Hand-Luggage: For a Generative Theory of Artifacts

This article presents the basic elements and strategies of a generative theory of artifacts, the Theorie der Werkgenese. Starting with a narrative reconstruction of Mike Mills's TV commercial for Adidas, the text briefly outlines a history of aleatoric games and heuristic strategies in the classical avantgarde as well as in postmodern follow-ups and late-20th-century pop music. Finally, the various fictions conveyed by the commercial are narrated in a new way, demonstrating generative analysis.