Emerging Materiality

In this article we look at how materiality emerges from complex chains of mediation in creative software use. The primarily theoretical argument is inspired and illustrated by interviews with two composers of electronic music. We argue that computer mediated activity should not primarily be understood in terms of simple mediation, but rather as chains of complex mediation in which the dominating form of representation is the metonymy rather than the metaphor. INTRODUCTION Traditionally, the basic unit of analysis in the field of human-computer interaction has been the constellation of “domain object” “user” “tool”, in which the user applies the computer tool to mold the domain object, in foreseeable ways according to a welldefined goal. Thus, focusing on efficient and transparent support of routine tasks has been the main concern. In the following, we will refer to this unit of analysis as the HCI triad. The focus implied by this triad has recently been challenged by concepts such as third wave HCI [1], that take a broader perspective on IT as used in non-work settings, and for creative action.