[NetBehaviour] technological sorcery | Technology is Not Neutral

helen varley jamieson helen at creative-catalyst.com
Fri Sep 23 00:20:18 CEST 2016


good on you furtherfield for, as usual, taking the risk :) it's an
important critique that should be made, & it would be interesting to
hear more - from others who were there, perhaps from ars electronica too.

h : )


On 17/09/16 12:39 21PM, marc garrett wrote:
> Hi Johannes,
>
> Thanks for your response,
>
> It is reassuring that the 'Technology is Not Neutral' show has been
> happening in Brighton and I wish that I'd to the time to be there.
> But, like yourself I've been too busy what with doing Furtherfield
> things, and my PhD.
>
> > It includes significant and newly commissioned work by pioneering
> >and contemporary female digital artists, spanning a wide range of
> >themes and approaches.
>
> Usually, I bulk at words like 'pioneering', they tend to m,ake me feel
> ill isnide -- but, if you've been kept down by: totalitarianism,
> sexism, hegemony, suppression, or an established elite - getting
> around these blockages means you're definitely worthy of upmost
> respect, as well as being seen as pioneering ;-)
>
> Getting back to your comments regarding the Ars Electronica 2016
> Review by KissMyArs on Furtherfield. Featuring it on the site is a
> risk because we are not rich and do not have the institutional power
> or resources that Ars Electronica has. And, many of the traditional
> groups out there may see this as a step too far. However, as one
> individual said on Twitter "Thanks #KissMyArs for writing on
> @furtherfield what many of us have been whispering 4 years about..."
>
> And, this is part of the point which is also a big problem that, too
> many are too quiet until it's too late to do something about it, and
> when someone (or many) does speak out about these matters, they are
> more likely to get attacked because to them it feels like you're being
> unjust, rude or horrible. It was the same when the Sex Pistols & peer
> punks challenged the establishment.
>
> Of course, the review and its critique on ars Electronica is a bit
> like an ant bumping into a tank.
>
> They'll survive, the establishment is banking on it ;-)
>
> Wishing you well.
>
> marc
>
> On 16 September 2016 at 18:42, Johannes Birringer
> <Johannes.Birringer at brunel.ac.uk
> <mailto:Johannes.Birringer at brunel.ac.uk>> wrote:
>
>     dear all
>     oh, are the techno-sorcerers at it again in Linz?  the alchemists
>     of our time?
>     thanks for sharing this review with us, I was not aware (of the
>     writer) but glancing at the review i see the critique spelled out
>     in the last
>     segment --
>
>     >
>     The lack of social awareness and engagement of issues surrounding
>     our time have begun to impinge on the festival itself, and an
>     awareness campaign called #kissmyars is voicing concerns over the
>     lack of female representation at the festival, particularly in the
>     prix art prize which is awarded to men 9/10 times. The gender
>     diversity in technology sector should no longer be ignored; this
>     is one example of a socio-political issue not only overlooked at
>     the festival program but also exacerbated by the organisation
>     itself. I hope that the #KissMyArs campaign will not only
>     rebalance the gender inequality at the event but also encourage
>     the organisers to address other alarming realisations that operate
>     within and around the application of technology in the social,
>     political and economic sphere...
>     >>
>
>     Can I, in this connection, mention an exhibition that a curator
>     friend, Gordana Novakovic,  drew my attention to:
>
>     >>
>     Technology is Not Neutral
>     2 – 25 September 2016
>     Presented in partnership with Phoenix Brighton as part of Brighton
>     Digital Festival 2016
>     The show highlights and investigates the work of a group of women
>     artists in the field of digital arts, where women are often
>     underrepresented. The title refers to a quote by Donna Haraway
>     taken from her Cyborg Manifesto. It includes significant and newly
>     commissioned work by pioneering and contemporary female digital
>     artists, spanning a wide range of themes and approaches. The
>     exhibition features work by Ghislaine Boddington, Susan Collins,
>     Laura Dekker, Anna Dumitriu, Bhavani Esapathi, Julie Freeman, Kate
>     Genevieve, Sue Gollifer, Luciana Haill, Nina Kov, and Gordana
>     Novakovic.
>     >>
>
>     I missed it as I have been on the continent, but shall catch up
>     with it when the show comes to Watermans in London later this fall.
>
>     regards
>     Johannes Birringer
>
>
>     ________________________________________
>     furtherfield [furtherfielder at gmail.com
>     <mailto:furtherfielder at gmail.com>]
>     Sent: Friday, September 16, 2016 4:58 PM
>
>     Subject: [NetBehaviour] The tireless enchantment of technological
>     sorcery | Ars Electronica 2016 Review.
>
>     The tireless enchantment of technological sorcery | Ars
>     Electronica 2016 Review.
>
>     By #KissMyArs - http://bit.ly/2ctU82g
>
>     A participant asks how Ars Electronica, one of the longest
>     standing and biggest media arts festivals in the world, has found
>     itself so far distanced from the political concerns surrounding
>     technology?
>
>     "The alchemists of our time, or as I like to call them 'Dumb
>     wizards', are continuing to design and exhibit technological
>     achievements in self-fulfilling speculative words that have very
>     little concern, consideration or critique with any relevant social
>     issues of our time. Excluding the CyberArts exhibition (curated by
>     Genoveva Rückert), which I thought was a top selection of some of
>     the best media art works of the last years, Ars Electronica is
>     predominantly occupied by interactive spectacles that neglect to
>     examine the social & political impact of technology."
>
>
>
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>
>
>
> -- 
> -- 
>
> Marc Garrett
> Co-Founder, Co-Director and main editor of Furtherfield.
>
> Furtherfield - A living, breathing, thriving network
> http://www.furtherfield.org - for art, technology and social change
> since 1996
>
> Furtherfield Gallery & Commons,
> Finsbury Park, London N4 2NQ
> T +44(0)208 802 1301/+44(0)208 802 2827
> M +44(0)7533676047
> www.furtherfield.org <http://www.furtherfield.org>
>
>
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-- 
helen varley jamieson
helen at creative-catalyst.com <mailto:helen at creative-catalyst.com>
http://www.creative-catalyst.com
http://www.upstage.org.nz

*Magdalena München - In Between - 14-16 October, München
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