The Phygital Object
An entity that exists simultaneously in a material and a digital regime, such that these dimensions cannot be separated without the object losing its identity — an ontological node in which materiality, data, interface and experience are interdependent.
The term phygital circulates in marketing and design; here it receives an art-theory ontology. In an artistic context, the phygital object is not a simple combination of a physical artefact and a digital extension, but an ontological node in which materiality, data, interface and experience are interdependent. A phygital object requires both bodily presence and technological activation in order to function aesthetically and symbolically.
As a bridge object, it mediates the relation between body, space and technological extensions, and marks an ontological shift: from the image as representation to the artistic experience as a situation. The image does not disappear, but becomes one element among others, integrated into a wider ensemble of material and experiential relations.
From the phygital object also derives the situational aura — the form of aura proper to the configuration between the material support, the active digital layer and the body that activates it.
Genealogy
- 2026Vol. II-A (manuscript in progress)
The reconceptualization of the phygital object as a relational ontological node between materiality, data and experience.
Related concepts
References
- De la real la augmentat II-A. Corporalitate, spațiu și materialitate în arta post-fotografică · Reșița, manuscript in progress, 2026