Earthing Discharge - Marjolijn Dijkman - English/Berlin 2022

Marjolijn Dijkman’s photographic series Earthing Discharge is inspired by research carried out by the artist and her collaborators in a lithium mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Here, Dijkman depicts electrical currents conducted by spodumene minerals with lithium from the DRC to power everyday objects.
Dijkman’s series illuminates the quintessentially industrial method of resource excavation used to produce the lithium-powered devices we have come to rely on. If producing the tools of the future currently depends on the harmful practices of the past, are we solving a problem or creating new ones? By turning invisible electricity into something eye-catching and radiant, Dijkman encourages us to interrogate electricity, particularly groundbreaking “clean” energy like lithium — something we have come to depend on, but almost never see.

Marjolijn Dijkman’s photographic series Earthing Discharge is
inspired by research she carried out with her collaborators in a lithium mine
in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The artist depicts electrical
currents conducted by spodumene minerals with the lithium from DRC that powers
everyday objects—a resource we depend on for our smartphones and electric
cars, but almost never see. By turning invisible electricity into something
eye­catching and radiant, Dijkman encourages us to interrogate the extractive
practices behind ‘clean’ energy like lithium. If producing the tools of the
future relies on the harmful practices of the past, does it solve a problem or
create new ones?

Earthing Discharge

The Interfaced Border - Joanna Moll - English/Berlin 2022

The proliferation of digital devices and social media has created a wealth of open-source intelligence that can be freely gathered and interpreted by anyone with access to the Internet. But what are the ethical guidelines when individuals can monitor and police each other online?
Texas Virtual BorderWatch was a public-private partnership to crowdsource surveillance of the US/Mexico border. The initiative operated between 2008 and 2012 as a collaboration between the start-up BlueServo and the state of Texas. Through an online platform called BlueServo, users were given free access to live feeds for ‘virtual stakeouts’ of over 200 cameras and sensors monitoring the border. More than 200,000 volunteer users logged in remotely and were encouraged to report any suspicious activity they noticed by clicking a red button, thereby notifying the authorities.
Artist Joana Moll’s The Interfaced Border recreates some of the elements found on BlueServo’s online surveillance interface. Fusing surveillance and social media, The Interfaced Border portrays how civilians created their own information sphere – with real-world consequences – based on what they saw online.
<Video videoLink="https://vimeo.com/749547225/11afb534ea" previewImg="/video_covers/interfaced_border.jpg" alt="Watch the video on vimeo" caption="Credits to Joana Moll" />
<Caption>Joana Moll, The Interfaced Border, 2016. Courtesy of the artist.</Caption>

Artist Joana Moll’s The Interfaced Border recreates an online
partnership between a tech start-up and the Texas government that was
established in 2008 to monitor illegal crossings of the US/Mexico border. The
website allowed civilians to access live surveillance feeds of the border and
to report activity they viewed as suspicious. With so much open-source data
and technology freely accessible online, what are the ethical guidelines for
civilians monitoring and policing each other?

The Interfaced Border

Tracer Studies - English/Berlin 2022

Which new energy sources will ensure a viable future and what new problems might they create? In recent years, proponents of deep-sea mining have advocated that valuable minerals on the ocean floor can be excavated by companies and countries to manufacture environmentally-conscious energy sources, like material for batteries or electric cars. It is estimated that more than 1.5 million square kilometres of the Pacific Ocean are currently being leased for such practices.
This visual investigation by the environmental justice project INTERPRT offers a counterpoint. Focusing specifically on an area of the Pacific Ocean set to be mined by The International Seabed Authority (ISA) and the mining industry, they utilised drone imagery, publicly available data and research-backed predictions to examine the potentially irreversible impacts of deep-sea mining.
The proposed mining process uses large, underwater collector vehicles to that rake the surface of the deep ocean floor to extract rocks containing valuable minerals – churning up living and non-living matter and creating sediment plumes. Tracer Studies uses open-source technology to model the predicted trajectory of these plumes as thermal currents carry them to protected areas of the ocean floor. Their visual investigation reminds us that extraction sites in the ocean are not isolated areas, but interconnected, fluid spaces teeming with life. As our demand for renewable energy escalates, how can we account for the increase in damage of these new mining practices?
<Video videoLink="https://youtu.be/Y0cLw_XM1gk" previewImg="video_covers/tracer-studies.jpg" alt="Watch the video on YouTube" caption="Credits to INTERPRT" />
<Caption>Blue Peril, 2022 by INTERPRT.</Caption>
Team – INTERPRT: Nabil Ahmed, Olga Lucko, Filip Wesołowski 
Collaborators: Deep Sea Mining Campaign and Ozeanien Dialog 
Hydrodynamic modeling and particle tracking: Dr. John Luick 
Campaign website: www.blueperil.org

Which energy sources will ensure a viable future, and for whom will
that future be viable? This visual investigation by the environmental justice
project INTERPRT utilises drone footage, open-source code and research-backed
predictions to model the potential impacts of a plan to mine minerals from the
floor of the Pacific Ocean. This image shows how they traced the potential
consequences of sediment plumes – clouds of living and non-living matter that
are dredged up in the mining process and drift with thermal currents into
protected areas.

Tracer Studies

Fab City Manifesto - English/Berlin 2022

Local, circular, participatory: these are the principles of Fab City, an initiative that reimagines urban spaces to make them not just sustainable but socially, technically and environmentally regenerative. Utilising the metaphor of a ‘stack’, each element of Fab City contributes to the whole: local models for urban production and waste, collaborative systems for managing bio-regional health and international mechanisms for data and knowledge sharing.

Local, circular, participatory: these are the principles of Fab
City, an initiative that reimagines urban spaces to make them not just
sustainable but socially, technically and environmentally regenerative.
Utilising the metaphor of a ‘stack’, each element of Fab City contributes to
the whole: local models for urban production and waste, collaborative systems
for managing bio-regional health and international mechanisms for data and
knowledge sharing. 

Fab City Manifesto

HARVEST - English/Berlin 2022

Built to harness two elements of our changing climate — wind gusts and storms — HARVEST was designed by artist and engineer Julian Oliver to use renewable energy to mine cryptocurrency. Oliver originally envisaged the device as a prototype that could be scaled to donate the funds it generates to climate-change research; however, as the negative environmental impacts of mining crypto­currency became increasingly clear, Oliver no longer endorsed the concept. As a work of critical engineering, HARVEST is a reminder that whilst each technolo­gical advance initially holds such promise, their impacts change as they are scaled and commercialised.
<Image src="/inner_artists/julian-oliver/harvest3.jpg" alt="An image showing the prototype, hardware and cables." caption="Technical Inventory, from HARVEST, 2018 by Julian Oliver." />

Built to harness two elements of our changing climate — wind gusts
and storms — HARVEST was designed by artist and engineer Julian Oliver to use
renewable energy to mine cryptocurrency. Oliver originally envisaged the
device as a prototype that could be scaled to donate the funds it generates to
climate-change research; however, as the negative environmental impacts of
mining crypto­currency became increasingly clear, Oliver no longer endorsed
the concept. As a work of critical engineering, HARVEST is a reminder that
whilst each technolo­gical advance initially holds such promise, their impacts
change as they are scaled and commercialised.

HARVEST

Planet City - Liam Young - English/Berlin 2022

Director and architect Liam Young explores a radical solution to climate change in Planet City, a 3D VR simulation. Set in the year 2050, Young’s video proposes a world where Earth’s 10 billion residents could be housed in a single city, occupying just 0.02% of the Earth’s surface. Made in collaboration with theorists and environmental scientists, Planet City speculates that relocating humans to these towering megastructures would allow for the remainder of the Earth’s surface to be ‘re-wilded’ by plants and animals and thus, restored. This novel metropolis is not a simple utopia or dystopia. In this futurescape, home to thousands of languages and a kaleidoscope of international cultures, every day is a different holiday, and the city swirls with confetti.
Young’s simulated city is powered by vast resources of already-existing clean energy, which would require international diplomacy on a previously unseen scale. The Mojave Desert’s solar farm; China’s wind energy network, Gansu; and Western Australia’s algae farm would all be put to work to collectively power the lives of the city’s 10 billion residents. Implying revolutionary adaptations to the problem of climate change, Planet City is simultaneously a futuristic proposal and a political provocation.
<Video videoLink="https://vimeo.com/496855257" previewImg="video_covers/planet-city.jpg" alt="Watch the video on Vimeo" caption="Credits to Liam Young" />
<Caption>Trailer for Planet City, 2021 by Liam Young.</Caption>

It’s the year 2050, and all of the planet’s 10 billion residents
are housed in a single city that occupies just 0.02% of the Earth’s surface.
This is the vision shown in this video still from Planet City, a 3D VR
simulation by director and architect Liam Young. Made in collaboration with
theorists and environmental scientists, Planet City speculates that relocating
humans to these tower-ing megastructures would allow for the remainder of the
Earth’s surface to be ‘re-wilded’ by plants and animals. Implying
revolutionary adaptations to cope with climate change, Planet City is
simultaneously a futuristic proposal and a political provocation.

