TY  - JOUR
A1  - Bexte, Peter
T1  - Heinz von Foerster in the art department : a collide-oscope in four parts
N2  - Purpose - To provide illumination of how systems tend to produce an output nobody expected. It is in these moments that observers may learn something about their own expectations. Design/methodology/approach - The paper discusses two cases in the history of art: faked Vermeer paintings and a test Heinz von Foerster did in the art department at the University of Illinois. Findings - McLuhan's notion "collide-oscope" is applied to the way Heinz von Foerster (ab)uses images in his own texts; furthermore it is applied to the way the Biological Computer Laboratory (BCL) was organized. The formal structure of the "collide-oscope" offers a model of perception. Originality/value - Provides a discussion of a fundamental message of cybernetics - that we cannot escape collisions and disturbances. They are its essence
Y1  - 2005
SN  - 0368-492X
ER  -