Techno/seen: on the technological apparatus and its images
symposium with Franziska Kunze, Michael Reisch, Spiros Hadjidjanos, Emmanuel Van Der Auwera, Susan Morris, Jeff Weber, Mona Hedayati
organised by Steven Humblet, research group Thinking Tools
Thursday 17 October, 10:00-17:00
Lange Zaal, Academy
Ever since the invention of photography, technologically produced images have dazzled us. Often, it has fallen to visual artists to critically assess the social and cultural impact of these images. One of the main issues that piqued their interest was the way this constant stream of ever new technologies redefined the relationship between the apparatus and its human operator. What does it mean to be relegated to the somewhat passive position of someone merely activating a process that for the most part runs its own course? Their attempts to explore the programmatic nature of these apparatuses has become even more necessary today as we are being confronted with powerful systems that seemingly conjure up images out of thin air.
Considering that these apparatuses are supposed to function as technological enhancements (or should we say: replacements?) of our human faculties of thinking and imagining, we’re left with the urgent question how to deal with this alien intelligence. Are we supposed to play with or against these apparatuses? What remains of the human experience in the datasets they produce and what is left out? Is it possible to equate the flexibility of AI models that dynamically adjust their internal rules based on input data to our own human capacity of invention? Are they really able to free us from our all-too-human expectations and, in doing so, open up new avenues for our imagination? If so, what would be required to unleash their potential to surprise us? Does it emerge in the glitches that appear when they are pushed beyond their limits? Or does it only appear when their virtual data are translated in a material form and run up against the friction of the material world? These are only some of the questions that the invited speakers will address in their talks during the conference.
(image: Michael Reisch, ‘Trust in those who supposedly know – ELIAS’, 2023, 50x40cm, Inkjet print, mounted on Alucore/Aluminium honeycomb panel, detail)
→ This event is part of the research festival ARTICULATE 2024 I ANONYMOUS CREATIVITY - ART WITHOUT ARTISTS