Planet City

SustAIn - English/Berlin 2022

If emerging technologies are to help solve rather than amplify our problems, sustainability has to be built-in. The non-profit research and advocacy organisation AlgorithmWatch proposes a framework for AI that brings together interdependent elements — economic, social and environmental — and sets the terms for measuring sustainability for AI. In conditions where companies often prioritise profit, governments are guided by economic growth and citizens are rarely engaged, SustAIn asks, who will set the terms for people and the planet and what will
they be?
<Image src="inner_resources/algorithm-watch/sustain-2.png" alt="An inforgraphic showing 2 main headers and topics: Economic Sustainability reads: monopolisation of AI avoided, open access to AI technologies and fair working conditions and jobs. Environmental Sustainability reads: Energy consumption, C02 and greenhouse emissions, AI applied to sustainbility goals. " caption="
" />
<Image src="inner_resources/algorithm-watch/sustain-3.png" alt="An inforgraphic showing the header Social Sustainability reads: Transparence and accountability, we should all benefit from AI and Technical reliability and human supervision. " caption="
" />

If emerging technologies are to help solve rather than amplify our
problems, sustainability has to be built-in. The non-profit research and
advocacy organisation AlgorithmWatch proposes a framework for AI that brings
together interdependent elements — economic, social and environmental — and
sets the terms for measuring sustainability for AI. In conditions where
companies often prioritise profit, governments are guided by economic growth
and citizens are rarely engaged, SustAIn asks, who will set the terms for
people and the planet and what will they be? 

SustAIn

System Change Not Climate Change - English/Berlin 2022

Fridays for Future and young climate activists around the world
During the 2019 Global Climate Strike, 7.6 million young people took to the streets to demand the phasing out of fossil fuels, the end of deforestation and a transition to renewable energy. Protests around the world continue to be organised in decentralised and distributed ways on Instagram, TikTok and other platforms. These channels are essential for young eco-influencers, eco-nerds, and those dealing with eco-anxiety. Gen Z bears the burden of overlapping crises yet has none of the political power to solve them. Through digital platforms they are criticising energy-hungry, consumption-driven practices and emphasising the interconnectedness of social and environmental issues.

During the 2019 Global Climate Strike, 7.6 million young people
took to the streets to demand the phasing out of fossil fuels, the end of
deforestation and a transition to renewable energy. Protests around the world
continue to be organised in decentralised and distributed ways on Instagram,
TikTok and other platforms. These channels are essential for young
eco-influencers, eco-nerds, and those dealing with eco-anxiety.

System Change Not Climate Change

AI and Future Crisis - English/Berlin 2022

AI is being tested and developed to manage, avert and protect societies from future crises, from carbon emissions to pandemics to natural disasters. Combined with emerging technologies such as synthetic biology, AI can also take us beyond the imagined: it can create digital twins of the planet and enable precision farming to monitor individual plants across millions of hectares. It even promises to re-engineer extinct and near-extinct species. As humans rely on artificial intelligence more and more to resolve the problems we have created, where will it lead us? Who will own the insights it generates?
<Image src="inner_resources/tactical_tech/ai-and-future-crisis-2.png" alt="A black and white illustration of a map of the world with different locater dots dispersed around the world, with a caption that reads: 50.62 Billion Tonnes of C02 Emissions" caption=" " />
<Image src="inner_resources/tactical_tech/ai-and-future-crisis-3.png" alt="A black and white illustration of various people and virus and bacterias. Lines connect them to each other." caption=" " />
<Image src="inner_resources/tactical_tech/ai-and-future-crisis-4.png" alt="A black and white drawing of a map of a city, with an arrow pointing to a specific location, and a scale showing there is an increase in Risk Factor." caption=" " />
<Image src="inner_resources/tactical_tech/ai-and-future-crisis-5.png" alt="An image of a mammoth with a Genes/DNA structure running through it." caption=" " />
<Image src="inner_resources/tactical_tech/ai-and-future-crisis-6.png" alt="An image of geometric blocks on the top side of the image, there is a line running through the middle, and on the bottom side the blocks are more detailed looking like city structures." caption=" " />
<Image src="inner_resources/tactical_tech/ai-and-future-crisis-7.png" alt="An image of a corn crop, with a satellite about it." caption=" " />
<h2>Watch the Videos</h2>
<Video videoLink="https://youtu.be/Q7DADSF9--0" previewImg="video_covers/ai-and-future-crisis-1.jpg" alt="Watch the video on YouTube" caption="Credits to Tactical Tech" />
<Caption>Blackshark.ai Überblick, 2021</Caption>
<Video videoLink="https://youtu.be/-3BdOq63aeU" previewImg="video_covers/ai-and-future-crisis-2.jpg" alt="Watch the video on YouTube" caption="Credits to Tactical Tech" />
<Caption>Einführung von Climate FieldView, 2021</Caption>
<Video videoLink="https://youtu.be/QDT2C6Eo9PQ" previewImg="video_covers/ai-and-future-crisis-3.jpg" alt="Watch the video on YouTube" caption="Credits to Tactical Tech" />
<Caption>Einführung von Climate TRACE, 2011</Caption>
<Video videoLink="https://youtu.be/0qMwmGWOdwc" previewImg="video_covers/ai-and-future-crisis-4.jpg" alt="Watch the video on YouTube" caption="Credits to Tactical Tech" />
<Caption>One Concern: Katastrophen weniger katastrophal machen, 2021</Caption>

AI is being tested and developed to manage, avert and protect
societies from future crises, from carbon emissions to pandemics to natural
disasters. Combined with emerging technologies such as synthetic biology, AI
can also take us beyond the imagined: it can create digital twins of the
planet and enable precision farming to monitor individual plants across
millions of hectares. It even promises to re-engineer extinct and near-extinct
species. As humans rely on artificial intelligence more and more to resolve
the problems we have created, where will it lead us? Who will own the insights
it generates?  

AI and Future Crisis

DyNaMo (Dynamic National Mobility) - English/Berlin 2022

Changeist for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)
Most projections predict that the number of stateless people will increase significantly due to conflict, displacement and extreme weather events. DyNaMo is a speculative design project created to help the IFRC imagine its future work. A field kit provides displaced people with short-term e-citizenship, temporary biometric identities and funds to last 120 days. Despite being imagined in 2017 as a future provo­cation, similar humanitarian solutions for displaced people are already being tested by UNHCR and the World Food Program.
<Image src="/inner_resources/changeist/dynamo2-1.jpg" alt="Field Kit instructions" caption="Instruction card for IV&R kit operator, 2017, from Changeist.
" />
<Image src="/inner_resources/changeist/dynamo-2.jpg" alt=" " caption="DyNaMo field kit schematic, 2017, from Changeist.
" />

Most projections predict that the number of stateless people will increase significantly due to conflict, displacement and extreme weather events. DyNaMo is a speculative design project created to help the IFRC imagine its future work. A field kit provides displaced people with short-term e-citizenship, temporary biometric identities and funds to last 120 days. Despite being imagined in 2017 as a future provo­cation, similar humanitarian solutions for displaced people are already being tested by UNHCR and the World Food Program.


DyNaMo (Dynamic National Mobility)

Eco - English/Berlin 2022

In this simulation game, players work together to build technologies that will save the world from a meteor. But everything they do impacts the environment around them. In a twist on world-building games like Minecraft, resources here are finite and decisions have knock-on effects. Players can also data-model scenarios, implement policies and even become president of Eco-world. In the game of saving the world, what role would you play?
<Video videoLink="https://youtu.be/ud_refZuQoA" previewImg="video_covers/eco.jpg " alt="Watch the video on YouTube" caption="Credits to Strange Loop Games" />
<Caption>Official trailer, Eco, released in 2018 by Strange Loop Games.</Caption>

In this simulation game, players work together to build technologies that will save the world from a meteor. But everything they do impacts the environment around them. In a twist on world-building games like Minecraft, resources here are finite and decisions have knock-on effects. Players can also data-model scenarios, implement policies and even become president of Eco-world. In the game of saving the world, what role would you play?


Futures Poker - English/Berlin 2022

In this high-stakes futures game by the research company Strange Telemetry, each player is dealt three cards corresponding to a trend, a place and a year. With the cards, players weave a story about the future that would unfold — the most entertaining and compelling narrative wins. The trends are based on emerging and nascent ideas like ‘Rewilding’, ‘Artificial Empathy’, ‘Weather Weirding’ and ‘Class Warfare’, inviting the group to envision a future in which these conditions become part of our everyday lives.
<Image src="inner_resources/strange-telemetry/futures-poker-2.png" alt="A black and white image of two tarot cards from the Futures Poker card deck." caption="Drawing by La Loma, based on the Futures Poker card deck, 2016 by Strange Telemetry. " />
<Image src="inner_resources/strange-telemetry/futures-poker-3.png" alt="A black and white image of two tarot cards from the Futures Poker card deck." caption="Drawing by La Loma, based on the Futures Poker card deck, 2016 by Strange Telemetry. " />

In this high-stakes futures game by the research company Strange
Telemetry, each player is dealt three cards corresponding to a trend, a place
and a year. With the cards, players weave a story about the future that would
unfold — the most entertaining and compelling narrative wins. The trends are
based on emerging and nascent ideas like ‘Rewilding’, ‘Artificial Empathy’,
‘Weather Weirding’ and ‘Class Warfare’, inviting the group to envision a
future in which these conditions become part of our everyday lives. 

Futures Poker

Visions of Escape - English/Berlin 2022

As our living environments deteriorate, architects, technologists, entrepreneurs and governments begin to invest in designs for how to live in uncertain times, from learning to survive constant flooding to creating desert utopias. Some start-ups sell the dream of retreating to self-sustaining off-grid pods whilst others promise autonomous systems on other planets. The future worlds we design can teach us a lot about the perspectives and worldviews we have now. What kind of future escape would you design?
Top Left - Wetropolis: A floating city for a post diluvian future 
Bottom Left - Ecocapsule: Off-grid living pod 
Top Right - The Line: A civilisation revolution in the desert 
Bottom Right - Marscoin: Cryptocurrency incentivising space exploration
<Video videoLink="https://www.neom.com/en-us/regions/theline" previewImg="inner_resources/visions-of-escape/the_line_video_preview_1.png" alt="Watch the video on The Line's website" caption="Video from The Line, by Neom" />

As our living environments deteriorate, architects, technologists,
entrepreneurs and governments begin to invest in designs for how to live in
uncertain times, from learning to survive constant flooding to creating desert
utopias. Some start-ups sell the dream of retreating to self-sustaining
off-grid pods whilst others promise autonomous systems on other planets. The
future worlds we design can teach us a lot about the perspectives and
worldviews we have now. What kind of future escape would you design?  

