Dreams, memes and obscure sorrows
Loading - week 1
things I found
1 - As most of you already know, I have an insane passion for weird subreddits.
Last week I found Thomas The Plank Engine, a thread that connects two of my favourite things: memes and dreams. It has been around since 2019 and it has 69.7k members. Basically, on this page people post memes that appear in their dreams, but also turn some of their strangest dreams into memes.
2 - If you’re interested in AI, I suggest that you take a look at this article that includes a timeline of recent AI art applications, from 2015 to 2022:
“The AI art we had before 2021 was intriguing, but tended to be abstract, esoteric, and just not that relatable to a human. The AI art we have now is fully controllable, and can be about whatever you want it to be. What changed? Well, there’s something to be said for the new wave of publicity and interest, which certainly accelerated the pace of our art-generation techniques. But the main development is the rise of multimodal learning.”
Another good read on the same topic is Clip Art and the New Aesthetics of AI by Luba Elliott, which also mentions this amazing work by Memo Atken.
3 - Sid Meier doesn’t like in-game monetization
Speaking to the BBC on the 30th anniversary of its release, Sid Meier, the brains behind the game Civilization, is warning the game industry to remember why people play in the first place.
“The real challenge and the real opportunity is keeping our focus on gameplay,” says American developer Sid Meier. “That is what is unique, special and appealing about games as a form of entertainment. When we forget that, and decide it’s monetisation or other things that are not gameplay-focused, when we start to forget about making great games and start thinking about games as a vehicle or an opportunity for something else, that’s when we stray a little bit further from the path.”
4 - Dancing in front of the bathroom mirror is the new vibe
Remember the guy skating and drinking juice on TikTok in 2020? Please meet the new TikTok “vibe setter”: Jamie Big Sorrel Horse, aka jamie32bsh, who just dances joyfully in front of his (dirty) bathroom mirror to an old song by Nelly Furtado.
The remixes are pouring and they are pure internet magic.
5 - The computer is like a playground of the absurd
Charles Csuri, pioneer of computer art and computer graphics, has passed away at age 99. If you don’t know his amazing work, it’s time to fill the gap.
“The computer became more like a playground of the absurd. I wanted to play and have a sense of fun. This offered me the possibility of accident to discover the art. It’s still my best prospect of creating something that has the feeling and aura of humanity.”
new entries in my bookshelf
John Koenig, The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, 2021
This project started on Tumblr 10 years ago and now it’s also a beautiful book.
“A dictionary of made-up words for emotions that we all feel but don’t have the words to express, filled with new definitions, illustrations, etymologies and essays that seek to capture the forgotten corners of the human condition”.
Gavin Mueller, Tecnoluddismo. Perché odi il tuo lavoro, NERO, 2021 [italian]
Valerio Mattioli, Exmachina. Storia musicale della nostra estinzione, 2022 [italian]
Kate Crawford, Atlas of AI: Power, Politics, and the Planetary Costs of Artificial Intelligence, Yale University Press, 2021
Ingrid Hoelzl and Remi Marie, Softimage. Towards a New Theory of the Digital Image, Intellect Books, 2015
things I did recently
1 - On February 19th I gave a short lecture at the conference “Contemporary Curating: Radical, Digital, Diverse”, organized by IMPAKT [Centre for Media Culture] in Utrecht. This is the video of the panel “Curating the Internet” with Doreen A. Ríos, Wade Wallerstein, and myself, moderated by Annet Dekker and Arjon Dunnewind.
And this is the abstract of my 10-minutes talk:
A bunch of angry computers: or how I learned to stop worrying and confront the hype
Taking my personal curating experience as a reference, and through a small selection of case studies, I would like to address the main issues concerning the presentation of digital projects in art venues. Contextually, I will propose a list of possible strategies that can help curators counterbalance the mainstream narratives on technology through a critical, context-aware, interdisciplinary and collaborative approach.
things I wrote
1 - Viaggio nel rovescio del mondo, in modalità Noclip - on NOT - NERO
[italian - english google translation]
2 - Bodies on the Screen. A Short Essay on Performative Memes - in Memenesia e-pub, published by V2 [web - pdf]
things that are coming soon
March 3rd 2022 - I’ll be a guest professor at the Master Visual Arts IED in Milan, taught by by Martin Romeo
March 8th 2022 - First lesson of my Digital Cultures courses at NABA. Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti, in Rome and Milan
April 2022 - First exhibition + public programme of the Blitz Digital Residency
the great wall of memes updates
The Great Wall of Memes is a research project in the form of a visual archive. I started it in 2012 and it’s the place where I collect images and memes that feel relevant. Click here to see the latest uploads.
That’s all for now! Feel free to send me an email or leave a comment.
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