Alice Benessia

Emergent information and communication technologies (ICT), such as the so-called Internet of Things (IoT), constantly redefine the texture of our culture, society and lifestyle, raising a number of fundamental epistemic, normative and ethical issues, in a constant co-evolution. These technologies are constructed, named, offered, and ultimately regulated, according to and through specific techno-scientific imaginaries, here defined as collections of visual and verbal metaphors that are created and communicated both in the specialized literature and in the mass media for the public at large.

Wonder, power, control and urgency can be defined as standard imaginaries of techno-scientific innovation: the fundamental axes defining an ideal space in which the multifaceted vision of the IoT can be projected and analyzed, in terms of what we want (wonder), we can (power and control) and we need (urgency) to be smart. Within this ideal space, we will examine together a variety media available on the web and produced by some of the key actors of the IoT revolution.

This exploration leads to an open-ended reflection on the underlying aims and contradictions of the ICT enhancement, in relation to the possible decline of some of the fundamental attributes of our integrity and agency.

Bio

http://alicebenessia.it

Sara M. Watson

By examining the dominant metaphors we use to talk about data, Sara M. Watson dissects the industry-centric bias at the core of our cultural understanding of data today. She argues more embodied data metaphors can better animate public consciousness and, in turn, shape policy positions, technology designs, and business models going forward. The power of metaphorical framings feeds into her recent work as a research fellow at the Tow Center for Digital Journalism, examining the rhetoric and ideology of technology on the public imagination. Sara argues that a constructive approach to technology criticism can improve the broader cultural discourse about technology, not only commenting on the technologies we have, but influencing and shaping the technologies we want.

Bio

http://www.saramwatson.com

Audio recording Stress.fm

Artists’ group !Mediengruppe Bitnik will present recent works exploring internet subculture, surveillance and bots. They will talk about their recently completed work Random Darknet Shopper which directly connected art spaces with the darknet via an automated online shopping bot. With a weekly budget of $100 in Bitcoins, the bot went shopping on the deep web where it randomly chose and purchased one item and had it mailed directly to the exhibition space, creating a landscape of traded goods from the darknet. Bitnik will also present Same Same – Watching Algorithms, a software bot which replaces all imagery on the website of the art space Cabaret Voltaire with algorithmically similar images.

!Mediengruppe Bitnik (read: not mediengruppe bitnik) live and work in Zurich/London. They are contemporary artists working on and with the internet. Their practice expands from the digital to affect physical spaces, often intentionally introducing a loss of control to challenge established structures and mechanisms. !Mediengruppe Bitnik’s works formulate fundamental questions concerning contemporary issues. In early 2013 !Mediengruppe Bitnik sent a parcel to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian embassy in London. The parcel contained a camera which broadcast live on the internet its journey through the postal system. They describe Delivery for Mr. Assange as a SYSTEM_TEST and a Live Mail Art Piece. The art group are also known for sending a bot called Random Darknet Shopper on a shopping spree on the darknets where it randomly bought objects like ecstasy and had them sent directly to the gallery space. !Mediengruppe Bitnik are the artists Carmen Weisskopf and Domagoj Smoljo. Their accomplices are the London filmmaker and researcher Adnan Hadzi and the reporter Daniel Ryser.

Their works have been shown internationally including: Shanghai Minsheng 21st Century Museum, City Art Gallery Ljubljana, Kunsthaus Zürich, NiMk Amsterdam, Space Gallery London, Cabaret Voltaire Zurich, Beton7 Athens, Museum Folkwang Essen, Contemporary Art Center Vilnius, Beijing Get It Louder Contemporary Art Biennial, La Gaîté Lyrique Paris, Gallery EDEN 343 São Paulo and the Roaming Biennale Tehran.

They have received awards including: Swiss Art Award, Migros New Media Jubilee Award, Honorary Mention Prix Ars Electronica.

https://wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.bitnik.org

Audio recording Stress.fm