Designature: The Nature of Signatures in Art and Design

Designature: The Nature of Signatures in Art and Design Orkan Telhan How shall our signatures define us, even as they define themselves? Designature interrogates the nature of agency‹the essential ³signature² found in everything, from the simplest forms of life to humans, machines, and everyday objects. The book features new kinds of signatures living organisms, algorithms, tools, and visualizations that are designed in light of new theories and technologies from artificial intelligence, synthetic biology, new materialism, and object-oriented ontology. These designs ultimately serve as critical reflections on society, and offer alternative forms of critique to urgent issues such as xenophobia, religious fundamentalism, and the ethics of manipulating nature.