07.03.15 Sight and Insight
“As artists and designers, we know something about the language and idioms of seeing. Now, because of networked systems and ubiquitous capture, perception and representation are changing faster than ever before. For the artists, designers, and culture operators who work with technology – especially imaging and information technologies – our job, or jobs, are clear.
We may work to predict the cultural consequences of new technologies, warning us of dangerous futures, or speculating about interesting ones.
We may author whimsical, provocative and illogical tools that liberate minds, connect hearts, creatively invert authority, and empower skeptical thought.
Using artistic techniques like defamiliarization, we may awaken others from their slumber to see common things in an unfamiliar way, in order to enhance perception of the familiar.
Using the artistic techniques of visualization, we can delineate the unseen forces that shape our lives, in order to reveal the invisible.
Above all, we are obliged to take a ‘seat at the table’ to help set – and not simply be victim to – technological agendas.”