What is an Abstract Machine?

We draw inspiration for the concept of an Abstract Machine from the work of Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari:

“We define abstract machines as the aspect or moment at which nothing but function and matter remains, A diagram has neither substance nor form. Neither content nor expression…”

An Abstract Machine is a configurational process that has distinct propensities. These propensities emerge from the dynamic interplay of discrete processes working together without predetermined relationships or central control.

This can seem very opaque and difficult. Let us quickly introduce an example:

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An Example of an Abstract Machine

An example would be Darwin’s realization that the evolution of life operates via a process of variation in offspring plus a variation in survival because of environmental challenges. This is nothing other than the stable relation between processes (of birth + variation + environment + survival). And it leads to outcomes such as the generation of novel features and speciation without any imposition of outside order or planning.

This process of natural selection exists only through the ongoing relations between variation, inheritance, and environmental pressures. No single element controls the process, yet together they generate the evolutionary creativity we observe throughout the living world. Similarly, human creative processes operate through Abstract Machines that bring together bodies, tools, environments, and practices in configurations that enable novel possibilities to emerge.

Abstract + Machine: The term combines two essential qualities: they are “abstract” because they are nothing other than the relational dynamics themselves, and they are a “machine” because they consist of discrete processes that function together in coordinated ways. Once a stable configuration emerges, these machines set particular processes in motion autonomously, without anyone guiding or controlling the outcomes.

Unlike physical machines with fixed parts and clear operators, Abstract Machines are composed entirely of immanent relations - they exist only in and through the actual connections between their components, not as separate entities that could be isolated or possessed.

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How Do Abstract Machines Operate in Creativity?

Abstract Machines reveal how creativity operates through configurational agency rather than individual intention. They help us understand that creative processes emerge from assemblages of technologies, techniques, subjectivities, and environments working together in ways that exceed any single component’s capacity. This challenges the heroic model of creativity by showing how innovation arises from relational dynamics rather than isolated genius.

We might think of Abstract Machines as “configurational technologies” or “relational engines”. They are the invisible assemblages that make things happen – the underlying patterns of connection that give rise to stable processes without requiring central coordination. They represent what happens when discrete elements achieve sufficient coherence to function as integrated emergent wholes while maintaining their dynamic, processual nature.

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What Are the Features of Abstract Machines?

Abstract Machines operate creatively through several key characteristics that distinguish them from mechanical, hierarchical or intentional models of creativity:

• Immanent Relations: They exist only in and through the connections between components, not as separate structures imposed from outside. The machine is the relations, not something that has relations.
• Autonomous Operation: Once established, they function without external control or guidance. No one directs an Abstract Machine - it operates through the logic of its own configurational dynamics.
• Processual Composition: They consist of discrete processes that have no inherent or predetermined relationship to each other beyond being brought together in particular configurations.
• Emergent Stability: While composed of dynamic processes, Abstract Machines achieve sufficient stability to maintain their operational logic across time and contexts.

Understanding Abstract Machines transforms how we approach creative practice by revealing creativity as fundamentally configurational rather than individualistic, internal, and idea-driven. Instead of focusing on generating ideas within isolated minds, we can learn to work with and of the assemblages that might enable creative processes to emerge.

What is critical is co-evolving a creativity that involves attending to the configurations of practices, tools, environments, and relationships that constitute creative assemblages. We become active participants in Abstract Machines rather than their operators, learning to sense and work with the relational dynamics that enable novelty to emerge.
Abstract Machines also help explain why creative processes often exceed our intentions and control. The configurational logic of these machines generates outcomes that emerge from the relations themselves, not from predetermined plans or individual will. This understanding can free us from the burden of trying to control creative outcomes while developing greater skill in participating with the processes that enable them.

The concept ultimately reveals creativity as a more-than-human phenomenon, operating through Abstract Machines that include but extend far beyond individual human agency into the broader assemblages of which we are always already part.
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See also: Configuration, Dispositif, Emergence, Assemblage, Propensity