In this Book

summary

An important new approach to the study of laboratories, presenting a practical method for understanding labs in all walks of life

From the “Big Science” of Bell Laboratories to the esoteric world of séance chambers to university media labs to neighborhood makerspaces, places we call “labs” are everywhere—but how exactly do we account for the wide variety of ways that they produce knowledge? More than imitations of science and engineering labs, many contemporary labs are hybrid forms that require a new methodological and theoretical toolkit to describe. The Lab Book investigates these vital, creative spaces, presenting readers with the concept of the “hybrid lab” and offering an extended—and rare—critical investigation of how labs have proliferated throughout culture.

Organized by interpretive categories such as space, infrastructure, and imaginaries, The Lab Book uses both historical and contemporary examples to show how laboratories have become fundamentally connected to changes in the contemporary university. Its wide reach includes institutions like the MIT Media Lab, the Tuskegee Institute’s Jesup Wagon, ACTLab, and the Media Archaeological Fundus. The authors cover topics such as the evolution and delineation of lab-based communities, how labs’ tools and technologies contribute to defining their space, and a glossary of key hybrid lab techniques.

Providing rich historical breadth and depth, The Lab Book brings into focus a critical, but often misunderstood, aspect of the contemporary arts and humanities. 

Table of Contents

Download EPUB Download Full EPUB
  1. Cover
  2. open access
    • HTML icon View
  1. Half Title Page
  2. open access
    • HTML icon View
  1. Title Page
  2. open access
    • HTML icon View
  1. Copyright Page
  2. open access
    • HTML icon View
  1. Contents
  2. open access
    • HTML icon View
  1. Acknowledgments
  2. open access
    • HTML icon View
  1. Introduction: Everything Is a Lab
  2. open access
    • HTML icon View
  1. 1. Lab Space
  2. open access
    • HTML icon View
  1. 2. Lab Apparatus
  2. open access
    • HTML icon View
  1. 3. Lab Infrastructure
  2. open access
    • HTML icon View
  1. 4. Lab People
  2. open access
    • HTML icon View
  1. 5. Lab Imaginaries
  2. open access
    • HTML icon View
  1. 6. Lab Techniques
  2. open access
    • HTML icon View
  1. Conclusion
  2. open access
    • HTML icon View
  1. Notes
  2. open access
    • HTML icon View
  1. Figure Descriptions
  2. open access
    • HTML icon View
  1. Bibliography
  2. open access
    • HTML icon View
  1. Index
  2. open access
    • HTML icon View
  1. Index (continued)
  2. open access
    • HTML icon View
  1. About the Authors
  2. open access
    • HTML icon View
Back To Top