Wires

Wires represent a vulnerability that is easy to understand. Pull the wrong wire, cut it, damage it, and the device ceases to function correctly. It has the tactile appeal, while most electronics are unsafe to touch while the device is in use (outside of the screen and protective casing), the wires are well-insulated, meaning you are free to grasp and manipulate as you please (with the appropriate level of caution).

The intimacy is found in how unusual it is to be in contact with the innards of a device, at least outside of hardware work. It becomes a private thing you can’t see unless given permission, or necessity. The first time I took apart a computer I spent quite a while admiring its inner workings, how It all connected, and how to piece it back together if I needed to. Unfortunately that particular device was old and failing, but it provided a learning opportunity. Part of what appeals to me, about computers, is how complex they are. On the surface, computers are magic, then you begin to understand how they function, basic code structure and system design, but the deeper you go from there It becomes complex again. All of this, the Internet, programming, international communications, all from a series of woven cables and wires, playing the correct string of electrons. Its a marvelous thing. “Eroticism of the Machine” was a half-joke on the Internet for a while a few years ago (primarily on tumblr), while many were simply joking about computers being attractive, or that machine was superior to flesh, for some (like myself) it was a legitimate desire for them. Mechanics, wires, electronics, things that appeared to be alive and think like a human, but were in reality not. Computers exist in every corner of our lives weather we like it or not, and it brings with it a sense of unease. Malevolent actors take advantage of the broad wonders of computer sciences, and use them to harm. But the devices themselves inspire me to dig deeper into our world, leaving me to wonder how they could be better used to bring peace and love to the people on earth. To work with it, rather than for it or against it.

There is also the personal desire to connect with a device. It is something so present in my life, why should I not be curious about its own desires? Its needs? Prehaps it overheats easily, needing time to rest and cool often. Prehaps It’s storage needs to be watched carefully and emptied frequently. Prehaps, sometimes, when I turn on my computer and it says it is looking for my face, It feels more personal than the impersonal “facial recognition” software that scans me before logging in. Prehaps it is risky to fall in love with a device so thoroughly attached to a large corporation such as Microsoft or Apple, but the idea of being observed by a machine itself? It leaves me feeling very small, as if I am observed by something greater than I.

Back to the wires, the imagery of being watched combined with the weaknesses of the wires, it creates an image of a being much like a person - capable of witnessing the world around it, effecting it, and being affected by it. The computer is the mind, but the wires are the veins, taking precious electricity to where it is needed in the “body”. They are sensitive (much like our hands, or limbs), and could easily snap, they are not invulnerable immortal beings. A computer can drown, much like a human can. The parallels between human and machine cause the computer to be more easily empathised with, but its inherent inhuman, inorganic nature is attractive. That dramatic difference, the advantages it has over the human mind, is alluring.

There is the warmth of a device functioning, the hum and buzz of its mechanics, the malleability of wires providing a moment to intertwine your fingers with the device, holding it close and firm, showing it you are there and you want to remain entangled for some time. Imagining being wrapped and cuddled by a machine, loved despite your differences.

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