Art and History of the Digital Divide

Date

Thu October 4th 2018, 5:45 - 7:30pm

Speakers): Orit Halpern (Concordia University); Andrés Burbano (U. de los Andes)

Orit Halpern, Concordia University
The Planetary Bet

Volatility –extremes of high and low, temporal scales between the geological and digital, varying thresholds of toxicity, safety, poverty- these are the differentials that in contemporary societies are the very mediums for financial speculation and ubiquitous computing. This talk will examine how concepts of resilience from ecology, ideas of systems management from cybernetics and design, and algorithmic investment strategies from finance merged to produce both a contemporary mode of disaster speculation that I label “the planetary bet” and an affective sentiment of “resilient hopefulness”.

Andrés Burbano, U. de los Andes
“The Fountain of Prosperity” and Fotoformas: Art, Technology and Early Computation in Latin America

Two fields of study converge in this talk. On the one hand, there is the research about the history of media technologies that were proposed or developed in Latin America and their impact in the art world. On the other, the history of early computing –the formative years. My presentation makes the case for intersecting these domains in promising new ways.

We will meet in Pigott Hall (bldg 260) in room 216. Dinner will be served at 5:45 PM; the meeting will begin at 6:00 PM. Discussion will be in English.