Fotograf Magazine

Geology is not just an apt metaphor for media theory—it is the true memory of an epoch which many theorists have labeled the Anthropocene. All the media we as users rely upon draw on geological fossils stored under the surface of the Earth for billions of years. They are created from the chemical elements of nature and they produce an unimaginable amount of digital waste. Not only have we mined the subterranean layers that define our planet, we have also taken control of the atmosphere with the aim of transmitting signals.

The materiality of media consists in their natural foundation—the minerals and materials stored in the Earth. The author uses the term medianatures to refer to this relationship, thus shifting the focus to geology and geophysics. Parikka also places the term geology in the context of ethics and philosophy (the geology of morals and geophilosophy), proceeding from the post-anthropocentric visions of Deleuze and Guattari and their theory of geological thought, which is not conceived of as the link between object and subject, but rather takes place in the relationship of territory and Earth as a movement of multiplicities.

Following a demanding philosophical introduction, Parrika focuses on deep time as the foundation of media and culture, the psychogeophysics of technology, dust as a metaphor of global works and the materialism of residua. The last chapter focuses on media fossils. The author reminds us of the idea of using geological time when thinking about media art and digital culture; to place long geological duration in opposition to the myth of linear progress; to compare the time of human affairs with geological time. Media which use up large amounts of energy create electronic waste and in turn influence the entire planet. That’s why it is time to actively invent a different future. Parikka warns us about the production of perishable hardware, a long list of which immediately evokes a list of future electronic waste—media fossils.