Calculated Play? Games as a Metaphor, Medium and Method
Conference Stream Play. A discussion on the future of algorithmic work and life, based on the scenarios of two new game projects designed by artists.
CAT: Conference
DAY: Thu 29.01.
DUR: 90 min
PLC: hkwk1
Conference Stream Play
Today’s algorithmic world looks more and more like a well-calculated game. Its set rules are meant to delimit the field of open possibilities towards the most precise possible predictions of all moves, preferences and interactions. Is this however for the benefit of the user/ the worker/ the citizen? Do gameful logistics change the way power structures function or do they rather intensify asymmetries pointing to an unfortunate impasse?
To respond to these questions, the panel turns to new game projects created by artists and theorists working in this direction. Placing the player against the algorithm, different game scenarios that speculate on the future of algorithmic work and life can be discussed. Can cracks in the system still be located and exploited or do humans progressively lose all control? Does contingency, an integral element of the algorithmic logic, still allow room for the unexpected or is the battle already lost? Perhaps the algorithm can still be played as Alexander Galloway once wrote.
Presented in cooperation with Leuphana University of Lüneburg