Event 3:COLOR LIGHT MOTION, Marko Peljhan

I just went to the "Belly of the Beast" lecture by Marco Pellan and my mind is just complete mush (in a good way) with all these new ideas and connections I just made between art, technology, and society. The event was held on May 25, 2024, over Zoom and featured comments by invited respondents Andreas Brockman, Patrick McCoy, and Darko Fritz.

Marco Pellan spoke to the history and contemporary practice of art and technology, using Southern California - i.e., the place we were standing - as the prime example through which to elucidate it. In conversation with artist Said Elatab, Abbes described the South Bay as being "in the belly of the beast" because of its strong connections to the military-industrial complex and the ways that influence seeps into art practice.

A huge part of the lecture that I found so interesting was about the LACMA Art and Technology program from the late 1960s. Pellan went on to point out that while artists and engineers collaborating was new, it was also difficult. The project was intended to be a combination of art and technology innovation, but its involvement with corporate and military interests led to an ethical dilemma and the questions that resonate with the AI and digital surveillance debates that we face today.

Darko Fritz and Andreas Brockmann draw a line between historical American and European contexts such as New Tendencies and the Imaterials exhibition in Paris. Those movements were more theoretical and more a part of the engagement side of politics, but still, they show us the vital importance of critical reflection in the art-tech interface.

This lecture is very influential to my studies and future projects. It highlights how important it is that technology not be som

ething that is neutral or merely used as a device, but something to be studied closely. The historical context given by the speakers serves as a guide to understanding the myriad new digital art practices occurring today.

And for my midterm project, I wanted to do something with that skew on AI, to consider a critical perspective discussing the ethics of using AI as a tool in artistic creation. Moreover, the notion of community and participatory arts, which was also discussed in the talk, is going to influence the interactive elements of the final piece I am working on.

I suggest this event to all of my friends. It offers a more complete historical context that is essential for making sense of contemporary media arts and technologies. Much of what their different viewpoints had for us to learn about is how we can enter our work more critically and reflectively.

Registration Proof

event screen shot

Sources

• Pellan, Marco. "Belly of the Beast." Lecture, April 14, 2022.
• Fritz, Darko. "New Tendencies and the European Media Art Scene." Commentary of Respondents, Dec 9, 2023.
• Brockman, Andreas. "Imaterials and the Postmodern Condition." Individual reflective commentary, May 2, 2024.

Having had my mind greatly opened by the content of this lecture, I now have the understanding to critique and move through the ever-changing climate of art and technology.