Material Noise Av Anne M. (Visiting Assistant Professor Rochester Institute Of Technology) Royston

<b>An argument that theoretical works can signify through their materiality—their “noise,” or such nonsemantic elements as typography—as well as their semantic content.</b><p>In <i>Material Noise</i>, Anne Royston argues that theoretical works signify through their materiality—such nonsemantic elements as typography or color—as well as their semantic content. Examining works by Jacques Derrida, Avital Ronell, Georges Bataille, and other well-known theorists, Royston considers their materiality and design—which she terms “noise”—as integral to their meaning. In other words, she reads these theoretical works as complex assemblages, just as she would read an artist''s book in all its idiosyncratic tangibility.</p><p>Royston explores the formlessness and heterogeneity of the <i>Encyclopedia Da Costa</i>, which published works by Bataille, André Breton, and others; the use of layout and white space in Derrida''s Glas; the typo