#mappingfestival

Paradigm Shift Forum #3, Mapping Festival, Geneva, 24 & 25 May 2019. 

#curation 

Speakers: Joana Moll, Tatiana Bazzichelli, Marc Garret, Benjamin Gaulon, Simon Laroche, Luc Meier, Régine Debatty, Nathalie Bachand, Alexandre Monnin, Nicolas Nova and Romain Tardy. 

Theme: Broken Home

the evolution of humanity is closely tied to the evolution of communication and the transmission of knowledge. humankind have for at least three decades been exploring the possibilities of computer-mediated communications. the invention of the world wide web in 1989 brought about new social interactions and cultural practices that have changed our lives forever. the magnitude of what began that year is an act that exposes the uniqueness of our civilisation. however, what we are witnessing in the last decade shows a lack of understanding and responsibility towards our digital rights and the complex systems that rule our world. the shift from the wide-open web to semi closed platforms brought about an unequal distribution of power among citizens, businesses and governments. centralised control not only has damaged our most valuable medium of communication and exchange of knowledge, it has also threatened our freedom, autonomy and sovereignty. how did we get here?, what could we do differently if given a second chance?, how can we ensure that the internet is not centralised inside corporate structures? what would it take to build a digital future that is right for us all?  who should be involved? these are questions we will have to give much more thought in the years ahead. perhaps the most urgent questions we need to ask ourselves are: how do we want technology and the ‘network’ to function in the next decades – as means to foster human development or as tools to continue exacerbating the concentration of wealth and power?, how can we ensure that the systems, infrastructures and networks we create don’t end up mutating into tools for control, surveillance and censorship? and how can we build better and more solid systems in the first place?

the title ‘broken home’ is a metaphor that describes the ‘fractured’ condition of today’s society and the digital ecosystem we are all embedded in due to two main factors: the implementation of a new form of capitalism that potentiates centralisation of power and the exploitation of citizens for economic profit, and our resistance to accept that real power comes from the conscious mind that is behind any human creation.

Paradigm Shift Forum #2

Mapping Festival

9 May 2018, HEAD Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland

PARADIGM SHIFT was a one-day international forum bringing together artists, designers, curators, scientists and philosophers to talk about Technodiversity, contemporary utopias and dystopias, the future of money, Glitch Feminism and cultural resistance, and the human-technology relationship from an artistic, philosophical and scientific point of view.

The theme for this year’s forum “Humans + Machines by Design, Not by Default” was a call for us to be more awake, and to use all the means at our disposal to design the life we want to live, as individuals and as a collective. The theme “Humans + Machines by Design, Not by Default” reminds us of the importance of embedding ethical and philosophical reflection and practice at the core of everything we do, every new technology we create, and every decision we make. Humanity needs a new sense of direction, a shift in consciousness to question the values that have been dominant until now, and to develop new ones that will help us become more knowledgeable and meaningful.

Augmented Reality - Projection Mapping