Deductible Junkets
Super Thinking
Art in the political era.
Humankind has entered the postbiological era, according to the organizers of Consciousness Reframed. Technologies have become mental prostheses that extend, mediate, and transform human consciousness. And the body is "the site of bionic transformation at which we can recreate ourselves and redefine what it is to be human."
Consciousness Reframed, to be held in Newport, Wales, will evaluate the impact digital media and biotechnologies have on art and the role art can play in understanding science and technology. As a source of creativity for artists and inquiry for scientists, consciousness is the lingua franca of both fields. Or, as conference organizer Roy Ascott muses, "Consciousness is the corpus callosum that bridges the (hemi)spheres of science and art."
Ascott sees this event as the artistic version of the Toward a Science of Consciousness (Tucson II) conference, and the success of Consciousness Reframed will depend on the organizers' ability to foster collaboration between artists and technicians.
Immersive space pioneer Char Davies will speak on the poetics of virtual reality. Coming from the creator of Osmose, a virtual world that has made so-called immersants weep, Davies's speech should dovetail nicely with the objectives of Consciousness Reframed. Other artistic presentations include "Hand and Body Interactive Experiences in Public Spaces" and "Digital Folk Art: Geek Aesthetics and the New Media Mainstream."It's a pretty heady event - not one for those adverse to abstraction. But you gotta love an event that compiles a glossary, including an entry that defines hypercortex as "the global network of collective cognition. Superthought comes from its community of mind, and wisdom from its hyperstructure of experience." Oh. That's where superthought comes from.
Super Thinking
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