INCREDIBLE MACHINES
DIGITALITY AND THE MODERN SYSTEM OF KNOWLEDGE AT THE THRESHOLD OF THE 21ST CENTURYMarch 7-8, 2014
SFU Woodwards, Vancouver CANADA
Organized by Mohammad Salemy, curator-in-residence, Access Gallery
A spectre is haunting the space of knowledge — the spectre of telecomputation. Unlike the modern age when scientific authority and the idea of objectivity were typically embodied in concrete objects like atlases, encyclopedias, books and photographs, the materiality and credibility of human knowledge in the contemporary moment is determined to a great extent by the gathering and sharing, as well as the algorithmic processing and visualization of digital data. This new space has been materialized by the technical synthesis of mass telecommunication and mass computation, enabling a new kind of collective production of knowledge unseen in human history. Resting upon the computational promise of ever-new developments in hardware, software, and network technologies, a visually dynamic, statistically driven and object-oriented form of structural positivism has emerged as the dominant condition for the production and dissemination of knowledge. Starting first in the natural and social sciences and later spreading to the humanities, the ‘digital turn’ has recently begun to reshape how artists look at the world, conceive of their practices and connect with audiences.
Many artists, philosophers and scholars from a variety of fields agree that the widespread use of networked computers in the last two decades has forever transformed the overlapping relations between art, technology and the process of knowledge production. What is still contested however are the ways in which this shift needs to be accounted for and incorporated into an inherently political understanding of the contemporary theory of knowledge.
The Incredible Machines conference marks the second phase of a multi-part curatorial project by the independent curator Mohammad Salemy, which began in September 2013 with an exhibition at Vancouver’s Access Gallery, where he is currently curator-in-residence. The exhibition, Encyclonospace Iranica (http://encyclonospace.com), showcased works by nine Iranian artists who responded to the relationship between computation, knowledge production and the distinct approach to technology proposed by the Iranian philosopher Reza Negarestani. Incredible Machines probes the ramifications of knowledge production’s dependence on machines, mechanical thinking and telecomputation as well as the theoretical and practical entanglement of technological apparatuses with aesthetic theory and art practices.For more information, please contact: incrediblemachines2014@gmail.com
In addition to physical attendance, those interested in participating in the conference are welcome to watch and interact online by using the following links during the event:
Featured Speakers
Benjamin H. Bratton is a theorist whose work spans philosophy, art and design. He is Associate Professor of Visual Arts and Director of D:GP, The Center for Design and Geopolitics at the University of California, San Diego and a Professor at The European Graduate School in Saas-Fee, Switzerland.
Clint Burnham is an associate Professor in the Department of English at Simon Fraser University, in Vancouver. He has a PhD in English from York University.
Michael Ferrer is an insurgent scholar living in Portland, OR. He has written about neuroscience and Continental philosophy, the ludic impulse in 20th century art, and contemporary electronic music.
Alexander R. Galloway (1974) is an author and associate Professor in the Department of Media, Culture, and Communication at New York University. He has a Bachelors Degree in Modern Culture and Media from Brown University, and a Ph.D. in Literature from Duke University in 2001.
Suhail Malik is a writer and holds a Readership in Critical Studies at Goldsmiths, London.
Reza Negarestani is a writer and a philosopher. He has contributed extensively to journals and anthologies and lectured at numerous international universities and institutes.
Daniel Sacilotto is a fourth-year comparative literature PhD student at UCLA. His research focuses on the reconciliation of rationalism with materialism, and the pursuit of a revisionary naturalism through the work of Wilfrid Sellars, Robert Brandom, and Ray Brassier.
Benedict Singleton is a designer and strategist based in London, where he's active on a mixture of self-directed projects.
Nick Srnicek is a PhD graduate in International Relations from LSE, and the coauthor of the #Accelarate Manifesto.
Benjamin Woodard is a PhD candidate at the Centre for Theory and Criticism at the University of Western Ontario. His research uses the Naturphilosophie of FWJ von Schelling to expand the domain of naturalism focusing particularly on the themes of space and motion.
Plenary Session Moderator
Jaleh Mansoor is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Art History and Visual Art at the University of British Columbia. Her areas of research and teaching include post-WWII abstraction, Marxist theory, and critical curatorial studies.
Additional Information
Incredible Machines conference marks the second phase of a multi part curatorial project by Salemy that began in September 2013 with an exhibition at Vancouver's Access Gallery. The exhibition, Encyclonospace Iranica (http://encyclonospace.com), showcased works by nine Iranian artists who responded to the relationship between computation, knowledge production and the distinct approach to technology proposed by the Iranian philosopher Reza Negarestani. The conference probes the ramifications of knowledge production, the dependence on machines, mechanical thinking and telecomputation as well as the theoretical and practical entanglement of technological apparatuses with aesthetic theory and art practices.
Mohammad Salemy is an independent critic and curator from Iran. He holds a masters degree in Critical and Curatorial Studies from the University of British Columbia.
Access Gallery is a non-profit organization dedicated to emergent contemporary art practices. Access strives to spark critical conversations about contemporary art through experimentation and risk-taking within the gallery space and beyond.
Press ContactKrista Bailie
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Incredible Machines Conference next month with Galloway, Negarestani, Woodard, and more
Krista contacted me from Incredible Machines 2014 and I am glad that she did. I am hoping to participate via google (by watching and hopefully getting chance to ask a few questions etc.). Here is the info on this interesting looking conference...will just copy it below.
