Deleuzian Understanding of Diagramming

Though a diagram typically refers to a graphic composition of lines and arrows, we prefer to understand it as a concept that functions not to represent, but rather to communicate the relations between its components. We find Deleuze and Guattari's idea valuable; in their book "A Thousand Plateaus," they insist that the diagram refers to an abstract machine, "the map of relations between forces," “that can be utilized or made manifest in various situations”.

"The diagram does not resemble particular elements in an imitative way; rather, it displays abstract functions that make up a system. The diagram is the dynamic, fluctuating process occurring between static structures. As a concept, it describes the flexible, elastic, incorporeal functions before they settle into a definitive form."*

Therefore, we understand a diagram as something that becomes, rather than something that is. In this sense, any networked system can be perceived as a diagram. A room full of people, like an economic system or a measuring apparatus, can be an embodied form of diagramming. By emphasizing the fluid and dynamic attributes of the displayed relations, a Deleuzian diagram allocates agency to the subjects included in it.