Everyday is a Negotiation

2025; printed book
ISBN: 978-88-6749-650-1

“Everyday is a Negotiation” looks at the entanglements between the design of handles, the Turkish shrug, out-of-body experiences, and other neuro-cultural conundrums, freely mixing analytical philosophy, scientific writing, literature, and whimsical reflections.

A seemingly simple, three-tiered sentence quietly assembles a fully-formed individual: “The hand is mine, and I’m reaching for the apple on the table, because I am hungry.” It creates a strong sense of ‘mine-ness,’ where limbs are felt as extensions of the self, driven by intention and anchored in reason. The individual claims their body, acts upon the world, and moves with purpose.

However, things are not that simple. A clear night sky spurs vertigo. The alien hand seems to act on its own, buttoning buttons, zipping zippers, hooking hooks. The rational agent is fooled into thinking a rubber hand is their own. Wittgenstein likens words to tools and handles; our interaction with language is similar to the way the train operator handles all the knobs, levers, and cranks of the locomotive. The grasp of language runs both ways. A man howls at the tram station. What is familiar runs us on autopilot, and surprise prompts the conscious act. When one has a strong grasp of language, language has a strong grasp on one. Negotiations ensue, and decisions are made.

This text is part of “Matter Mattering Matters”, edited by Kabelo Malatsie & Lantian Xie, published by Kunsthalle Bern & Mousse Publishing, Milan.

Link: https://www.moussemagazine.it/shop/matter-mattering-matters-a-scienticity-reader/