Visions of Escape

3D Model Munitions Ukraine - English/Berlin 2022

We are living through the most thoroughly documented wars in history — conflicts in which terabytes of images and videos are uploaded by citizens on platforms like YouTube. Many of these videos contain valuable clues about what is happening and who is responsible. Whilst there are too many videos for humans to review, technologies like machine learning, object recognition and 3D modelling can help automate the process. VFRAME applies these technologies in the service of human rights rather than surveillance or commercial purposes, training algorithms to recognise munitions in videos and to identify their provenance, first in Syria and now in Ukraine.
Adam Harvey, Jules La Place and Josh Evans
<Video videoLink="https://vframe.ams3.digitaloceanspaces.com/vframe_io/videos/vframe_9n235_render_05.mp4" previewImg="/inner_resources/vframe/vframe_preview.png" alt="Watch the video on VFRAME's website" caption="Video from VFRAME, 2022" />
<Image src="/inner_resources/vframe/3dmodel-second-1.jpg" alt="Photogrammetry scan of the 9N235 submunition" caption="Photogrammetry scan of the 9N235 submunition by VFRAME in collaboration with Tech 4 Tracing. Image license: © Adam Harvey / VFRAME.io" />
<Image src="/inner_resources/vframe/3dmodel-second-2.jpg" alt="Submunition models used for rending and 3D printing." caption="The 9N235 submunition 3D models prepared for use in 3D rendering and 3D printing. Image license and credit: © Adam Harvey / VFRAME.io" />

We are living through the most thoroughly documented wars in
history — conflicts in which terabytes of images and videos are uploaded by
citizens on platforms like YouTube. Many of these videos contain valuable
clues about what is happening and who is responsible. Whilst there are too
many videos for humans to review, technologies like machine learning, object
recognition and 3D modelling can help automate the process. VFRAME applies
these technologies in the service of human rights rather than surveillance or
commercial purposes, training algorithms to recognise munitions in videos and
to identify their provenance, first in Syria and now in Ukraine. 

3D Model Munitions Ukraine

Green Consumption Assistant - English/Berlin 2022

‘Nudging’ is a common practice in web design that directs users toward more expensive purchases. Is it ethical to use these same techniques to promote health, wellness and sustainability? Is it possible to ‘nudge for good’? The Green Consumption Assistant experiments with these questions. By installing an extension in the search engine Ecosia, users will receive nudges and recommendations to buy more sustainable products, as well as search results for services for repair, rental and sharing.
<Image src="/inner_resources/tu-berlin/greenconsumption-second-1.jpg" alt="An image of various different phones in the shopping section of the Ecosia browser." caption="Screenshot of online-shopping and searching ‘Jeans Herren’ in Ecosia. Sustainable products are marked with the banner ‘Sustainable’ and are prominently displayed in the results list. Green Consumption Assistant, 2020-2023 by the Technical University Berlin. " />

‘Nudging’ is a common practice in web design that directs users
toward more expensive purchases. Is it ethical to use these same techniques to
promote health, wellness and sustainability? Is it possible to ‘nudge for
good’? The Green Consumption Assistant experiments with these questions. By
installing an extension in the search engine Ecosia, users will receive nudges
and recommendations to buy more sustainable products, as well as search
results for services for repair, rental and sharing. 

Green Consumption Assistant

Mobile tracking, migrants and Covid - English/Berlin 2022

During lockdowns around the world, social media, satellite and location data was used to draw conclusions about who stayed home and who didn’t, or couldn’t afford to. This mobility data was also used to make predictions about where the pandemic would spread. Investigator Crofton Black found that these data collection techniques were first piloted on migrants prior to the pandemic. Mobility analysis and prediction can be critical for response in a crisis, but who consents to being tracked, and who has access to this information about the movements of vulnerable populations?
<Image src="/inner_resources/bureau_of_investigative_journalism/mobile-tracking-second-1.jpg" alt="Map showing the north of Africa, Europe and Asia in red with different lines going through it." caption="A mock up from an ESA study into the potential applications of migration tracking services. Published in the investigation Monitoring being pitched to fight Covid-19 was tested on refugees, 2020 by Crofton Black, for The Bureau of Investigative Journalism. " />

During lockdowns around the world, social media, satellite and
location data was used to draw conclusions about who stayed home and who
didn’t, or couldn’t afford to.

Mobile tracking, migrants and Covid

Oil, Satellites and Iraq - English/Berlin 2022

Despite being one of the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases, the world’s military forces are not currently counted in most countries’ annual emissions targets. In addition, we know very little about the climate footprint of military conflicts. The digital investigative journalism group Bellingcat used satellite data to visualise the environmental impact of an attack on the Al-Mishraq Sulphur Plant in Iraq. The fire from the attack created a plume of sulphur dioxide that stretched from Kenya to the Arctic Circle and from Algeria to Japan. This is just one example of the immeasurable and invisible impact that conflict brings but that emerging technologies can help capture.
<Image src="https://cdn.ttc.io/s/everythingfine.org/inner_resources/bellingcat/oil-satellites-3.gif" alt="A GIF showing an attack on a Sulphur plant in Iraq through a map, in October 2016. " caption="Animated gif showing sulphur dioxide levels in Iraq on October 2016. Cartography by Ollie Ballinger using CAMS NRT. Produced for the investigation What Oil, Satellite Technology and Iraq can Tell us About Pollution, 2021 by Ollie Ballinger and Wim Zwijnenburg. Published by Bellingcat." />

Despite being one of the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases, the
world’s military forces are not currently counted in most countries’ annual
emissions targets. In addition, we know very little about the climate
footprint of military conflicts. The digital investigative journalism group
Bellingcat used satellite data to visualise the environmental impact of an
attack on the Al-Mishraq Sulphur Plant in Iraq. The fire from the attack
created a plume of sulphur dioxide that stretched from Kenya to the Arctic
Circle and from Algeria to Japan. This is just one example of the immeasurable
and invisible impact that conflict brings but that emerging technologies can
help capture.   

Oil, Satellites and Iraq

Pandemic Drones - English/Berlin 2022

Health care is moving upwards, with drones being used by authorities to establish temporary infrastructures of care and control: delivering stay-at-home messages, disinfecting public spaces, and enforcing social distancing and mask-wearing. Drones have also been used to monitor density in camps for the unhoused and facilities for migrant workers. The company Draganfly promises its drones can identify people in a crowd with a fever, and even those who might be taking medication to suppress a fever.
<Video videoLink="https://youtu.be/MabYf9o_2dE" previewImg="video_covers/pandemic-drones.jpg" alt="Watch the video on YouTube" caption="Credits to Draganfly Inc" />
<Caption>Video from Draganfly Inc, 2020.</Caption>
<Image src="/inner_resources/tactical_tech/pandemic-drone-1.jpg" alt="Image with heat map" caption="Still from the video Draganfly selected to integrate breakthrough health diagnosis technology to detect & monitor COVID19, published by Draganfly Inc, March 2020." />
<Image src="/inner_resources/tactical_tech/pandemic-drone-2.jpg" alt="Image with heat map" caption="Still from the video Draganfly selected to integrate breakthrough health diagnosis technology to detect & monitor COVID19, published by Draganfly Inc, March 2020." />

Health care is moving upwards, with drones being used by
authorities to establish temporary infrastructures of care and control:
delivering stay-at-home messages, disinfecting public spaces, and enforcing
social distancing and mask-wearing. Drones have also been used to monitor
density in camps for the unhoused and facilities for migrant workers. The
company Draganfly promises its drones can identify people in a crowd with a
fever, and even those who might be taking medication to suppress a fever. 

Pandemic Drones

Animal Crossing: All Mine - Brent Watanabe - English/Berlin 2022

Digital spaces can be forms of escape. They allow us to distract ourselves from anxiety by building alternative universes or new horizons. Artist Brent Watanabe creates his own worlds inside popular computer games to ask questions about human
consumption, waste and our impact on nature. In Animal Crossing: All Mine, the artist created the Isle of GG, a lockdown-induced asphalt island crammed full of consumer goods. This simulation is a reminder of our consumption habits in real life as well as online. In our escape to virtual worlds, will we inevitably recreate our existing mistakes?
<Image src="inner_artists/brent_watanabe/animal_crossing_1.jpg" alt="This image was taken in a gaming world. It is set on the coast, to the right you can see the sea and an endless horizon. There are yellow cans on the beach. To the left there is a layered surface with a lot of random objects (tables, aquarium, port-a-loo, tree, tea cups)." caption="Wide angle photos of Isle of GG, taken from Animal Crossing: All Mine, 2022 by Brent Watanabe."/>
<Image src="inner_artists/brent_watanabe/animal_crossing_2.jpg" alt="An image taken in a gaming world. At the foreground, there is water opening up to a sandy beach and a wooden deck, with a building called Dodo Airlines. In the background there is an airport control tower, and to the left there are various objects - randing from houses, the Statue of Liberty, a clock, chair, cloakhander and a port-a-loo to name a few. The sun is setting in the horizon." caption="Wide angle photos of Isle of GG, taken from Animal Crossing: All Mine, 2022 by Brent Watanabe."/>
<Video videoLink="https://vimeo.com/448771490" previewImg="video_covers/animal-crossing-all-mine.jpg" alt="Watch the video on Vimeo" caption="Credits to Brent Watanabe" />
<Caption>2020: Animal Crossing: Normal Angle walk-thru, 8-3-20. By Brent Watanabe. </Caption>

Digital spaces can be forms of escape. They allow us to distract ourselves from anxiety by building alternative universes or new horizons. Artist Brent Watanabe creates his own worlds inside popular computer games to ask questions about human consumption, waste and our impact on nature. In Animal Crossing: All Mine, the artist created the Isle of GG, a lockdown-induced asphalt island crammed full of consumer goods. This simulation is a reminder of our consumption habits in real life as well as online. In our escape to virtual worlds, will we inevitably recreate our existing mistakes?


