6/9/22, 10:18 AM Connected by extension - How paying connects old regimes and new isolations - Allegra Lab ① in chaînes opératoires 3 & 4) so ( that something from the card can be transferred to the reader and vice versa ( in chaîne opératoire ④ ② 3 and in chaîne opératoire 4), not to mention shared breathed air. If the customer enters a PIN ( in chaîne opératoire 4) or takes a receipt ( in chaîne opératoire 4), contact becomes manual. Secondly, contact increasingly happens at a distance as the cue for the card is verbal or visual, given remotely by the cashier ( in chaînes opératoires 3 & 4 and in chaîne opératoire 4). ‘Contactless’ payment is therefore not without contact. Contact, however, is mediated. ② ③ ① ④ (https://allegralaboratory.net/wpcontent/uploads/2020/11/chaine4.png) Chaîne opératoire 4: Paying by contactless card without entering a PIN or taking a receipt. While the card (green circle) is held to or touches the reader, it potentially leaves residue (violet semicircle). Hands off! The director-general alerts us to a crucial technical issue: How are we in contact with each other and ourselves? We work on ourselves as we wash our hands or refrain from touching our faces. Despite disagreement on its efficacies as examined above, the arguments for and against using credit card payments share a similar aim: Keeping people’s hands off each other. People ought not touch their faces or a stranger’s body. Ideally, in isolating and individuating bodies, those censored acts keep bodies and populations healthy. It seems the time for isolation has come again and many, both locally and internationally, agree now that isolation is necessary to keep germs out. Fears of foreign influence, this time the influx of a virus, is not just a Myanmar issue. Remote contact, like contactless payment, however, increases as contact between potentially-virusbearing-bodies is reduced. Payment cues become visual and verbal. People use techniques to distribute themselves beyond their bounded bodies (compare Gell 1998: 96–154), like the cashier typing the amount owed into the register connected to the card reader. We read news online or hold video calls. We find ways to stay in touch but are convinced we are not touching. ‘Contactless’ payment requires at least electronic contact between the card and the reader. Yet, its opacity convinces us of its efficacy in keeping us apart (compare Coupaye and https://allegralaboratory.net/corona-connected-by-extension-how-paying-connects-old-regimes-and-new-isolations/ 10/12