in mediating between the interior and exterior. Schmidgen employs the concept of a horn, whether represented by a rhinoceros horn or a musical instrument, to signify both natural substances and artificial objects as tactile spaces. Through engaging in creative dialogue with artists, scientists, and philosophers, including Salvador Dalí, William Kentridge, Rebecca Horn, Sigmund Freud, Walter Benjamin, and Marshall McLuhan, Schmidgen explores the intricate interplay between tactility and technological and biological surfaces. He examines how Dalí conceptualized images as tactile entities during his "rhinoceros phase" and investigates the challenges of tactility in Thomas Pynchon's novel "The Crying of Lot 49." By reconfiguring our understanding of the dynamic phenomena of touch in media, Schmidgen contributes to a deeper exploration of the multifaceted relationship between human beings and the technological world.

Weight: 472g
Dimension: 154 x 228 x 23 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781478017721