Animal Crossing: All Mine

Persuasion Lab - English/Berlin 2022

Persuasion Lab collects Facebook advertising data of adverts about the climate crises. The tool looks for adverts by political parties, companies and other actors in over 200 countries and territories, creating a unique window into how targeted advertising works. Persuasion Lab’s collection of climate narratives adverts shows how much the advert costs, what profiles were targeted and how many people saw it.
<Image src="/inner_artists/persuasion_lab/persuasion-lab-secondary-1.jpg
" alt="Image of a circle chart showing different companies from Facebook." caption="Image credit: Persuasion Lab (https://ad.watch)" />
<Image src="/inner_artists/persuasion_lab/persuasion-lab-secondary-2.jpg
" alt="A screen showing information about an ad for Donald Trumps presidential campaign. It shows the ads content, caption and description." caption="Image credit: Persuasion Lab (https://ad.watch)" />

Persuasion Lab mines Facebook’s advertising library looking for
keywords related to ‘climate’ and ‘Covid’. The tool looks for adverts by
political parties and companies in over 100 countries, creating a unique
window into how targeted advertising works. Persuasion Lab’s collection of
climate change adverts shows how much the advert cost, what profile was
targeted and how many people saw it.

Persuasion Lab

San Andreas Streaming Deer Cam - Brent Watanabe - English/Berlin 2022

A computer game is a self-contained world built on specific scenarios — but what happens if you go off-script? Artist Brent Watanabe creates interventions into games that disrupt the normal order of things, changing the premise of the game. In this version of Grand Theft Auto, he programmes a wild stag to react to the urban world it roams. At times the animal wanders silently through empty streets at night; at others, it clashes with humans on street corners. Made four years before wild animals roamed empty city streets during global lockdowns, this simulation shows us the potential of computer games to play out utopian and dystopian scenarios that may or may not come true.
<Video videoLink="https://vimeo.com/157218918" previewImg="video_covers/san-andreas-streaming-deer-cam" alt="Watch the video on Vimeo" caption="Credits to Brent Watanabe" />
<Caption>San Andreas Deer Cam: offline footage, 2016 by Brent Watanabe. </Caption>

A computer game is a self-contained world built on specific
scenarios — but what happens if you go off-script? Artist Brent Watanabe
creates interventions into games that disrupt the normal order of things,
changing the premise of the game. In this version of Grand Theft Auto, he
programmes a wild stag to react to the urban world it roams. At times the
animal wanders silently through empty streets at night; at others, it clashes
with humans on street corners. Made four years before wild animals roamed
empty city streets during global lockdowns, this simulation shows us the
potential of computer games to play out utopian and dystopian scenarios that
may or may not come true. 

San Andreas Streaming Deer Cam

Technologies of Hope and Fear: 100 Pandemic Technologies
- English/Berlin 2022

Tactical Tech, featuring products by Amazon, Immutouch, Sickweather and C-FACE
If we look at technological innovations throughout history, what can we learn about the surrounding events and anxieties that led to their invention? Technologies of Hope and Fear takes a snapshot of 100 technologies adapted and developed in response to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic — from those that promise to control the spread of the virus to those that promise to predict where it will go next.
Amongst the products are a patent for a personal assistant that detects when you’re sick and offers to get you medicine; a wristband that buzzes when you touch your face too often; an app that forecasts outbreaks of illness by analysing local social media; and a ‘smart mask’ for breathing safely that can also translate and transcribe what you say.
<Image src="https://cdn.ttc.io/s/everythingfine.org/inner_resources/tactical_tech/TechnologiesofHFear_Heartbeat.gif" alt="illustration of a heartbeat." caption="Illustration by Ann Kiernan." />

If we look at technological innovations throughout history, what
can we learn about the surrounding events and anxieties that led to their
invention? Technologies of Hope and Fear takes a snapshot of 100 technologies
adapted and developed in response to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic —
from those that promise to control the spread of the virus to those that
promise to predict where it will go next. 

Technologies of Hope and Fear: 100 Pandemic Technologies

The Business of Deception - English/Berlin 2022

The spread of misinformation online is a growing problem — but how can it be fixed?
The online activism organisation Avaaz researched misinformation posted on Facebook about climate change and the Coronavirus pandemic. They found that pre-internet climate change denial techniques have moved online and that confusing information about the Covid-19 pandemic in Europe is consistently not taken down, despite it being flagged as misinformation. Algorithms that sort, amplify and tag information in a crisis can change the nature of the information we read and share. When platforms fail to moderate false content and don’t change the algorithms that are weighted toward attention, it can even change the course of a crisis.
<Image src="inner_resources/avaaz/business-of-deception-1.png" alt="A black and white illustration with 3 layers. At the top, there is an icon representing climate change and one representing the covid-19 pandemic. In the centre a mobile phone with Facebook and at the bottom a crowd of people." caption=" " />
<Image src="inner_resources/avaaz/business-of-deception-2.png" alt="An infographic showing the word „Moderation“ - How Facebook is neglecting Europe's infodemic, pointing to „Content without measures“, which looks at the breakdown per language for fact-checked posts still unlabelled and online. The most are in Italian, followed by French and Portuguese." caption=" " />
<Image src="inner_resources/avaaz/business-of-deception-3.png" alt="An infographic about Dissemination of misleading information. It shows 4 viral tactics to undermine effective climate action identified on Facebook: Deception, Deflection, Divison and Delay." caption="Infographic by Tactical Tech, illustrated by La Loma" />

The spread of misinformation online is a growing problem — but how
can it be fixed? The online activism organisation Avaaz researched
misinformation posted on Facebook about climate change and the Coronavirus
pandemic. They found that pre-internet climate change denial techniques have
moved online and that confusing information about the Covid-19 pandemic in
Europe is consistently not taken down, despite it being flagged as
misinformation. Algorithms that sort, amplify and tag information in a crisis
can change the nature of the information we read and share. When platforms
fail to moderate false content and don’t change the algorithms that are
weighted toward attention, it can even change the course of a crisis.

The Business of Deception

The Conspiracy Theory Handbook - English/Berlin 2022

In a crisis, conspiracy theories thrive, but how and why do they emerge? How can we tell the difference between a conspiracy, a myth or a rumour? Are some people more prone to conspiratorial thinking than others? This guide covers the why, what and how of conspiracy theories, including tips on how to deal with one of the hardest things: how to talk to a conspiracy theorist.
<Image src="/inner_resources/conspiracy_theory_handbook/conspir-secondary-1.jpg" alt="Image of a chart showing conventional vs. conspirational thinking. " caption="Chart from The Conspiracy Theory Handbook, 2020 by Stephan Lewandowsky and John Cook." />
<Image src="/inner_resources/conspiracy_theory_handbook/conspir-secondary-2.jpg" alt="Image of a chart showingclimate denial vs. conspirational thinking. " caption="Chart from The Conspiracy Theory Handbook, 2020 by Stephan Lewandowsky and John Cook." />

In a crisis, conspiracy theories thrive, but how and why do they
emerge? How can we tell the difference between a conspiracy, a myth or a
rumour? Are some people more prone to conspiratorial thinking than others?
This guide covers the why, what and how of conspiracy theories, including tips
on how to deal with one of the hardest things: how to talk to a conspiracy
theorist. 

The Conspiracy Theory Handbook

Your Crisis Profile - English/Berlin 2022

In a crisis, your reactions and the digital traces they leave can provide valuable data for those seeking to influence you. A vast range of companies are in the business of creating digital profiles that can be used to better understand personal positions and public opinion about divisive issues. These ‘crisis profiles’ help politicians and companies decide how to respond, how to appeal to different positions and how to craft and deliver their messages.
<Image src="inner_resources/tactical_tech/your-crisis-profile-2.png" alt="The title reads Crisis Profile on this part of the infographic. One layer lower it reads Covid-19, and below that the likelihood a person feels with the statements 'Wants frequent testing', 'believes China is reponsible', 'mask enforcer' and 'Belives reaction overblown'. " caption=" " />
<Image src="inner_resources/tactical_tech/your-crisis-profile-3.png" alt="This piece of the infographic shows the Data Input. If it's coming from Social media posts, surveys, event attendance or credit card transacions for example. " caption=" " />
<Image src="inner_resources/tactical_tech/your-crisis-profile-4.png" alt="This part of the infographic shows the Outputs. These may include targerted messaging, issue advertising, crisis planning or nudge voting. " caption=" " />
<Image src="inner_resources/tactical_tech/your-crisis-profile-5.png" alt="The final piece of the infographic shows the Issue Positions. There are different issues which are controversional, such as Transgender Bathroom use, Economic anxiety, Abortion, Environment and Immigration crackdown. " caption="Infographic by Tactical Tech, illustrated by La Loma based on Tactical Tech work The Influence Industry." />
<Image src="https://cdn.ttc.io/s/the-influence-industry-project/learninghub/learn_anime.gif" alt=" " caption="The progression of the role of mediating companies and consultants in political influence, from the Influence Industry project by Tactical Tech." />

In a crisis, your reactions and the digital traces they leave can
provide valuable data for those seeking to influence you. A vast range of
companies are in the business of creating digital profiles that can be used to
better understand personal positions and public opinion about divisive issues.
These ‘crisis profiles’ help politicians and companies decide how to respond,
how to appeal to different positions and how to craft and deliver their
messages.

