Neural 39 > p.10 > hacktivism > Codable identities in TV series serial experiments lain, tv series

Identity, TV series of imaginary fiction, the human being is faced with a component of his individuality: his utter and involuntary transparency. But the question remains: do our identities reside in unconscious micro-expressions or in an attempt to hide them? The 2010 BBC mini-series "Identity" is structured as a more common crime story: the team in action is the new "Identity Unit", the London police special unit that investigates cases involving theft or misappropriation of identity. The identity in question here is a legal one, which today is numerical and codified, built through the traces left by the devices that everyone uses on a daily basis. From the measurements of the position of mobile phones and credit cards, anyone’s profile can be traced - something that is hardly refutable by actions that are not coded in the same way through technology. An agent of the Identity Unit says at one point: "If you are a reliable creditor, you can live lifetime without seeing a soul". The protagonist of the story is John Bloom, a former policeman who helped with the arrest of a major mobster. He lived 15 years undercover and thus is an ideal agent for cases involving identity theft. But none of the components of the unit know that Bloom continues his double life; he is in love with the sister of the criminal who he helped to arrest. The stories in each episode grow ever more dense (perhaps too dense) with connections that nourish the inner conflict of Bloom, who finally must chose which identity he wants to definitively assume. The interesting aspect of the narrative is that the former undercover agent conflict is built on the continuous and fluid overlapping of the "legal" identity and the "human" one. Viewed in legal terms the identity change of the protagonist (from cop into criminal and vice versa) is simply a numeric mutation: the changing of mobile, credit card and identity card numbers. The (incalculable) margin of the choice is what makes agent Bloom remain himself. The Japanese anime series "Serial Experiments Lain”, instead, is set in a hypothetical (and hyperrealistic) future in which reality and virtual networks are coherently conjoined. Lain is the protagonist of this transformation: she is the first person born originally as a software that was specifically designed as a human avatar. Lain, a normal girl initially frightened and antisocial, becomes the merger that allows the fusion of the real world with the virtual one, connecting all human beings of planet Earth without the aid of peripherals, thanks to the implementation of Protocol 7 of the Wired (the wired is like our internet). However, Lain’s short experience of human identity in the real world (in particular the friendship with Arisu, for whom the overlapping of the two worlds would cause profound suffering) does not allow for the final merger. Lain sacrifices herself, deleting her image from the memory of all humans, and restoring the final split between the two worlds. In this context the non-codified component of identity is the cause of the unfolding events, with a force that transcends any attempt to use new scientific instruments to regiment our actions with forecast analysis, once again defining human identity in terms of absolute indeterminacy. > Chiara Ciociola ——————————————————— ——————————————————— ——————————————————— ——————————————————— ——————————————————— ——————————————————— ——————————————————— ——————————————————— ——————————————————— ——————————————————— ——————————————————— ——————————————————— ——————————————————— ——————————————————— ——————————————————— ——————————————————— ——————————————————— ——————————————————— ——————————————————— ——————————————————— ——————————————————— ——————————————————— ——————————————————— ——————————————————— ——————————————————— ——————————————————— ——————————————————— ——————————————————— ——————————————————— ——————————————————— ——————————————————— ——————————————————— ——————————————————— Back Issues > Buy a back issues pack! Order now: www.neural.it/art/bookshop

Neural 34 Fake’ology

Yes Men The Onion Janez Janša Energija

Neural 38 p2p > f2f

The Force of Sharing, The Sound of Network Topologies, Netless Dead Drops, Michel Bauwens, Dmytri Kleiner Telekommunisten, Superflex, Platoniq, Mattin Free Software Series, Anders Weberg, arte.mov Belém 2010, Electrohype 2010

Neural 33 Scripting Green

Eco Pornography Futurefarmers Beatriz da Costa Guerrilla Gardening

Neural 37 Common Spacing

Christina Kubisch Aram Bartholl Men in Grey Hacking Public Space

Neural 36 Time Deceptions

Gustavo Romano Konrad Becker Marnix De Nijs Perverting Chatroulette

Neural 35 Friends?

Blast Theory Stewart Home Paolo Cirio The Cassette Tape Blogs

Neural 32 Machine Affection

Mechanic Love Survival Research Lab. Ken Rinaldo France Cadet

Neural 31 Information Value S.W.A.M.P. Negativland Shopdropping ISEA 2008 Singapore

Neural 30 Dangerous Games Ludic Society Modified Toy Orchestra Gold Farmers Paul Slocum

Neural 29 Digital China Great Firewall of China FM3 Zen Lu Yao Bin

Neural 28 Data Error Florian Cramer/Jodi Glitch Shulgin Goriunova Ryoji Ikeda Casey Reas

Neural 27 Copyright Guerrilla Cornelia Sollfrank Kim Cascone Alex McLean Arthur Kroker

Neural 26 Disturbing the System Rafeal Lozano Hemmer John Oswald Biosphere Golan Levin

Neural 25 Media Interventionists Andrea Polli, Hacking Biometrics, Olia Lialina, Siegfried Zielinski

Neural 24 Geek Girls Shu Lea Cheang Cory Arcangel Natalie Jeremijenko Spam

Neural 23 Hacking the air Marko Peljhan Radioqualia McKenzie Wark Circuit Bending

Neural 22 Facing Reality Ubermorgen Lawrence Lessig Jonah Brucker Cohen Molleindustria

Neural 21 Breaking the Rules Brian Holmes Matthew Fuller Retroyou.org Telestreet

Neural 20 Hacktive Community Geert Lovink Virus Charms Critical Art Ensemble Carsten Nicolai