The Cat in the Black Box

Technology is becoming more complex and entangled nowadays, mediating and guiding our daily interactions within social, political, spiritual, and environmental contexts. Often, these technological objects and their data-infrastructures appear as Black Boxes – sometimes mystified, inaccessible or alienating but yet omnipresent.


     

Utilizing an interactive Black Box and visuals activated by a speech recognition algorithm responding to the conversation, the panel discussion The Cat in the Black Box seeks to unravel and demystify the metaphor of the Black Box and its design aesthetics. The cat becomes an exemplary subject to illuminate how technology and data shape our realities and impact our relations and understandings of this furry entity – and the world around us.

The panel can be watched under this link!


[In collaboration with Rebekka Jochem, Lukas Völp, Marie Verdeil, Teresa Fernández Pello & Ron Wakkary]