Your Crisis Profile

A Drop in the Ocean- English/Berlin 2022

‘Psychometric profiling’ is a technique used in micro-targeted advertising that cate­gorises your personality based on your responses to surveys. Initially used by the now-defunct political influencing company Cambridge Analytica, psychometric profiles characterise you based on the ‘OCEAN’ model; how open, conscientious, extroverted, agreeable or neurotic you appear to be. A Drop in the Ocean invites you to take an OCEAN test and see how your score changes the kinds of messages and images you receive — from ones that play on your fears to those that ignite hope.
<Image src="https://cdn.ttc.io/s/everythingfine.org/inner_resources/tactical_tech/ocean-anime.gif" alt="GIF inspired by A Drop in the OCEAN" caption="GIF inspired on A Drop in the OCEAN by Tactical Tech." />

‘Psychometric profiling’ is a technique used in micro-targeted advertising that cate­gorises your personality based on your responses to surveys. Initially used by the now-defunct political influencing company Cambridge Analytica, psychometric profiles characterise you based on the ‘OCEAN’ model; how open, conscientious, extroverted, agreeable or neurotic you appear to be. A Drop in the Ocean invites you to take
an OCEAN test and see how your score changes the kinds of messages and images you receive — from ones that play on your fears to those that ignite hope.

A Drop in the Ocean

Life on Mars - Hyper Architects- English/Berlin 2022

Would you want to move to Mars?
Humans are optimised for life on earth: we need gravity, oxygen, specific temperatures, clean water and the ability to produce food and process waste. This architectural project describes the design challenges in building the kinds of systems for living on Mars that we increasingly take for granted on Earth. The drawings invite innovation but also raise the question: can designing for life on Mars teach us ways to live more sustainably on the planet we have?
<Image src="/inner_artists/hyperarchitects/2019_life-on-mars.jpg" alt="A round illustration of the projects chart and visualisation" caption="Image from Life on Mars, 2019 by HyperArchitects in collaboration with Lydia Kallipoliti and Jestin George" />
Credits: 
Beau Avedissian &#x26; Kalo Huang (HyperArchitects design team) 
Lydia Kallipoliti (Architect &#x26; Engineer) 
Jestin George (Genetic Engineer Project Consultant) 
Project Team (extended): Ka Hou Cheang, Dorsa Fahandezh, Mariam Mesiha &#x26; Isabella Wells.

Would you want to move to Mars? Humans are optimised for life on earth: we need gravity, oxygen, specific temperatures, clean water and the ability to produce food and process waste. This architectural project describes the design challenges in building the kinds of systems for living on Mars that we increasingly
take for granted on Earth. The drawings invite innovation but also raise the question: can designing for life on Mars teach us ways to live more sustainably on the planet we have?


Life on Mars

The Ministry for the Future - English/Berlin 2022

Is a Ministry for the Future in our future? In his climate-fiction novel, Kim Stanley Robinson imagines a near-future where a governmental body takes responsibility for tackling climate change, positing black ops, open-source and cryptography as central solutions to save Earth.
If such a ministry is ever created, what will its mandate be? And what kinds of tools and policies would it deploy?
<Image src="inner_artists/kim-stanley-robinson/ministry-for-the-future-2.png" alt="An infographic showing the made up Ministry from the Future, from the writer Kim Stanley Robinson. " caption=" " />
<Image src="inner_artists/kim-stanley-robinson/ministry-for-the-future-3.png" alt="An infographic showing the made up Ministry from the Future, from the writer Kim Stanley Robinson. " caption="Graphic based on the novel by Kim Stanley Robinson " />

Is a Ministry for the Future in our future? In his climate-fiction
novel, Kim Stanley Robinson imagines a near-future where a governmental body
takes responsibility for tackling climate change, positing black ops,
open-source and cryptography as central solutions to save Earth. If such a
ministry is ever created, what will its mandate be? And what kinds of tools
and policies would it deploy?

The Ministry for the Future

Syrian Digital Memory - English/Berlin 2022

The Syrian Digital Memory project recognises civilians’ documentary practices — digital images, videos and social media posts — as valuable digital records of the everyday experience of living through conflict. The project not only creates an essential archive from the surviving witnesses of atrocities, it also rehumanises these experiences by connecting them to social, individual and collective memories.
<Image src="/inner_resources/hadi-al-khatib/syrian-memory-second-1.jpg" alt="A photograph of a house that was destroyed. In it you see a hand holding up a photograph of a girl to the camera. It depicts scenes of war." caption="Image from Syrian Digital Memory, a project memorialising documentation of the 2011 uprising and its subsequent war. syrianarchive.org/en/memory" />

The Syrian Digital Memory project recognises civilians’
documentary practices — digital images, videos and social media posts — as
valuable digital records of the everyday experience of living through
conflict. The project not only creates an essential archive from the surviving
witnesses of atrocities, it also rehumanises these experiences by connecting
them to social, individual and collective memories. 

Syrian Digital Memory

CDC Warn of Aggressive People Searching for Food During
Shutdowns - Young Hae Chang Heavy Industries - English/Berlin 2022

This video by the artist duo YOUNG-HAE CHANG HEAVY INDUSTRIES presents excerpts from a news article about urban conditions during the Covid-19 pandemic. The artists put their own unique twist on an actual New York Times report about the behaviour of urban rats during the pan­demic, who were becoming more brazen due to the scarcity of restaurant food scraps they were accustomed to feeding on. Accompanied by a jazz score created by the artists, the text is re-imagined to replace the tales of rats with humans. Yet somehow, it still evokes near-experiences we may have had during the pandemic. The work is a reminder — or a premonition — of the unpredictable, absurd and darkly humorous reactions that panic can bring for both humans and non-humans alike.
<Video videoLink="https://www.yhchang.com/C_D_C_WARNS_OF_AGGRESSIVE_PEOPLE.html" previewImg="inner_artists/young-hae-chang-heavy-industries/video_preview.jpg" alt="Watch the video on the project website." caption="C.D.C Warns of Aggressive People Searching for Food During Shutdowns, 2020 by Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries. " />

This video by the artist duo YOUNG-HAE CHANG HEAVY INDUSTRIES
presents excerpts from a news article about urban conditions during the
Covid-19 pandemic. The artists put their own unique twist on an actual New
York Times report about the behaviour of urban rats during the pan­demic, who
were becoming more brazen due to the scarcity of restaurant food scraps they
were accustomed to feeding on. Accompanied by a jazz score created by the
artists, the text is re-imagined to replace the tales of rats with humans. Yet
somehow, it still evokes near-experiences we may have had during the pandemic.
The work is a reminder — or a premonition — of the unpredictable, absurd and
darkly humorous reactions that panic can bring for both humans and non-humans
alike. 

C.D.C. WARNS OF ‘AGGRESSIVE’ PEOPLE SEARCHING FOR FOOD DURING SHUTDOWNS

Radicalization Pipeline - Theo Triantafyllidis - English/Berlin 2022

Theo Triantafyllidis, sound by Diego Navarro
Radicalization Pipeline is an artist’s gamified imagining of the violence and political division in today’s societies. In a live, computer-generated battle, two groups made up of citizen militia and fantastical creatures clash and shout in a modern medieval soundscape. The orchestrated live simulation draws on role-playing-game (RPG) systems and their characters, as well as high fantasy and online niche communities. Triantafyllidis programmes the characters in a darkly humorous loop of clashes that constantly start over again, in an echo of our current social and political conflicts.
<Video videoLink="https://slimetech.org/works/radicalization-pipeline" previewImg="/inner_artists/theo-triantafyllidis/radicalization_pipeline_video_preview.jpg" alt="Watch the video on the slimetech website" caption="Radicalization Pipeline, 2021 by Theo Triantafyllidis. Courtesy of the artist and NOVO – Eduardo Secci Milan. " />

Radicalization Pipeline is an artist’s gamified imagining of the violence and political division in today’s societies. In a live, computer-generated battle, two groups made up of citizen militia and fantastical
creatures clash and shout in a modern medieval soundscape. The orchestrated live simulation draws on role-playing-game (RPG) systems and their characters, as well as high fantasy and online niche communities. Triantafyllidis programmes the characters in a darkly humorous loop of clashes that constantly start over again, in an echo of our current social and political conflicts.

Radicalization Pipeline

Decode Surveillance NYC - English/Berlin 2022

Facial recognition technologies are used by the New York Police Department in over 10,000 cases per year. However, there is very little public information about when, where and why. This information is essential when people of colour are disproportionately profiled and misidentified by law enforcement and where there is evidence of discrimi­natory policing, harassment and arrests at Black Lives Matter protests.
To fill the gap, Amnesty International and partners crowdsourced 7,000 volunteers to analyse every intersection in New York City to locate and identify CCTV cameras. This information was then used to develop models of views from the cameras, to create a unique people-driven insight into the depth and breadth of surveillance in urban public spaces.
<Video videoLink="https://youtu.be/xH9lkvDQVuA" previewImg="video_covers/decode-surveillance-nyc.jpg" alt="Watch the video on YouTube" caption="Credits to Amnesty International" />
<Caption>Decode Surveillance NYC Tutorial, 2021 by Amnesty International.</Caption>

Facial recognition technologies are used by the New York Police
Department in over 10,000 cases per year. However, there is very little public
information about when, where and why. This information is essential when
people of colour are disproportionately profiled and misidentified by law
enforcement and where there is evidence of discrimi­natory policing,
harassment and arrests at Black Lives Matter protests. To fill the gap,
Amnesty International and partners crowdsourced 7,000 volunteers to analyse
every intersection in New York City to locate and identify CCTV cameras. This
information was then used to develop models of views from the cameras, to
create a unique people-driven insight into the depth and breadth of
surveillance in urban public spaces. 

