Feeling Machines
News
Feeling Machines Weekender
Monday, 27 March, 2023Love it or hate it, there’s no getting away from the fact that our lives are becoming increasingly influenced by technology.
We live in a time when phone apps define who our friends and lovers are, when algorithms decide what music we want to listen to, or what TV shows we want to watch, and when artificial intelligence answers our questions.
The human relationship with technology is complicated, complex and constantly evolving, and it is this that is being explored at an event in Bristol from Thursday 30 March to Saturday 2 April.
The Feeling Machines Weekender is a new arts programme from Bristol, bringing together local and international artists to reflect on what it feels like to feel with machines.
Over the three days, there will be a series of workshops and events which will take a deep dive into the sticky, messy, fluffy ways that we live our lives with machines.
The event is being co-curated by Coral Manton, subject leader in Creative Computing at Bath Spa University.
Control Shift is a South West based digital arts organisation that runs events aimed at making digital and computational art accessible and brings diverse audiences into discussions about the technologies that are changing our communities, workplaces, relationships and environment. Along with Coral, it is co-directed by Becca Rose and Martha King. Bath Spa University is one of the programme partners for 2023.
Coral said:
“Feeling Machines is about the everyday relationships we have with and through technology. These relationships are often messy, ill-defined, unconscious, distracted and intensely human. We fall in love in computer software, we hold and share memories in The Cloud, we feel joy and express sorrow through online networks. This arts programme aims to explore some of these experiences in a way that is accessible and people can be actively involved in. We invite audiences to dance, to laugh, to question, to get sticky in the mess of computational technology and creativity. The programme is varied and aimed at all ages and experiences.”
The Weekend will launch on Thursday 30 March with an Algorave party at Lost Horizon - where electronic musicians will make futuristic rhythms and beats using live coding and algorithmic processes. Saturday is a day of artist walks, drop-in workshops and installations at St Anne's house, exploring the messy ways we live between physical and digital worlds. All weekend there will be screening a film by international artists at Arnolfini, with a special live scored performance on Friday night only.
The full programme of events is available on the Control Shift website.