Literature review: Deleuze and Guattari’s Assemblage

The concept of assemblage is particular relevant for the social media spaces which blend the materiality of the computer or smartphone, with the immaterial properties of the digital, and with the social and cultural expressions of online art curating.

Levi R. Bryant (2009, online) observes that ‘assemblages are composed of heterogeneous elements or objects that enter into relations with one another.’ Furthermore assemblages are considered made up of a variety of ‘things’ including physical objects, happenings, events as well as signs, utterances, etc (Bryant, 2009).  Deleuze and Guattari (2004, p. 20-21) consider assemblage 'a "multiplicity" which acts on semiotic flows, material flows, and social flows simultaneously.' A multiplicity can be described as a rhizome that ‘necessarily changes in nature as it expands its connections’ (Deleuze and Guatarri, 2004, p. 20-21).  The rhizome, as multiplicity, is a form of deterritorialization and reterritorialization, a way of moving and connecting, appearing in multiple locations without being able to distinguish a clear origin. Territorialisation and reterritorialisation are important concepts in Mobilities literature and contributes to the mobilities/mooring discussion, one of the major findings of this project.

The computer/human interaction and database/algorithm functionality is an integral  part of social media, and in this context we may align Deleuze and Guattari (2004) referring to ‘machinic assemblages’. However, some caution should be exerted here as for Deleuze and Guattari ‘assemblage’ is seen as a collective machine and not the actual technical object (David Savat, 2005). Assemblages in this alternative perspective are understood as foremost social and passional, the compositions of desire, an appropriate description when considering social media art applications.

William Bogard (2005) believes that, according to Deleuze and Guattari, assemblages have a dual form.  They are a ‘form of content’, that is, a machinic form composed of variably fixed matters and energetic components. And they are a ‘form of expression’ or ‘enunciation’ consisting of statements and articulated functions. Content and expression have a ‘reciprocal presupposition’ and it is this reciprocity which is a key factor for social media apps. Unlike viewing a TV show or film, viewing a painting in a museum or gallery, or reading a poem or listening to a song, interacting with the social media app will result in a particular user-focused on-screen display. This display is determined by personal preferences, crowd behaviour and computer algorithms and each viewing is a unique [1) and transient.

For the purpose of presenting the concept of assemblages in the context of social media, Bryant’s (2011) distinction of two kinds of assemblages is useful: machinic assemblages relate to the domain of physical objects and how they interrelate, whilst collective assemblages refer to the order of language or the symbolic. The interaction between the machinic and collective assemblages has a performative effect and is determined as an ‘incorporeal transformation’ minimizing the role of representation and instead focusing on what things do (Bryant, 2009). Social media can be seen as interacting to hardware, software, human and environment co-directing screen displays.

In summary, assemblage is, within the Deleuze and Guatarri’s philosophy, very much characterised by an interacting material and immaterial heterogeneity that has a performative effect.  For social media art curating, the rhizomatic appearances of assemblages play a pivotal role, determining computer and human interactions. Assemblages are characterised by temporality and situated in different locations contributing to the mobility/mooring effect of online landscapes.

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[1] to demonstrate this point, the reader should revisit this page later on and re-click the Pictify link. A new assemblage will be shown, based on new viewing conditions, illustrating the temporarily and on-screen malleability.