November 1, 2007
Network Fever by Mark Wigley proves that the long standing research and history that is behind all of our recent fascination with networks, networking, and the network as a physical structure is in fact grounded by a slew of individuals who have contributed to how we understand networks today. The development of this progress is in fact understood as something that comes full circle, whereby the people involved are interconnected in their proximity, ideas, thinking or work. The human network — a term that can be defined in a number of ways — is understood here as a team of individuals who continually give back to this invisible network by way of a transaction of ideas, an exchange of knowledge and the distribution of thoughts. But what are the human properties of this network that have perpetuated its growth and strength? What is the valence or strength of this bond, the how of their meeting, or the why of their individual role in the network that all feed into the reasons behind why it works? Just as a network diagram captures and flattens these connections into a singular plane, so does a narrative that retells the birth of networks in a single sentence.{for anne west’s workshop}

Network Fever by Mark Wigley proves that the long standing research and history that is behind all of our recent fascination with networks, networking, and the network as a physical structure is in fact grounded by a slew of individuals who have contributed to how we understand networks today. The development of this progress is in fact understood as something that comes full circle, whereby the people involved are interconnected in their proximity, ideas, thinking or work. The human network — a term that can be defined in a number of ways — is understood here as a team of individuals who continually give back to this invisible network by way of a transaction of ideas, an exchange of knowledge and the distribution of thoughts. But what are the human properties of this network that have perpetuated its growth and strength? What is the valence or strength of this bond, the how of their meeting, or the why of their individual role in the network that all feed into the reasons behind why it works? Just as a network diagram captures and flattens these connections into a singular plane, so does a narrative that retells the birth of networks in a single sentence.

{for anne west’s workshop}

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