[lit-ideas] Apocalyptic Algorithms
- From: "Andreas Ramos" <andreas@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Lit-Ideas" <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 26 Mar 2004 12:57:42 -0800
FYI
yrs,
andreas
www.andreas.com
"Apocalyptic Algorithms", with Michael Wilson
Technology stands accused of removing the physical body from the site of
social exchange and of ordering the body/world through algorithmic
procedures. Most reactions to the alienation of technological processes and
products become religious, even apocalyptic - suspecting the hand of Satan
in bar codes and virtual reality. They stress the original material "sin" -
a narcissistic infatuation with " tools" that steadily drains the
(spiritual) life from the subject. Assuming that consciousness is rooted in
the body, physical manipulations of consciousness have the potential to
disrupt or alter the structure of the algorithm. Such disruptions might
produce an apocalyptic shift in the constitution of social and cultural
reality. The "apocalypse" is commonly associated with the end of physical
reality. It evades physical description precisely because the apocalypse
itself (an "unveiling" or "revelation") initiates a shift in consciousness.
Apocalypse is a compelling and recurrent narrative because it provides us
with a meta-script - an all-encompassing algorithm whose execution is the
ultimate computation. Perhaps a sustained attempt at producing signals to
trigger the execution of a self-reflexive apocalyptic algorithm could
produce the End in positive and non-absolutist terms: the end of history as
we have inherited it.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Michael Wilson is an artist whose work utilizes a variety of operational
contexts in order to explore how cognitive orientations and social dynamics
influence human attitudes and behavior. He co-founded Laminus - a
quasi-fictional revolutionary/corporate entity that engaged in a series of
performative acoustic interventions at abandoned landmarks throughout the
city of San Francisco; The Post-traumatic Institute for Social
Satisfaction[1], a research institution dedicated to lengthy, byzantine
procedures in pursuit of utopian solutions; and Communitatus Operatio
Militia Apokalypsis (COMA)[2], a secret society/signal corps dedicated to
apocalyptic operations. He is also a member of the new media collaborative
C-level[3]. His work has been shown at The Kitchen (New York, NY), Yerba
Buena Center for the Arts (San Francisco), The Rotterdam Film Festival
(Rotterdam, Netherlands), Ronald Feldman Fine Arts (New York, NY), the
Byzantine Museum (Athens, Greece), Kunsthalle Dusseldorf (Dusseldorf,
Germany), RealArtWays (Hartford, CT), Sandroni-Rey Gallery (Los Angeles) and
the Arkansas Arts Center.
Michael Wilson lives and works in Los Angeles. A native of Arkansas, he
received a BA in Philosophy from Hendrix College, a BFA from the San
Francisco Art Institute and an MFA from Yale University. He is currently a
lecturer in the art departments at University of California, Irvine and Otis
College of Art & Design. He also lectures in the cinema department at
Pasadena City College.
[1] www.socialsatisfaction.com
[2] www.e-coma.org
[3] www.c-level.cc
PARC Forum
Thursday, April 1st, 2004, 4:00-5:00 PM
George E. Pake Auditorium
Palo Alto Research Center (PARC)
This forum is OPEN to the public.
Information about the PARC Forum and directions to PARC available at:
http://www.parc.com/events/forum
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