In Terms of Media…

Our present is shaped not only by visible architectures of data and computation, but also by registers that precede or exceed explicit discourse:

the mythological and occult substrates through which technological imaginaries take hold;

the noise from which systems, meanings, and exclusions emerge;

the conditions of mediated life and their entanglement with colonial histories of power and sensing;

the atmospheric environments that orient conduct and produce consent without explicit command.

What are the terms under which media acts through lore, noise, sense, and air?

Across four panels and two workshops, the symposium brings together artists, theorists, and practitioners to trace these registers from multiple angles, attending to the historical conditions from which our present has emerged and the alternative practices it might yet generate.

With:

Elisa Balmaceda, Josephine Berry, Anna Engelhardt, Sonia de Jager, Rosa Menkman, Patricia Reed, Aura Satz, Marc Steinberg, Valentina Tanni, Jamieson Webster, Günseli Yalcinkaya, Gary Zhexi Zhang

With its second instalment, the In Terms of Media… symposium continues the Weibel Institute for Digital Culture's ongoing engagement with contemporary media technologies.

Rewatch the first symposium from 2024 here

The Weibel Institute for Digital Cultures is a space for intervention, investigation, and experimentation within the expansive disciplines of arts, science, and technologies. Based at the University of Applied Arts Vienna, the institute critically engages digital and algorithmic cultures. Building on the rich heritage of Viennese investigations into cybernetics, net cultures, media art, and tactical media, the institute serves as a vital node within a global network of research institutions on digital cultures. (More info)