Andy Kassier
From the left: Jeff Thompson, Stefán Stefánsson
From the left: Andy Kassier, Jeff Thompson, Stefán Stefánsson
Sebastian Schmieg
Ottonie von Roeder
Constant Dullaart
Deconstructeam
Exhibition view
Alina Lupu
Cory Arcangel
Pilvi Takala
Elisa Giardina Papa (detail)
Now that the prospect of full automation is once again getting traction, the shared hope is to delegate every task to intelligent machines. But as we await the full takeover of smart robots, work is delegated to machines and humans alike. It makes no difference to companies and entrepreneurs: while some machines begin to look human-like, some humans are disguised as machines, by means of seamless interface design or blatant deception. This is what Astra Taylor calls fauxtomation.*
“Do or Delegate” probes the asymmetrical power relationships shaping the ever-evolving landscape of work, which is still, for better or for worse, the foundation of the economy. Thus, the exhibition focuses on the present of work, a time when work is as present as ever. In this context, work is conceived as a dynamic resource that can be performed, delegated, outsourced, crowdsourced, transformed, destabilized, disguised, displaced, concealed and revealed, rejected and reclaimed.
What happens when social media users become neurons of a hive-mind ready to be consulted, when most endeavors become services that can be commissioned and purchased online, when people become software extensions, when online marketplaces shrink the global geography of freelancing. Where and how is value extraction taking place?
Ever since Laszlo Moholy-Nagy “ordered” his paintings by dictating instructions via telephone, the idea that the artist should be the material executor of the artwork increasingly grew out of fashion.** While this issue has been mostly understood within the frame of authorship, “Do or Delegate” recognises it first and foremost as a work-related matter. More specifically, the exhibition questions the entrepreneurial shift from art to art direction. What kind of labor goes into art? Who are the ones performing it? Which activities, side-jobs, formal and informal economies constitute or limit a practice?
* Astra Taylor, “The Automation Charade”, Logic #5, 2018, https://logicmag.io/05-the-automation-charade/
** Some of Moholy-Nagy’s “Telephone Pictures” are collected by the Museum of Modern Art of New York, https://www.moma.org/collection/works/78747
Participating Artists & Speakers
Cory Arcangel
Deconstructeam
Constant Dullaart
Andy Kassier
Alina Lupu
Elisa Giardina Papa
Ottonie von Roeder
Sebastian Schmieg
Stefán Stefánsson
Pilvi Takala
Jeff Thompson
Graphic design: Federico Antonini and Alessio D’Ellena (Superness)
Photos: Blickfänger