Coelynn McIninch

AIB MFA

November 2008

Seduction

It’s been thirty years since Jean Baudrillard published his book Seduction amidst

massive shifts in artistic, social and sexual roles. Based on the trends of the time, Baudrillard predicted a future obsessed with order, equality and reality, the end result being the death of seduction and an all-encompassing neutralization of our society. The death Baudrillard writes about is not a physical death but a social and psychological stagnation of creativity and interaction. Once all illusions of society, production and scientific wonders have been defined and assimilated, there is no longer a need for seduction’s game of artifice and illusion. In contrast to this proposed death, our virtual world and portable technologies have opened up an almost endless supply of simulation and stimulation inspiring the apparent resurrection and empowerment of seduction

Today’s digital society has evolved into a culture largely based on intangible interaction and the exchange of virtual goods and services. The only way to sustain this system built on illusions it through a seductive “strategy of appearances.” There are no physical boundaries to cyberspace and the umbilical connection we have to our virtual presence is invisible. In order to negotiate the manipulation and exchange of digital ideas we must rely on a complex system of signs and symbols to help us construct a mental shape and psychological value to these virtual possessions and interactions. The emotional value we associate with these technologies is directly proportionate to our faith in the reality of their existence.

When confronted with the obvious non-reality that is the computer interface there needs to be a significant desire to interact that drives a person to willingly suspend disbelief long enough to become absorbed in the fictitious appearance of reality. That desire can find it’s origins in any number of physical, social or emotional drives. It is precisely because of these drives that seduction is such a powerful tool in our virtual age.

The most basic desire is fueled by a need for sensory stimulation. It is the simple fascination by tactile, visual and aural stimulation triggered by interfacing with technology. Fascination is still an important aspect of this drive. If the sensual aspects of technology were not aesthetically interesting or sensually stimulating, then the highly coded language of technology would only be attractive to hackers and programming geniuses. Beyond that is the “light psychedelic giddiness which results from multiple or successive connections and disconnections.”

Although, the internet affords access to a seemingly infinite supply of information, most users are not on a great quest for knowledge so much as they are looking for a seductive distraction from the monotony of their daily lives as “productive citizens.” Being categorized, numbered and defined is a form of subjugation and symbolizes a personal loss of power with in a social system. Regardless of physical power, knowledge or wealth, how you are categorized within a social system determines your success or worth within that society. This stands true for individuals as well as social organizations. The seductive draw to virtual worlds is the opportunity for an individual to assume any number of identities and social roles regardless of physical limitations in the real world. “Seduction represents mastery of the symbolic universe, while power represents only mastery of the real universe.” “Only at the level of appearances are systems fragile and vulnerable.”

Diffraction of the self through digital means causes a form of digital separation anxiety of the senses and a need for wholeness that keeps an individual constantly re-affirming their digital presence and status. In order to effectively travel between the signified intangible world of technology and the physical world of production, it is necessary to have technology that functions and appears as if it were an extension of the body. It must seem perfectly natural and be unobtrusive enough to become essential gear, supporting the artifice of infinite accessibility and connectivity. The most neutral, arbitrary and widely assimilated systems and designs must be utilized to help counter the obvious technological interfaces without overpowering the illusion of seamlessness.

Human beings are, by nature, pattern-seekers and problem solvers. Finding pleasure in the satisfaction of taming the unknown. New information is assessed, validated, categorized and assimilated. Assimilation being further affirmation of the individual’s mastery of an idea and of the individual’s place in the world in reference to that idea. The end point to this assimilation is what Baudrillard considers death. Anything that has not been assimilated is a possible danger. Conversely, It is also a potential pleasure. So it seems that human curiosity has its triggers. These triggers have undoubtedly been studied thoroughly by marketing strategist and analysts.

“The mind is irresistibly attracted to a place without meaning. That which looks onto nothing has every reason never to be forgotten. That which doesn’t say anything has every reason to never be forgotten. That which is arbitrary is simultaneously endowed with a total necessity. The predestination of the empty sign, the precession of the void, the vertigo of an obligation devoid of sense, a passion for necessity.”

Essentially, the un-defined is highly seductive. It is a direct challenge to personal power and perception. In the vagueness of signification one is able to reinforcing the illusion of immersion by generating the missing substance of meaning out of the resources of one’s own experience. Thereby investing personal meaning in the definition of space.

“Seduction is immediately reversible and its reversibility is constituted by the challenge it implies and the secret in which it is absorbed.” Ordinarily, when a secret is revealed, it is the end of seduction. All illusions are negated and only reality remains. “Some day the entire universe will be real, and when the real is universal, there will be death.” Cataloged, analyzed and tamed, even nature has been reduced to the mundane. The natural sublime has been replaced by an untamed wilderness of our own creation that has no visible laws of nature. We have moved on to a new inner landscape where science and nature meet in a constant game of illusion and physicality. Where the senses are removed from the body by choice.

What is truly unique in virtual interactions is that the user begins the interaction with full realization of its lack of reality. It is by a force of will that an individual becomes absorbed in the illusion. It is a narcissistic self-seduction that initiates the interaction and sustains the seduction. The traditional role of play and defiance is mutated into a personal battle with ones own logic and desire for escape or inclusion. There is a conscious preference for seduction over the real because the real implies end or death of the potential for pleasure. The drawback to this illusion is the risk of the diffusion of seduction by the ritual of artificial engagement to the point that the signs and symbols that encouraged the willing submission become disenchanted and self-seduction is no longer possible. When confronted with Baudrillard’s proposed death one decides to create something better, something that doesn’t need to be deciphered because we already know it to be an illusion, in fact we count on it.

Works Cited:

Baudrillard, Jean. Seduction. CultureTexts. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1990.