Decode Surveillance NYC

Digital Enquirer Kit - Tactical Tech - English/Berlin 2022

Reliable information is essential in a crisis, but with so many different sources claiming to be ‘trusted’, how do you know what to believe? The Digital Enquirer Kit offers practical tips on how to verify information online, with advice on how to advance your own research skills, investigate sources and assess visual and data-driven evidence.
<Video videoLink="https://youtu.be/g0ToTRZLpiM" previewImg="video_covers/digital-enquirer-kit.jpg" alt="Watch the video on YouTube" caption="Credits to the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ)" />
<Caption>Promotional Video, Digital Enquirer Kit, 2021 by the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ).</Caption>
<h2>Download the Guidebook</h2>
<Image src="inner_resources/digital_enquirer_kit/DEK_guidebook.png" alt="What you see on the image" caption="Digital Enquirer Kit Guidebook, 2021" />
<a href="https://cdn.ttc.io/s/digital-enquirer-kit/guidebook/Digital-Enquirer-Kit_Guidebook_EN.pdf">Download the Guidebook PDF</a>

Reliable information is essential in a crisis, but with so many
different sources claiming to be ‘trusted’, how do you know what to believe?
The Digital Enquirer Kit offers practical tips on how to verify information
online, with advice on how to advance your own research skills, investigate
sources and assess visual and data-driven evidence. 

Digital Enquirer Kit

10,000 Moving Cities - Marc Lee - English/Berlin 2022

If you could see the social media streams that are generated in urban spaces, how would it change your experience of the city? Would global metropolises look the same, or would their distinct identities emerge? Marc Lee’s augmented reality app creates virtual building blocks out of Tweets posted from various cities. This version of the app shows posts from the area around the exhibition on topics related to technology, crisis, climate and the environment. Try it on your phone — destroy the towers with your touch and watch the animals come to life.
<Image src="inner_artists/marc_lee/qr-code.jpg" alt="a QR code linking to the App exhibited on this page" caption=" " />

If you could see the social media streams that are generated in
urban spaces, how would it change your experience of the city? Would global
metropolises look the same, or would their distinct identities emerge? Marc
Lee’s augmented reality app creates virtual building blocks out of Tweets
posted from various cities. This version of the app shows posts from the area
around the exhibition on topics related to technology, crisis, climate and the
environment. Try it on your phone — destroy the towers with your touch and
watch the animals come to life. 

10,000 Moving Cities 

ALGO-RHYTHM - Manu Luksch - English/Berlin 2022

Manu Luksch, featuring Gunman Xuman, Lady Zee and OMG
Renowned Senegalese hip-hop musicians, poets and street artists sing about algorithmic governance in this provocative short film by Manu Luksch. In the story, a data broker from a fictional company, Data Analytica, pitches his services to two presidential candidates. The broker offers the politicians the digital traces of urban voters and the promise of political manipulation. With the threat of an AI-driven democracy looming, a news reporter from the future gives a glimpse into the world these practices will ultimately create.
<Video videoLink="https://vimeo.com/748887136/814dbe211b" previewImg="video_covers/algo-rhythm.jpg" alt="Watch the video on Vimeo" caption="Credits to Manu Luksch" />
<Caption>ALGO-RHYTHM, 2019. Directed by Manu Luksch Starring: Gunman Xuman, Lady Zee, OMG</Caption>

Renowned Senegalese hip-hop musicians, poets and street artists
sing about algorithmic governance in this provocative short film by Manu
Luksch. In the story, a data broker from a fictional company, Data Analytica,
pitches his services to two presidential candidates. The broker offers the
politicians the digital traces of urban voters and the promise of political
manipulation. With the threat of an AI-driven democracy looming, a news
reporter from the future gives a glimpse into the world these practices will
ultimately create. 

ALGO-RHYTHM

Anarchonaut #12 / OBJ - English/Berlin 2022

Anarchonauts are the imagined inhabitants of a speculative future version of Lagos, rendered by architect and visual artist Olalekan B. Jeyifous. Within this somewhat dystopian vision of the city, Shanty Megastructures (SMS) dominate the skyline: vertical slums that tower upwards acting as beacons of the future, calling attention to the current lack of agency and infrastructure of slums and informal settlements, from Lagos to Rio to Chicago.
Jeyifous is first and foremost a story-teller, creating afro-futurist and eco-futurist visions that sit between architecture, emerging technologies and culture. In this story, we see an Anarchonaut, a vendor from a Shanty Megastructure with robotic arms dealing in the raw end of the fossil fuel trade. As a series of collages and digital illustrations Anarchonauts depicts a whole community of people, vehicles and machines: creating a vision that inverts the technologies of common science-fiction tropes and recasts them as expertly reconstituted second-hand technologies. The images describe an alternative vision of the future, emerging from diverse cultures of adaptation, reuse and repair.

Anarchonauts are the imagined inhabitants of a speculative future
version of Lagos, rendered by architect and visual artist Olalekan B.
Jeyifous. Within this somewhat dystopian vision of the city, Shanty
Megastructures (SMS) dominate the skyline: vertical slums that tower upwards
acting as beacons of the future, calling attention to the current lack of
agency and infrastructure of slums and informal settlements, from Lagos to Rio
to Chicago.

Anarchonaut #12

Asunder / Tega Brain/Julian Oliver/Bengt Sjölén - English/Berlin 2022

Clockwise from top left: Silicon Valley, California; the Arctic; Wadden Islands, the Netherlands; Rondônia, Brazil; Miami, Florida; Dubai, United Arab Emirates
As the climate crisis accelerates, so, too, does humans’ faith in technological innovation. Satellite imaging and artificial intelligence have allowed us to capture the damage being done to our environment. Could similar tools help us repair it?
Asunder is a project by artists and engineers Tega Brain, Julian Oliver and Bengt Sjölén, who use machine learning and their own ‘super-computer’ to offer data-driven solutions to the climate crisis. The system is designed to weigh human and non-human agendas to propose possible responses to environmental issues. Drawing on satellite imagery, topography, biodiversity, geology and climate science, the Asunder programme scans regions and, based on its evidence, presents unusual, sometimes absurd solutions, such as relocating entire cities or ‘re-icing’ the Arctic.
The work’s ‘environmental manager’ embodies, simultaneously, the ability and limitations of technology’s powers of analysis. Asunder asks us to consider not only why its suggestions may not be feasible, but also whether we can rely on technological solutions to our planetary crisis.
<Video videoLink="https://asunder.earth/video/sequence-static_480p.mp4" previewImg="outer_artists/tega_brain_julian_oliver_bengt_sjolen/asunder_preview.png" alt="Watch Asunder on the project website." caption="Video excerpt from Asunder, 2019. By Tega Brain, Julian Oliver, and Bengt Sjölén. Commissioned by the MAK for the VIENNA BIENNALE 2019. " />

Technology can capture the damage being done to our environment.
Could it also help us repair it? Asunder is  an artistic project that uses
machine learning to offer data-driven solutions to the climate crisis. The
system scans regions and, based on a variety of criteria, presents unusual,
sometimes absurd solutions to environmental problems. The images here
represent (anti-clockwise from top left) Asunder’s evaluations of Silicon
Valley;  the Arctic; Wadden Islands, the Netherlands; Rondônia, Brazil; Miami,
Florida; and Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Asunder

Basic Necessities - Nestor Siré and Steffen Koehn - English/Berlin 2022

As government-run supermarkets closed during lockdown in Cuba, digital black markets evolved on messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Telegram, becoming valuable spaces for swapping essential items and sharing information on scarce products. Basic Necessities is an artistic research project that documents the repurposing of existing tools to circumvent a collapsing system, analysing the visual product exchange of over 700,000 users.
<Image src="/inner_artists/nestor_sire_steffen_koehn/basic-necessities-second-1.jpg" alt="An image of messages selling various goods being sold on the black market in Cuba." caption="Image from Basic Necessities, 2021 by Nestor Siré and Steffen Köhn." />

As government-run supermarkets closed during lockdown in Cuba,
digital black markets evolved on messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Telegram,
becoming valuable spaces for swapping essential items and sharing information
on scarce products. Basic Necessities is an artistic research project that
documents the repurposing of existing tools to circumvent a collapsing system,
analysing the visual product exchange of over 700,000 users. 

Basic Necessities

Bodily - Paolo Cirio - English/Berlin 2022

Since the onset of the pandemic, thermal body scanners have become increasingly common. Human rights organisations around the world have protested the exponential rise in bodily surveillance, but these invasive interventions have quickly became normalised anyway. Critics argue that the sudden, massive accumulation of highly personal civilian data is not only at risk of being leveraged and commodified – it is also often inaccurate. 
Paolo Cirio’s interactive video installation Bodily investigates the ways we are subject to bodily surveillance, both with and without our consent. Using the recognisable visual interface of thermal scanners – which promise to see inside our bodies – Cirio’s project operates, in the artist’s words, like a ‘slot machine’, randomising treatments and diagnoses for participants. These range from the mundane, like sitting down for anxiety, to the extreme, like quarantine for the flu. 
‘Machine vision’ technologies like thermal scanners have changed what we see and the way we see it. As they become more accurate and more ubiquitous, they will create more data about us. Who decides what is made visible and why?

Paulo Cirio’s Bodily investigates the ways we are subject to bodily
surveillance, both with and without our consent. This image uses the language
of the thermal body scanner, a technology that has become increasingly common
since the pandemic. The artist’s project uses a diagnostic algorithm that
operates like a ‘slot machine’, randomising treatments and diagnoses for
participants, ranging from sitting down for anxiety to quarantine for the
flu. Thermal scanners have changed what we can see and the way we see it. But
who decides what is made visible and why?

