Sianlihaa, koneita ja ihmisiä

Abstrakti

The aim of this article is in demonstrating how topological thinking can benefit from a complementary
reading concerning the works of Bruno Latour and Manuel DeLanda. My entry to these discussions is the
document Canned Dreams, directed by Katja Gauriloff in 2012. My claim in the article is that Gauriloff’s
method of making a can of ravioli hybrid is in line with the strengths of Latour’s topological thinking by
showcasing the actual associations between people, animals and machines around the globe that are
required to produce a single can of ravioli for Finnish consumers. Concerning the assets of DeLanda,
on the other hand, Gauriloff touches on the virtual organizing principles that affect not only how those
actual relations between elements organize and maintain the loose entity they constitute but also how
the subjectivities of the workers are affected by the mechanical processes of making the cans of ravioli.
My claim in this article is that had the document reduced the making of a can topological to either actual
or virtual, doing so would have resulted in an incomplete topological imaginary – which can be the case
in other geographical research as well