Benjamin Grosser - Systems Under Liberty - Talk on December 12
Voir la version en ligne
Systems Under Liberty
Galerie Charlot presents first solo show of artist Benjamin Grosser, curated by
Valentina Peri.
On this occasion, the gallery has organized a talk with the artist on December
10, from 6:30 pm on.
Benjamin Grosser will talk about his interactive works, machines, and systems
that explore the cultural, social and political implications of software. In
particular - given the contemporary moment in France post November 13 - he will
focus on the role of surveillance in his work.
How does computational surveillance change what we write and say both inside
and outside the network? What we can learn about machines and humans from the
ways that surveillance machines watch us? And finally, what does it mean to be
a citizen in a software society ?
His talk will address these questions and more.
The exhibition runs until December 12.
The exhibition is co-produced by Arte Laguna Prize, Venice
See you soon !
Download Press Release
Link to exhibition catalogue
SYSTEMS UNDER LIBERTY
The exhibition «Systems Under Liberty» introduces new works relating to current
debates about France’s new surveillance laws. In July 2015, a controversial
Intelligence act has been voted despite recent revelations about the NSA spying
on senior French officials. The «black boxes» that are being installed on the
servers of French ISP will allow «software bots» to monitor the Internet
traffic of any users who happen to be qualified as «potentially dangerous
subjects».
How is software shaping our culture, and vice versa? What does it mean to be
citizens of a software society? Benjamin Grosser’s work addresses such issues
as Surveillance, «Man-Machine» and «Machine-Machine» interactions, Artificial
Intelligence, and Big Data.
The artist approaches his subject matter through the lens of an artistic
practice of «culture jamming », or cultural sabotage. Benjamin Grosser sets out
to hijack software platforms that have become part and parcel of our everyday
life through a tactic of «poaching» (M. de Certeau, The practice of Everyday
Life).
By imagining unintended applications and designing new extensions for Facebook,
Gmail, Artificial Intelligence Systems, IP Localisators etc., the artist
subverts the mechanics of IT services that are in the same time surveillance
systems and data collectors. His ironic approach elicits an effect of
detachment, which alerts users to some of their automatisms and to their place
in the dominant cultural order.
In so doing, Grosser lays the groundwork for an anti-discipline that enables us
to assert ourselves as active historical subjects from within the current
regime of technological power.
A healthy antidote to passive victimhood and an instrument of peaceful
resistance, his « digital disobedience » points towards chances of escape.
Valentina Peri, from the exhibition catalogue
Download Press Release
Link to exhibition catalogue
CV
Benjamin Grosser creates interactive experiences, machines, and systems that
explore the cultural, social, and political implications of software.
His works have been exhibited at Eyebeam in New York, The White Building in
London, the Media Art Biennale in Wroclaw, the Digital Arts Festival in Athens,
FILE in São Paulo, the Telecom Italia Future Center in Venice, and Museum
Ludwig in Cologne.
His recognitions include First Prize in VIDA 16, an international award
recognizing works investigating art and artificial life, a Net Art Grant and
Commission from Rhizome, and the Expanded Media Award for Network Culture from
the Stuttgarter Filmwinter.
Grosser is an Assistant Professor of New Media in the School of Art + Design
and a Faculty Affiliate in Critical Technology Studies at the National Center
for Supercomputing Applications, both at the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign, USA.
Valentina PeriGalerie Charlot47 rue Charlot75003 Paris
+33 1 42 76 02 67 [email protected]
______________________________________________
SPECTRE list for media culture in Deep Europe
Info, archive and help:
http://post.in-mind.de/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/spectre
