SXSW 2015

Explores network virtuality, mediated memory, the rise of A.I. and notions of autonomous machine surveillance. This 60 minute visual presentation demonstrates how Big Data has a distinct liquid-like property and an all pervasive future in our fictions our dreams and perhaps even our worst nightmares. The paper was delivered at SXSW Interactive on Saturday March 14 2015 in Austin, Texas.

Presentation Files

SXSW Interactive, 14 March 2015

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Event Site: http://schedule.sxsw.com/2015/events/event_IAP35761

Liquid Ambient Future Abstract

See like a camera / listen like a microphone / track like a satellite.

Big beautiful data is everywhere. The sound is constant. The image bank immense. The network sends and receives everything. We remix our environment by just being present in it. We capture, post, follow, share and archive. Data becomes us.

This new aesthetic of machine ambiance is at once an embodiment of our private present selves but also an ambient beautification of what lies in our wake. The machine sees the machine knows but the mechanics are invisible. How will artists, designers and film makers depict A.I. in the crowded vision streams of the future? The notion of the liquid electric is embedded in our popular cultural fictions and scientific explorations. It operates at the foundation of our interpretation of the farthermost reaches of space and the inner most structures of matter. But it also colors the wider vistas of our future networked selves and the imaginings of content designers and artists alike.

Image Credits (L-R): Proyas (2004, 20th Century Fox), Cunningham / Aphex Twin (1997, Warner Music Group), Nam June Paik & Jud Yalkut (1966), Lisberger (1982, Disney) and Spielberg (2001, Warner Bros.).