Carrot_Sketchbooks

Throughout human history, the evolution of civilizations has been profoundly influenced by the development of tools that extend the capabilities of the human body and senses. Innovations like the steam engine, flying airplane, and the printing press have laid the groundwork for globalization and trade. In contemporary times, The characteristics of society are heavily influenced by tools that extend human senses, such as computer screens which allow individuals to access global information from a single location, and microphones that transmit sound across vast distances. Marshall McLuhan’s research paper “The Medium is the Message” states that the mode of communication profoundly shapes the content it conveys. Mediatized devices serve as extensions of human senses, grounding individuals in physical reality while altering their sensory perceptions to navigate various spatial contexts. These devices facilitate the projection of the human body into digital environments, enabling interaction with hardware, data, and space within the framework of a digital sensorium. 

The year 2020 marked a significant shift in the way institutions operate. What used to require extensive travel, such as attending meetings, seminars, or lectures, can now be accomplished from the comfort of one’s home, simply by facing a screen. This shift has not only transformed traditional modes of interaction but has also blurred the lines between work, home life, and leisure. It has challenged established identity categories like family, friends, and colleagues, leading to a reconfiguration of social dynamics and relationships.

To explore these extended sensorium and their implications for human societies, we walk through the city of Logprastha, a city of one central clock town, a city of no boundaries and a city like  a utopian dream of a bourgeoisie. This is a city of no bad but also no good, it simply measures inputs and outputs, basing results solely on the values input into any equation. Trades occur via a credit system, where every individual is allocated a finite number of credit points to utilize over a cycle of 27 days, 54 minutes, and 36 seconds. Logprastha reduces all aspects of life to numerical values, breaking down complex information into manageable, quantifiable data points. 

At the heart of Logprastha stands a clocktower boasting three moving hands—hour, minute, and second, only to mock  an observer by its analogical nature. 

We navigate this city through the sensorium of three distinct individuals: a seeker, a romantic, and a composer. Each person traverses their daily routines guided by a series of equations, starting from their initial breath upon waking. Their residential blocks reflect their respective professions and lifestyles. For instance, the seeker inhabits a 150 sqm space, with a maximum of 150 linear steps, equipped with 34 sensory extension devices and offering 236 potential connections between these devices. Furthermore, there are over 103,987,900 potential connections to other sensorily extended humans. The seeker’s daily routine includes completing 17,890 steps, as indicated by yesterday’s data, and consuming 1,200 calories, comprising 200 grams of fat, 350 grams of protein, and 650 grams of carbohydrates.

These three individuals navigate their lives within Logprastha, perpetually entwined in their individual spirals while occasionally intersecting and exchanging paths. The city physically struggles to accommodate these nomadic spirals of existence, where the collapse of one branch can potentially switch the whole city down.