Techno-theory: critiques of culture and technological being

The work comprises a critical commentary and a portfolio of ten published major texts by the author, presented in whole or part. It represents a set of related themes and approaches to the subject of culture, technology and being. The portfolio critiques and develops theories of technology in response to significant examples within cultural contexts, in order to address and interrogate contradictions and assumptions pertaining to technologically led readings of images, objects and environments. The publications range from critical approaches to major theorists of technology and culture, including Baudrillard, McLuhan and Heidegger; artists who have utilised technology within performative contexts (Warhol, Duchamp, Gorgerous): and phenomenological studies of network-based culture. The commentary focuses on dominant theoretical concepts in order to connect the texts. These include Baudrillard's principle of 'reversibility', McLuhan's reading of disembodiment, Heidegger's 'standing reserve' and Jarry's 'pataphysics'. The work concludes with a critical obituary of Jean Baudrillard, and shows how the portfolio of publications (1999-2011) has had an impact within academe and for a more general readership, and how it informs current research and future publications.