The European Topos An Archaeological Exploration of Decolonial Aesthetics in Immersive Media

Abstract

There is an unexplored synergy between the ways media archaeology and decolonial theory handle the notion of modernity. Both consider modernity as happening at different places and at different times: modernity is an event that is larger than Europe or the United States. Using this resonance, this article will make a media archaeological reading of the decolonial theorists, Walter Mignolo and Santiago Castro-Gomez’s concept, the zero point. The zero point will be read as a media topos present throughout the immersive media that grounds much western media history and visual culture. Finally, based on these criticisms, this article will offer an alternative starting point based in the imaginary media of Adolfo Bioy Casares’ novel, The Invention of Morel. The goal of this intervention is to demonstrate the way the western paradigm of technology has imperialized the imaginations of the world and to offer another place for media artists and technologists to begin from.