A key point I have come to understand I am communicating is how technology can be used to actually reclaim our identities, re-possessing our notion of self. Whilst technology is used as a tool for more control, more data-mining, a hyper-accelerated spread of information, it is also what makes people look forward – seeing technology as a ‘Tabula Rasa’ allows people an outlet to mould the purpose of the technology based on their own needs, wants and imaginations.

These feedback loops that I have used as a metaphor for a neverending cycle within the self, or society, only intensify to the level that they do because of technology, in my opinion. On social media, if you have an opinion about something you can direct your consumption of information towards your own agenda, accelerating this loop or echo chamber, for example. But these loops can be guided to incite positive self-growth, creativity and self-actualisation.

In Simon Reynolds’ book “Energy Flash”, Goldie explains in an interview that “we’ve learned to do magic with the bluntest of instruments” (2013, p.46). This quote suggests that technology inherently is class / hierarchically based, and therefore people of lower socio-economic classes can only afford the cheapest technology. Relating cheap technology and magic is very poignant as it highlights that technology has the ability to do magical things, no matter what limitations are placed on it. For example, a £3,000 synthesiser can have more features than a £100 synthesiser, but this doesn’t necessarily mean it is not as capable. Transferring John Locke’s blank slate philosophy into technology, the machines can only output what the human using them directs them to, so in this sense one could argue that the limitations of technology are only capped by the person using it. This notion goes far in suggesting that viewing technology as a means to understand, mirror and ultimately re-possess/re-imagine your identity can allow us to reclaim our humanity in a world plagued with dehumanisation.

Christodoulou, in his essay ‘Rumble in the Jungle’, supports this idea, highlighting that “the technology that serves to dehumanise the workers potentially serves as the basis for proletarian revolution; machine power can be harnessed to overthrow the capitalist class” (Christodoulou, 2011, p.46)

Massive musical shifts in recent history have also, un-coincidentally, ran parallel to cultural shifts, and technology has been at the epicentre of these shifts. Hip-Hop began with sampling, only possible through equipment like the Akai MPC, and opened doors for self-exploration through rapping and sampled beats, as well as a wider cultural hub that has exponentially increased and branched off as time has gone on.

Kodwo Eshun expands on this point in his book ‘More Brilliant than the Sun’, conveying that “this ‘humanly impossible’ time, this automatization of rhythm which is rhythmatics, opens up the posthuman multiplication of rhythm: the rhythm synthesizer’s spastic pulses seize the body, rewiring the sensorium in a kinaesthetic of shockcuts and stutters, a voluptuous epilepsy.” (1999, p.079) Talking about ‘drum machines’, Eshun highlights an important affect of technology – that it can extend possibilities that are formed in the human mind but otherwise impossible to form into a tangible reality. With this in mind, the technology becomes an extension of the natural human condition, expanding the realm of the imagination. So regardless of people’s situation in life, and despite the harsh reality that technology facilitates dehumanisation, capitalism, tracking and toxic online distortions, people have shown that it is ultimately a mirror that can foster a cathartic approach to self-actualisation and reclaiming of identity, both individually and collectively.

This idea of reclaiming identity through technology can be developed further in my future portfolio projects, as I continue to grow a deeper understanding of this concept.

Reynolds, Simon (2013). Energy Flash: A Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture. Faber and Faber Ltd. London.

Christodoulou, Chris (2011). Rumble in the Jungle: City, Place and Uncanny Bass. Dancecult: Journal of Electronic Dance Music Culture 3(1). pp. 44–63.

Eshun, Kodwo (1998). More Brilliant Than the Sun: Adventures in Sonic Fiction. Quartet Books. London.