on Prochronism: introduction

from c&c2007

"In order to legitimate such strategy, we can conceptually consider the public institution being a pseudo-environment with its own constituents where social creativity generates the platform itself, in the manner of Luhman's communication theory referring to the auto-generating (autopoietic) system in life science.

In this context of live environment, the idea of prochronism, a term coined by Bateson can help to understand the importance of the archive. Prochronism is the environmental value of a given live existence that contains its 'curriculum vitae' of progression through time inside its material form (i.e. a conch shell carrying the snailﾕs pattern formation history) so that the observer can relate herself to it, in order act upon it.

In this sense, the digital archive achieves the prochronistic value of the public institution for the public to transparently understand its structure and to relate themselves through participation."