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Edward Shanken: Deus ex Poiesis: A Manifesto for the End of the World and the Future of Art and Technology
Feb 14, 2020 @ 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm
Don’t miss the brown bag discussion with Edward Shanken earlier on Friday at noon in the Digital Humanities Lab (Second Floor, East Wing of the Golda Meir Library).
Please join us for a special talk by Edward Shanken (UC Santa Cruz): “Deus ex Poiesis: A Manifesto for the End of the World and the Future of Art and Technology.”
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Shanken’s talk is a manifesto, a call to action. It begins with a gloomy scenario and the common hope that art can help rescue us from self-destruction. He argues that our culture overemphasizes scientific rationalism and that our survival demands that we develop other abilities. The fundamental question is, what can art and artists do that will ensure that there is a bright future on Earth for all beings? A critique of academia leads to a reconsideration of the trope of “artists as radar” and the role of poiesis in overcoming “technological enframing.” Artistic examples include the work of Roy Ascott, the Electronic Disturbance Theater, ®™ark, and Julian Oliver and Danja Vasiliev. The final section addresses the role of artist as shaman and the potential of art to heal, with the work of Pauline Oliveros and Jeong Han Kim serving as examples.
This event is cosponsored by the DH Lab and the Museum of Wisconsin Art.
There will be a reception with light refreshments in the Center for 21st Century Studies (CRT 939) following this event.
About the Speaker:
Edward Shanken is an Associate Professor of Digital Art and New Media at the University of California Santa Cruz. He writes and teaches about the entwinement of art, science, and technology with a focus on interdisciplinary practices involving new media. His recent scholarship addresses art-science collaboration, surveillance culture, sound art and ecology, systems theory, and bridging the gap between new media and contemporary art. He is the author of Art and Electronic Media (Phaidon, 2009) and the editor of Systems (Whitechapel, 2015).