Text by CLOT Magazine
I’ve seen first-hand how philosophical visions have been given form, first through art and later in everyday life. Issues such as Big Data, Artificial Intelligence or systemics have (initially/originally/primarily) been explored by artists and we have to take some responsibility, both for good and bad, in how they’ve been implemented at the social level. Told CLOT Magazine Jaime de los Ríos during an interview last May.
Jaime de los Ríos is one of the curatorial team members of the exhibition Open Codes. We Are Data on view until January 26, 2020, at Azkuna Zentroa – Alhóndiga Bilbao, Spain. Organised in collaboration with ZKM | Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe, Germany, Blanca Giménez, Fernando Pérez, Jaime de los Ríos and Rakel Esparza has brought to life the (critical) vision of Peter Weibel.
The exhibition is a critical vision of contemporary culture and studies art technology from the beginning to the modern day. It reflects on the world we live in today: a world that is created and ruled by digital codes that determine how we perceive our surroundings, they influence our financial systems, our legislations and our business models; in essence, they shape and create new horizons for social, economic, or cultural activity.
The many topics dealt with in the exhibition are grouped into seven key areas: Genealogy Of Code, Encoding, Machine Learning, Algorithmic Governance, Labor & Production, Algorithmic Economy, and Genetic Code. This allows the visitor to draw connections among the different themes.
The technology that we create and accept is an extension of our bodies. I understand the body as our physical or virtual presence in any of the three fields as described by Roy Ascott: tangible, shamanic and virtual, all of which correspond and conform to multidimensional reality. de los Ríos continued during the interview.
Some of the artists participating are Christian Lölkes & Peter Weibel, Refik Anadol, Claire L. Evans, Emma Charles, and Rafael Lozano-Hemmer. Open Codes. We Are Data is accompanied by a public programme which includes talks, workshops and a contemporary film cycle.
