bodydatasphere

The discourse programme around the bodydatasphere is devoted to digital bodies and sensory perception with a special focus on the fact that these are being increasingly surrounded, overseen, pre-calculated and controlled by technological environments – andimportantlyalsosubjected to the capitalistic logic of maximum returns.

To begin with, on Saturday, the philosopher Anna-Verena Nosthoff and the cultural studies expert and economist Felix Maschewski will discuss the body data collected by massively popular “wearables”, which are being marketed by technology companies in the newly discovered research and business field of consumer health.

Thereafter, in his keynote speech, Chris Salter, professor of computer-based art in Montreal, will explain how the 19th-century theory of psychophysics is currently experiencing a renaissance in the development of sensor-controlled wearables, VR headsets and wireless speaker systems. Karin Harrasser, professor of cultural studies at the Kunstuniversität Linz, will respondin depth to his reflections.

On Sunday, the bioart visual artist Margherita Pevere, who is fascinated by biological material and its transformation, will analyse the permeability and vulnerability of the human body. In a lecture,the author and artist Sophie Hoyle, who takes an intersectional approach to the fields of postcolonialism, queerness, feminism, critical psychiatry and disability, will examine issues of biopolitics, of the “sick” and pathologised body, and of the subjection to broader systems of “security” and control.

Two works created within the framework of EMAP artist residencies will also be shown.In a modified web version, the robotic, online controllable system, Empathy Swarm Telehabitat, activates and reacts to the emotions of human viewers. The Kissing Data Symphony, on the other hand, explores whether a kiss can be translated into biometric feedback. To do so, the brainwaves of two individuals kissing in public and of the viewing public will be measured, connected and rendered visible and audible.