Over the past decade, a growing number of artists and critical practitioners have become engaged with algorithms. This artistic engagement has resulted in algorithmic theatre, bot art, and algorithmic media and performance art of various kinds that thematise the dissemination and deployment of algorithms in everyday life. Especially striking is the high volume of artistic engagements with facial recognition algorithms, trading algorithms and search engine algorithms over the past few years.The fact that these three types of algorithms have garnered more responses than other types of algorithms suggests that they form a popular subject of artistic critique. This critique addresses several significant, supra-individual anxieties of our decade: socio- political uncertainty and polarisation, the global economic crisis and cycles of recession, and the centralisation and corporatisation of access to online information. However, the constituents of these anxieties — which seem to be central to our experience of algorithmic culture — are rarely interrogated. They, therefore, merit closer attention.This book uses prominent artistic representations of facial recognition algorithms, trading algorithms, and search algorithms as the entry point into an exploration of the constituents of the anxieties braided around these algorithms. It proposes that the work of Søren Kierkegaard—one of the first theorists of anxiety—helps us to investigate and critically analyse the constituents of ‘algorithmic anxiety’.
MULTIFILE
Through artistic interventions into the computational backbone of maternity services, the artists behind the Body Recovery Unit explore data production and its usages in healthcare governance. Taking their artwork The National Catalogue Of Savings Opportunities. Maternity, Volume 1: London (2017) as a case study, they explore how artists working with ‘live’ computational culture might draw from critical theory, Science and Technology Studies as well as feminist strategies within arts-led enquiry. This paper examines the mechanisms through which maternal bodies are rendered visible or invisible to managerial scrutiny, by exploring the interlocking elements of commissioning structures, nationwide information standards and databases in tandem with everyday maternity healthcare practices on the wards in the UK. The work provides a new context to understand how re-prioritisation of ‘natural’ and ‘normal’ births, breastfeeding, skin-to-skin contact, age of conception and other factors are gaining momentum in sync with cost-reduction initiatives, funding cuts and privatisation of healthcare services.
MULTIFILE
In this article, the current debate about paradigm formation in artistic research is chosen as a starting point. The way in which artistic research operates as a convergence of creative practice, artistic thinking, andcuratorial strategies shows strong similarities with the definition of care proposed by Maria Puig de la Bellacasa: a dynamic, triangular interaction between labor, affect, andpolitics. This proposition will be briefly elaborated on the basis of three research projects. Starting from thestatement Research is another word for Care (Marion von Osten), a further reflection on the significance of thisperspective for the topical discussion about curatorial research will developed.Launch Publication: SVA New York: www.e-flux.com/announcements/653732/ma-curatorial-practice-winter-and-spring-programming/
Samenwerking tussen organisaties en creatieve professionals (kunstenaars en ontwerpdisciplines), zogenaamde cross-overs, vormen dé nieuwe samenwerkingsvorm de laatste jaren binnen organisaties in Nederland medio 2017. Uit recent onderzoek van het lectoraat Innovatief Ondernemen van Zuyd Hogeschool blijkt dat in Zuid-Limburg ongeveer 50% van de MKB-bedrijven jaarlijks samen werken met creatieve professionals. Creatieve professionals brengen vanuit de kunsten een voor organisaties nieuw en uniek perspectief van design thinking in met een daar aan gerelateerd handelingsrepertoire (‘change agents’) en methoden (art based interventions (ABIs) of artistic interventions). Er is een eerste notie dat de verbinding van het economische domein (organisaties) met het domein van de kunsten vruchtbare samenwerking op kan leveren. Maar uit eerste verkenningen is ook duidelijk dat zowel organisaties als creatieve professionals concrete handvatten nodig hebben voor vruchtbare samenwerking. Er is binnen Nederland echter nog nauwelijks onderzoek gedaan naar de rol van creatieve professionals in initiatieven als cross-overs, business development en innovatie. Dit onderzoek betreft een eerste verkenning naar het fenomeen van samenwerking tussen organisaties en creatieve professionals. Hiervoor worden 4-5 cases bestudeerd van organisaties die hebben samen gewerkt met creatieve professionals. Daarnaast zal een literatuurstudie worden uitgevoerd naar cross-overs en overige samenwerkingsvormen tussen organisaties en creatieve professionals. Het resultaat van dit onderzoek is om via een verdiepende verkenning naar de samenwerking van creatieve professionals en bedrijven/ publieke organisaties meer inzichten in de factoren die samenwerking tussen MKB bedrijven en creatieve professionals beïnvloeden, te krijgen. Met deze verkenning willen we de basis leggen voor vervolgonderzoek (RAAK MKB-aanvraag), waarbij focus op het perspectief van design thinking, de wijze van samenwerking, het handelingsrepertoire (‘change agents’) of bijvoorbeeld op methoden die zijn gehanteerd, aandacht zullen krijgen.
The presented research project will address parasocial interaction (PSI) directed towards non-player characters (NPCs) within video games. As first described by Horton and Wohl in 1956, the investigation of PSI has been predominantly limited to the context of linear media. Consequently, a significant research gap has emerged, prompting the need for this study. This research endeavors to bridge this gap by conducting multiple studies that delve into different aspects of a character's presence that seem to affect PSI. For example, factors such as obtrusiveness and persistence will be investigated due to their potential influence on the strength of PSI (Hartmann, Schramm, & Klimmt, 2004). Furthermore, the inquiry extends to exploring the collective impact of a group of NPCs on PSI dynamics. To achieve these objectives, the research will employ research through design methods, involving iterative modifications to the NPCs across various test setups. A game-based research environment will be created for participant exposure, leveraging the video game RimWorld (Ludeon Studios, 2018) as a foundational framework that can be adapted as necessary. Employing a quantitative approach, the studies will document the impact different aspects of a character’s presence have on the strength of PSI observed. The outcomes of this research endeavor will be disseminated among fellow game developers through artistic interventions, such as, for example, game jams. This approach seeks to not only contribute to the scholarly understanding of PSI but also offer practical insights in the context of game development.
