Abstract

Infection as communication.

Alessandro Ludovico

Our perception of viruses stems both from the way we consider the most recent epidemic diseases, such as AIDS, and from an innate fear of having one's own body invaded by other efficient organisms, capable of re-arranging their working patterns in order to facilitate infiltration into their host. This perception applies to the principles of our current 'knowledge society' with similar consequence. Many are concerned with cultural infection, as it may change our identity, and as communicative distances grow shorter, this process seems to become even more inevitable. Viruses are able to adapt and to transform themselves very quickly - hence their dark charming powers. Computer viruses actually do have quite the same qualities. They have proved to be important and influential to media culture, as their ability to invade foreign systems in a very obvious manner reveals any badly protected system controls.