CommentStreams:B079cbf2e1827d9c386a37a447326ffb

Hi Megan! I found your essay deeply resonant, particularly in its use of concepts like the fold and rhythm, which intersect with my own research and interests. The phrase, “Techno-aesthetic events transform physical space into rhythmic space,” made me think about the physicality of rhythm, specifically the Greek relief as an early attempt to inscribe movement through rhythmic folds, e.g. the Relief with Dancing Maenads (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Relief_with_Dancing_Maenads-Uffizi.jpg), where each figure captures multiple phases of motion. The relief becomes a diagram – a choreography of impossible simultaneities – reminding me of Aby Warburg’s Pathosformel. In your text, the folding of “land, space, and cultural identity” operates similarly to the fragmented hands, legs, and heads on the relief, collaging unaligned elements into a new assemblage. As a completely different example of physicality of rhythm, I would mention (LA)HORDE’s When People Used to Die, where techno-dance, endurance, and rhythm become forms of political expression (one of the most impressive contemporary dance performances I’ve seen, frankly!).

The examples of promotional materials in your essay are really important and relevant; however, I wonder if you could expand on Peter Rubin’s role and contributions. I couldn’t find much information about him online.

I really appreciated the essay’s structure and its transitions – from the physicality of the techno scene to the recursive rhythms of the body and the digital. The techno scene, as you describe it, acts as a generative site – a membrane (or interface) where these strands converge. I find the loops of control and surveillance you highlight extremely important. You mention Strava as a tool for tracking physical activity, and it made me think of other apps, such as those tracking heart rates, which extend this techno-rhythm into a opposition to the liberatory techno-scene described at the beginning of the essay.

Your conclusion, “Techno-rhythm mediates the entanglement of proximity and distance, reshaping intimacy, communication, and collective experience in networked environments,” encapsulates the essay’s themes beautifully. I interpret this as a kind of assemblage, one that operates not only spatially, like the Greek relief, but also across space and time. It’s a collage of bodies, rhythms, affects, and technologies – a process in motion. In this context, trance might be understood as the freeze-frame of this assemblage: a distilled moment where the flow of connection briefly crystallises before dissipating again.

Thank you, I found your text both intellectually stimulating and poetic, and I’m really looking forward to collaborating further!