Towards an Alternative Notion of the Interface
Emeka Ikebude · Interactive Film and Media Journal · 2022
The aim of this paper is to propose an alternative notion of the interface. While the existing notions of the interface suffice, there is a need for understanding the interface as an ecology, rather than as an object or technology. Scholars such as Branden Hookway, Alex Galloway, Nanna Verhoeff, and Heidi Rae Cooley understand the interface as "a relationship," "processes," "doing," and "habits," respectively. However, in consideration of the new and emerging social processes and transformations engendered by interfaces as platforms by which we understand and relate with the world in more specific ways, I argue that a notion of the interface as an ecology would enrich the discussion and provide an ecological boundary ‘object’ for thinking across disciplines. I examined the interface through etymological, epistemological, psychoanalytic, and artistic standpoints, as well as exploring the term's affective, material, and infrastructural dimensions. I conclude that an ecological notion of the interface would produce a more nuanced and performative understanding of the term and shift our focus away from the material form of interfaces, to the actions, intensities, and aesthetics of the interface. Ecology is critical to how we understand interfaces as it concerns the relationships between organisms and their environments, including the relationships between artists and their expressive media and installations, and the relationships between users and their interface platforms. The ecological notion of the interface refers to how we live in the networked, hypermediated space, relate with our technologies, and engage in artistic practices in all forms of interfaces.