KEYNOTE — Obsolescence is Resistance
Raquel Meyers
The fossils of the future will be neither plants nor animals but technology whose useful life is governed by the absolutism of programmed obsolescence, generating tons of Techno-rubble.
This practice is not the product of a malfunction, but of the logic of consumption submitted to a Techno-Totalitarian Reich[*]. We can still resist.
[*] Berardi, Franco “Bifo” "(Sensitive) Consciousness and Time: Against the Transhumanist Utopia." E-flux Journal 98 (February 2019).
Raquel Meyers (Cartagena, Spain, b. 1977) works with obsolete technologies like the Commodore 64, Teletext, typewriters or fax machines mixed with photography, animation and embroidery, among other techniques. She defines her practice as KYBDslöjd [mecanografía expandida] whose significance can be defined roughly as a manual skill with a keyboard. It is based on and refers to the typewriter, Concrete Poetry, Demoscene and Brutalism. The keystrokes contribute to the execution, while poetry contributes to a system, through revealing the architecture of PETSCII, the raw and unadorned character set of Commodore 64. Her work has been shown in art centers, galleries and festivals such as Ars Electronica, Transmediale, Xpo Gallery, La Casa encendida, Liste Art Fair Basel, P21 Seoul, la Maison des Auteurs Angoulême, BmoCA, SeMA NANJI, La Gaîté lyrique, Tokyo Blip Festival, Square Sounds Melbourne, BilbaoArte, LABoral, Denver Digerati, iMAL, Piksel, Shibuya Pixel Art, LEV, MFRU, HeK, ETOPIA, Eufònic Urbà…
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ROUNDTABLE
Eduardo Novais (Moderator)
André Rangel, Pedro Cardoso, Raquel Meyers, Sofia Ponte
As software eats the world, is there a place for a sense of Wonder before digital media?
PCD25@Porto will host a roundtable to discuss the role of wonder in present practices and critiques of digital technology. Four practitioners and researchers from diverse backgrounds will discuss how Wonder has shaped technology acceptance and whether practices of engagement with rudimentary digital materials can go beyond nostalgia and offer avenues for reclaiming new aesthetics and ethics of interaction.
Eduardo Morais (Porto, 1979) is a lecturer at the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Porto and at the Maia Polytechnic Institute. He has a bachelor's degree in film and video and later obtained a PhD in Digital Media with his work about creative code within arts education.
André Rangel, 1971. Artist and Designer. Conceives and produces contemporary events in the field of practice and thought, as means of artistic expression. He has been developing and disseminating knowledge and skills inherent to the process of making and experiencing intermedia, interactive and multi-sensory artworks. Holds a PhD in Science and Technology of the Art, a Master in Digital Arts and a degree in Communication Design. Is Assistant professor at Fine Arts Faculty of Porto University, Integrated Researcher at CITAR – Research Center Research Center for Science and Technology of the Arts – and collaborates with i2ADS – Research Institute in Art Design and Society. Director and founder of the studio http://3kta.net, co-organizer and co-founder of xCoAx – International Conference on Computing, Communication, Aesthetics and X.
Pedro Cardoso is a Designer, an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Porto, and a researcher at i2ADS: Research Institute in Art, Design and Society. His work, in the scope of Art, Design, Interaction and Experience, develops in multidisciplinary contexts, focusing on the exploration of poietic and aesthetic processes of games and computational systems. His interests lie in their study as artefacts for creative thinking and innovation, and critical work for affective experiences and social intervention.
Raquel Meyers (Cartagena, Spain, b. 1977) works with obsolete technologies like the Commodore 64, Teletext, typewriters or fax machines mixed with photography, animation and embroidery, among other techniques. She defines her practice as KYBDslöjd [mecanografía expandida] whose significance can be defined roughly as a manual skill with a keyboard. It is based on and refers to the typewriter, Concrete Poetry, Demoscene and Brutalism. The keystrokes contribute to the execution, while poetry contributes to a system, through revealing the architecture of PETSCII, the raw and unadorned character set of Commodore 64. Her work has been shown in art centers, galleries and festivals such as Ars Electronica, Transmediale, Xpo Gallery, La Casa encendida, Liste Art Fair Basel, P21 Seoul, la Maison des Auteurs Angoulême, BmoCA, SeMA NANJI, La Gaîté lyrique, Tokyo Blip Festival, Square Sounds Melbourne, BilbaoArte, LABoral, Denver Digerati, iMAL, Piksel, Shibuya Pixel Art, LEV, MFRU, HeK, ETOPIA
Sofia Ponte is an artist, curator, and researcher working in the intersecting fields of visual arts, design, and technology. Her research interests include women in visual arts, digital art, curatorial studies, new media conservation, and the extension of these areas into exhibitions, collections, and art museums. Recently, she has been focusing on the study of net art in Portugal. She is an assistant professor at IADE – European University in Lisbon and a member of its Research Unit in Design and Communication (UNIDCOM), where she coordinates the Media, Arts, and Design laboratory (MADx lab).