Bodily

Post-Growth Toolkit - Disnovation.org - English/Berlin 2022

This speculative board game designed by the artist collective DISNOVATION.ORG proposes a thought experiment: what if we radically rethink our understanding of progress, development and well-being? The game invites players to consider ‘interspecies commons’, ‘ancient sunlight’, ‘broken world thinking’ and ‘global artificiality’ as alternative paradigms.
<Image src="/inner_artists/disnovation.org/game-thumbnail-presentation-about.jpg" alt="black and white game" caption="Illustration of the Post Growth Toolkit. An initiative by DISNOVATION.ORG." />

This speculative board game designed by the artist collective DISNOVATION.ORG proposes a thought experiment: what if we radically rethink our understanding of progress, development and well-being? The game invites players to consider ‘interspecies commons’, ‘ancient sunlight’, ‘broken world thinking’ and ‘global artificiality’ as alternative paradigms.


Post-Growth Toolkit

Center for Technological Pain - Dasha Ilina - English/Berlin 2022

Have you ever had neck ache from looking down at your phone? Dry eyes from staring at your computer all day? The Center for Technological Pain (CTP) offers DIY and open-source objects, classes and self-defence techniques to counter such aches and strains. Artist Dasha Ilina founded this mock-company to offer tutorials, tips, worksheets and workshops designed to draw attention to the social and health consequences of our ‘always on’ culture: Is human-centric design really human? As remote working becomes commonplace and we are increasingly inseparable from our smartphones, CTP uses humorous interventions to ask serious questions.
<Video videoLink="https://vimeo.com/255734932" previewImg="video_covers/center-for-technological-pain-1.jpg" alt="Watch the video on Vimeo" caption="Credits to Dasha Ilina" />
<Caption>Hands Free Headset, von Center for Technological Pain, 2017-2020 von Dasha Ilina.</Caption>
<Video videoLink="https://vimeo.com/25573495" previewImg="video_covers/center-for-technological-pain-2.jpg" alt="Watch the video on Vimeo" caption="Credits to Dasha Ilina" />
<Caption>Stylus Helmet to Liberate Fingers, von Center for Technological Pain, 2017-2020 von Dasha Ilina.</Caption>

Have you ever had neck ache from looking down at your phone? Dry
eyes from staring at your computer all day? The Center for Technological Pain
(CTP) offers DIY and open-source objects, classes and self-defence techniques
to counter such aches and strains. Artist Dasha Ilina founded this
mock-company to offer tutorials, tips, worksheets and workshops designed to
draw attention to the social and health consequences of our ‘always on’
culture: Is human-centric design really human? As remote working becomes
commonplace and we are increasingly inseparable from our smartphones, CTP uses
humorous interventions to ask serious questions.   

Center for Technological Pain

Choose Your Own Quarantine - Dasha Ilina & Sofia Haines - English/Berlin 2022

Lockdowns and quarantines have become part of our domestic lives. Choose Your Own Quarantine lets you try different paths through fictional quarantines. Inspired by choose-your-own-adventure books of the 1980s, this web-based game starts out by offering you recognisable scenarios which then become increasingly speculative. The pandemic has presented us with previously unimaginable choices; this piece takes them further, asking which habits and routines will remain.
<Image src="https://cdn.ttc.io/s/everythingfine.org/inner_artists/dasha_ilina/choose_your_own_quarantine_3.jpg" alt="A screenshot from the project Choose Your Own Quarantine." caption="Screenshot from Choose Your Own Quarantine, 2020-ongoing by Dasha Ilina in collaboration with Sofia Haines.
" />
<Image src="https://cdn.ttc.io/s/everythingfine.org/inner_artists/dasha_ilina/choose_your_own_quarantine_2.jpg" alt="A screenshot from the project Choose Your Own Quarantine." caption="Screenshot from Choose Your Own Quarantine, 2020-ongoing by Dasha Ilina in collaboration with Sofia Haines." />

Lockdowns and quarantines have become part of our domestic lives.
Choose Your Own Quarantine lets you try different paths through fictional
quarantines. Inspired by choose-your-own-adventure books of the 1980s, this
web-based game starts out by offering you recognisable scenarios which then
become increasingly speculative. The pandemic has presented us with previously
unimaginable choices; this piece takes them further, asking which habits and
routines will remain. 

Choose Your Own Quarantine

Choreographic Camouflage / Liam Young - English/Berlin 2022

Developed in collaboration with „Jacob Jonas The Company“, Liam Young’s Choreographic Camouflage explores a human solution to AI scrutiny. Young and Jonas choreographed a dance performance in response to the introduction of ‘gait recognition’ software implemented by the Chinese government to quash civil unrest in Hong Kong in 2018. Gait recognition software claims to be able to identify people by the way they move, so Young and Jonas offer bodily movements that are able to obfuscate what Young describes as ‘skeleton detection algorithms.’
The dancers’ work of eluding the AI surveillance apparatus mirrors our own cat-and-mouse relationship with technology. Each new monitoring tool prompts new civilian efforts for privacy. Choreographic Camouflage embodies the artist’s desire to escape the robotic gaze through a series of human movements designed to be disguised. As AI surveillance becomes more commonplace in urban settings, how will we behave in public?
<Video videoLink="https://vimeo.com/557476712" previewImg="video_covers/choreographic_camouflage.jpg" alt="Watch the video on vimeo" caption="Credits to Liam Young" />
<Caption>Teaser for Choreographic Camouflage, 2021 by Liam Young in collaboration with Jacob Jonas.</Caption>

As AI surveillance becomes more commonplace in our surroundings,
how will we behave in public?  Filmmaker Liam Young and choreographer Jacob
Jonas developed Choreographic Camouflage in response to the introduction of
‘gait recognition’ software implemented by the Chinese government to quash
civil unrest in Hong Kong in 2018. The dance embodies the artist’s desire to
escape the robotic gaze through a series of human movements designed to be
disguised.

Choreographic Camouflage

Cusp - Jake Elwes - English/Berlin 2022

In CUSP, a neural network trained on photographs of marsh birds generates new bird-like forms from the original species. The resulting images morph between recognisable, distorted and painterly, creating an uncanny version of tidal wildlife. The artist then designed an animation of these AI-generated birds in the natural habitat of UK coastal marshes, initiating a surreal dialogue between the artificial and the real wading birds.
<Video videoLink="https://vimeo.com/351045765" previewImg="video_covers/cusp.jpg" alt="Watch the video on Vimeo" caption="Credits to Jake Elwes und Cameron Thomas" />
<Caption>CUSP Performance, 2019, by Jake Elwes and Cameron Thomas. At the Zabludowicz Collection.</Caption>

In CUSP, a neural network trained on photographs of marsh birds
generates new bird-like forms from the original species. The resulting images
morph between recognisable, distorted and painterly, creating an uncanny
version of tidal wildlife. The artist then designed an animation of these
AI-generated birds in the natural habitat of UK coastal marshes, initiating a
surreal dialogue between the artificial and the real wading birds. 

CUSP

Data center of the sea - T. Craig Sinclair - English/Berlin 2022

As digital technologies expand, they require more infrastructure and energy to support them. Data centres full of servers to process data not only take up large tracts of land but require huge amounts of energy for processing and cooling, ultimately increasing greenhouse gas emissions. Artist and architect T. Craig Sinclair asks: why are data centres designed for human comfort and not for the machines they house? Utilising the ocean as a habitat with natural cooling properties, he designs strings of mid-ocean data centres that also generate kinetic energy from marine currents, creating a kind of ‘windmill of the sea’.
<Image src="inner_artists/t.c.sinclair_lauren_kirk/data_centre_of_the_sea_1.jpg" alt="What you see on the image" caption="Water column section. Data center of the sea, 2020 by T. Craig Sinclair and Lauren Kirk." />
<Image src="inner_artists/t.c.sinclair_lauren_kirk/data_centre_of_the_sea_2.jpg" alt="What you see on the image" caption="Jitterbug motion diagram, showing transformation from tetrahedron to full bloom cuboctahedron. Data center of the sea, 2020 by T. Craig Sinclair and Lauren Kirk." />
<Image src="inner_artists/t.c.sinclair_lauren_kirk/data_centre_of_the_sea_3.jpg" alt="What you see on the image" caption="Unit assembly axonometric. Data center of the sea, 2020 by T. Craig Sinclair and Lauren Kirk." />
<Image src="inner_artists/t.c.sinclair_lauren_kirk/data_centre_of_the_sea_4.jpg" alt="What you see on the image" caption="Water column section, showing string of servers, connecting cables, subocean internet cables and ocean layers. Data center of the sea, 2020 by T. Craig Sinclair and Lauren Kirk." />
<Image src="inner_artists/t.c.sinclair_lauren_kirk/data_centre_of_the_sea_5.jpg" alt="What you see on the image" caption="Water column section, showing string of servers, connecting cables, subocean internet cables and ocean layers. Data center of the sea, 2020 by T. Craig Sinclair and Lauren Kirk." />

As digital technologies expand, they require more infrastructure
and energy to support them. Data centres full of servers to process data not
only take up large tracts of land but require huge amounts of energy for
processing and cooling, ultimately increasing greenhouse gas emissions. Artist
and architect T. Craig Sinclair asks: why are data centres designed for human
comfort and not for the machines they house? Utilising the ocean as a habitat
with natural cooling properties, he designs strings of mid-ocean data centres
that also generate kinetic energy from marine currents, creating a kind of
‘windmill of the sea’. 

