“How can we understand the operations of technology and power in our era? Our technological systems are increasingly complex, interconnected, automated and opaque. Social institutions, from schools to prisons, are becoming data industries, incorporating pervasive forms of capture and analysis. Even places that were once off-limits to capital, from our emotional expressions to outer space, are now subject to computational control and extraction. Meanwhile, the industrial transformations in AI are concentrating power into even fewer hands, while accelerating polarization and alienation. If we are to address the urgent challenges of the contemporary time – including technocratic fascism, climate catastrophe, colonial wars, and wealth inequality – we need to contend with the interwoven nature of their histories. In order to have a future, we must first confront our past.”
https://calculatingempires.net
“Calculating Empires is an immersive physical installation that can be staged in different formats. The minimum size of the work is 24 meters in length, and 3 meters in height. It can be staged as a circular work, or as two wall murals facing each other. It can also be installed as a large-scale floor work.
We include two large format handmade books to be shown alongside the work. One is for the themes of Communication and Computation, the other is for Control and Classification. They are printed on semi-transparent paper, so the timelines overlap, and they allow visitors to read the details up close. We stage the books with pencils, to invite audience members to make their own annotations and notes in the books, which we collect at the end of the exhibition as an open form of feedback.”