Data center of the sea

Shadow Growth - Disnovation.org - English/Berlin 2022

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) measures how much a given country produces, from wheat and iPhones to oil and socks. The higher the number, the reasoning goes, the healthier the economy. DISNOVATION.ORG’s SHADOW GROWTH project questions the logic of this idea of progress. As one of their graphs demonstrates, whilst GDP in the US may have increased dramatically between 1955 and 2007, ‘gross national happiness’ stagnated, and even diminished, during these decades.
DISNOVATION’s project focuses on one of the GDP’s many ‘shadows’: CO2 emissions. From the environmental impact of manufacturing to emissions from boats, ships, planes and automobiles used to transport goods from one place to another, CO2 emissions rise directly in response to the increased production of a given country. SHADOW GROWTH prototypes strategies that can challenge or replace the iconic GDP growth curve to better address today’s ecosystemic challenges. By confronting us with visual evidence of our misguided markers for ‘progress’, DISNOVATION.ORG prompts us to imagine more collectively useful metrics.
<Video videoLink="https://vimeo.com/721327898" previewImg="video_covers/shadow-growth.jpg" alt="Watch the video on Vimeo" caption="Credits to DISNOVATION.ORG" />
<Caption>Part of Post Growth Prototype video series, 2011-ongoing, by DISNOVATION.ORG.</Caption>

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) measures how much a given country
produces, from wheat and iPhones to oil and socks. The higher the number, the
reasoning goes, the healthier the economy. DISNOVATION.ORG’s  SHADOW GROWTH
project questions the logic of this idea and asks us to consider the social
costs of constant growth. These graphs show how CO2 emissions rise directly in
response to the increased production of a given country. By confronting us
with visual evidence of our misguided markers for ‘progress’, DISNOVATION.ORG
prompts us to imagine more collectively useful metrics.

Shadow Growth: The vast obscurity beneath the upwards arrow

fluvial bedrock I  - Su Yu Hsin - English/Berlin 2022

At first glance, fluvial bedrock I might appear to be a pencil drawing. In fact, this work is the product of numerous technologies. Artist Su Yu Hsin deployed remote-controlled drones to capture photographic images of bedrock in Lüshi, an area of the Liwu River in Taroko National Park, Taiwan. The images present 2D photographs of Lüshi’s bedrock as 3D computer models, creating the landscape you see here, which – on closer inspection – is actually a series of vector shapes.
Across her work, Su explores the relationship between ecology and technology. The bedrock presented here is studied by scientists to measure erosion, a metric for tracing the progression of climate change. Because bedrock erosion happens very slowly, the data that earth scientists collect in Lüshi represents massive timescales, an interesting merging of contemporary innovation and geologic history.
Though fluvial bedrock I is a still image, it prompts us to consider the ways in which objects we consider static, like rocks, actually do move in some way over time. Through technological innovation, we are now able to ‘see’ this movement. How might other such methods of tracking and observation allow us to perceive slow- and fast-moving crises differently?

Artist Su Yu Hsin explores the relationship between ecology and
technology. The image here is a two-dimensional print based on
three-dimensional models of bedrock in Taroko National Park in Taiwan.
Scientists study bedrock to measure erosion, a metric for tracing the
progression of climate change. Because bedrock erosion happens very slowly,
the data that earth scientists collect from this area represents change over
massive timescales. With technology, we are now able to visualise
imperceptibly slow environmental changes. How might it allow us to perceive
other slow- and fast-moving crises? 

fluvial bedrock I 

Dr. Santibáñez Holding Cut Antarctic Ice Core - Ian van
Coller - English/Berlin 2022

What tools do we use to extract information from the past that will help us stop, or solve, crises in the future? Naturalists of the Long Now is a collaborative series in which photographer Ian van Coller invites scientists to make annotations directly on his photographic prints, in an effort to help us visualise and understand ‘deep time’. In this image, a climate scientist examines a 10,800-year-old ice core extracted from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. On the surface of the photograph, the scientist provides notes and explanations about how and why these archival pieces of nature can be used in today’s environmental research.
The climate crisis, as we know, is borne out of humans’ extractive relationship to nature. In a twist on this relationship, a scientist extracts material from nature before carefully studying it as data in an effort to learn about our warming planet. The image suggests ways that art and technology can combine to help us visualise the past as a means of imagining the possible future.

Naturalists of the Long Now is a collaborative series in which
photographer Ian van Coller invites scientists to make annotations directly on
his photographic prints, in an effort to help us understand ‘deep time’. In
this image, a climate scientist examines a 20,000-year-old ice core. On the
surface of the photograph, the scientist provides notes and explanations about
how and why these archival pieces of nature can be used in today’s
environmental research. The image suggest ways that art and technology can
combine to help us visualise the past as a means of imagining the possible
future.

Dr. Santibáñez Holding Cut Antarctic Ice Core

Going Viral - Jennifer Gradecki and Derek Curry - English/Berlin 2022

Going Viral subverts the statements of politicians and celebrities who made misleading comments during the Covid-19 pandemic. Using deepfake techniques, the artists created new videos of influential figures such as Kim Kardashian and Elon Musk, to make the celebrities deliver public service announcements or news stories that counter the misinformation they had previously spread. Viewers were encouraged to share the videos on social media.
<Video videoLink="https://youtu.be/3Sbuwnmn_Y4" previewImg="video_covers/going-viral-1.jpg" alt="Watch the video on YouTube" caption="Credits to Derek Curry und Jennifer Gradecki" />
<Caption>Elon Musk: Kids get COVID, aus Going Viral, 2020 von Derek Curry und Jennifer Gradecki.</Caption>
<Video videoLink="https://youtu.be/hdTRzATqsfE" previewImg="video_covers/going-viral-2.jpg" alt="Watch the video on YouTube" caption="Credits to Derek Curry und Jennifer Gradecki" />
<Caption>Kim Kardashian: COVID will not disappear, aus Going Viral, 2020 von Derek Curry und Jennifer Gradecki.</Caption>

Going Viral subverts the statements of politicians and celebrities who made misleading comments during the Covid-19 pandemic. Using deepfake techniques, the artists created new videos of influential figures
such as Kim Kardashian and Elon Musk, to make the celebrities deliver public service announcements or news stories that counter the misinformation they had previously spread. Viewers were encouraged to share the videos on social media.

Going Viral

Meander / Robert Hodgin - English/Berlin 2022

Robert Hodgin’s Meander project generates historical maps of rivers that never existed. The artist was inspired by real-world maps made in the 1940s by Harold Fisk, who was tasked with charting the Mississippi River in the United States. Fisks’s original maps depict the annual movement of one of the country’s longest bodies of water, which has continuously run its own course regardless of human intervention.
Meander follows closely in Fisks’s visual and conceptual footsteps, albeit with an unusual twist: the rivers and landscapes depicted in Hodgin’s detailed maps are entirely imaginary. Echoing the rise in modelling as a technique for understanding and mitigating the impact of climate change, Hodgin uses Houdini, a 3D animation software, to create a hypothetical river. The process begins by adding a single guide line, which then flows and evolves on its own, shaping a fictional terrain as it a winds its way through the landscape.
Meander reflects a world that is simultaneously artificial, non-human, natural and ever-changing. Looking at Hodgin’s algorithmically-generated rivers, we are reminded of the planetary timeline of the landscape contrasted with the profound human impact we have on our natural systems, from pollution, to floods to droughts.
<Video videoLink="https://vimeo.com/420304695" previewImg="video_covers/meander_1.jpg" alt="Watch the video on vimeo" caption="Credits to Robert Hodgin" />
<Caption>Upper Disaster River Over Aeons, von Meander, 2020 von Robert Hodgin.</Caption>
<Video videoLink="https://vimeo.com/419419383" previewImg="video_covers/meander_2.jpg" alt="Watch the video on vimeo" caption="Credits to Robert Hodgin" />
<Caption>Process Roads Series, von Meander, 2020 von Robert Hodgin.</Caption>

Robert Hodgin’s Meander project generates historical maps of rivers
that never existed. Echoing the rise in modelling as a technique for
understanding and mitigating the impact of climate change, Hodgin uses
Houdini, a 3D animation software, to create a hypothetical river that flows
and evolves on its own, shaping a fictional terrain. Hodgin’s
algorithmically-generated rivers are a reminder of the planetary time-line of
the landscape contrasted with the profound human impact we have on our natural
world.

Meander

Neural Zoo - Sofia Crespo - English/Berlin 2022

AI is increasingly good at mimicking humans — but can it imitate nature? In Neural Zoo, artist Sofia Crespo ‘rearranges nature’ via machines in order to mirror humans’ disruption of the natural world. The inhabitants of Neural Zoo bear some recognisable features of real plants and animals remixed to form fantastical ones. The images are generated by neural networks, a form of AI by which computers learn to create their own new images based on a given dataset. Neural Zoo illustrates how AI might be used as an artistic tool to help speculate about the future of the natural world.
<Image src="inner_artists/sofia_crespo/sofia_crespo_free_will.jpg" alt="An image of a body skeleton with internal organs showing generated by algorithms." caption="Free Will, part of the series Neural Zoo, 2018-2022 by Sofia Crespo." />
<Image src="inner_artists/sofia_crespo/sofia_crespo_soft_sea_of_awareness.jpg" alt="An image algortihmically generated jelly fish." caption="Soft Sea of Awareness, part of the series Neural Zoo, 2018-2022 by Sofia Crespo." />

AI is increasingly good at mimicking humans — but can it imitate
nature? In Neural Zoo, artist Sofia Crespo ‘rearranges nature’ via machines in
order to mirror humans’ disruption of the natural world. The inhabitants of
Neural Zoo bear some recognisable features of real plants and animals remixed
to form fantastical ones. The images are generated by neural networks, a form
of AI by which computers learn to create their own new images based on a given
dataset. Neural Zoo illustrates how AI might be used as an artistic tool to
help speculate about the future of the natural world. 

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