Radio Conference on Stegi.radio

How do we abandon the current standard models of AI and tech services and advocate for inclusive technologies?

From December 13 to December 15, the arts organisation VEKTOR Athens presents the International Radio Conference “Figure it Out: The Art of Living through System Failures”, curated by Katerina Gkoutziouli. For three consecutive days, from 14.00 to 18.00 EET, artists, curators, activists, academics, researchers and technologists discuss their counter strategies and practices in the technological realm. Through three key areas, namely: Figure it Out: Art & Tech, Figure it Out: Environment & Tech and Figure it Out: Community & Tech, the radio conference reflects a growing realization that the current tech landscape is rife with disparities and shortcomings that need to be addressed.

Participants:

!Mediengruppe Bitnik, Tatiana Bazzichelli, James Bridle, Heath Bunting, Yuchen Chen, Kris De Decker, Daphne Dragona, Mara Ferreri, Anna Watkins Fisher, Kyriaki Goni, Valeria Graziano, Marinos Koutsomichalis, Alex Lu, Jonas Lund, Niels Plotard, RYBN, La Labomedia 

The Conference is coordinated by Katerina Gkoutziouli, Co-founder – Director, VEKTOR Athens, and Yannis-Orestis Papadimitriou, Journalist.

The Radio Conference will be streamed via stegi.radio, the online radio station of Onassis Stegi and it will be relayed to the experimental platform Π-node.

All recordings (conversations & lectures) will be archived in the form of podcasts, after the end of the Conference. The podcasts will be available via stegi.radio, VEKTOR Athens website, Spotify and Mixcloud.

* The language of the conference is English.

** Relay to p-node.org

Wednesday, 13 December 2023 | 14.00 – 18.00 EET

The Figure it Out: Art&Tech session looks into the work of artists and curators who explore the intersection of artistic expression and technology. This session focuses on inspirational practices that are driving the development of our understanding of both art and tech. Through their work, they address societal issues, offering unique perspectives on subjects such as artificial intelligence, privacy in the digital age, deep fakes, and the human-machine connection in an extremely digitalized society.

With

• !Mediengruppe Bitnik, Artists (DE) 
• Kyriaki Goni, Artist (GR) 
• Niels Plotard, Artist (Malta)
• Anna Watkins Fisher, Writer, Scholar, Associate Professor of American Culture, University of Michigan (U.S.A.) 
• Jonas Lund, Artist (SE)

Thursday, 14 December 2023 | 14.00 – 18.00 EET

The Figure it Out: Environment&Tech session investigates the current status of the earth and its inhabitants in relation to the devastating exploitation of natural resources in the name of technological advancement. Having in mind the disproportional relation between the increase of computational power and environmental degradation, this session serves as a platform to highlight the urgency of environmental accountability in relation to the increase of technological endeavors by states and private companies worldwide. Thinking about the long-term health of our planet, the focus will be on how to steer technology in a direction that supports rather than compromises the very ecosystems upon which all forms of life depend.

With

• Heath Bunting, Artist (UK) 
• James Bridle, Artist, writer (UK/GR) 
• **James’s talk will be accessible exclusively through the conference archive.
• Daphne Dragona, Curator, writer (GR/DE) 
• Kris De Decker, Founder, Low-tech Magazine (ES/NL) 

Friday, 15 December 2023 | 14.00 – 18.00 EET

The Figure it Out: Community&Tech session delves into the status of unserved-by-technology communities working and living in precarious conditions worldwide. Looking into the inventiveness and resilience of communities, this session touches upon the algorithmic inequalities of certain groups and their exclusion from tech structures, exploring issues such as the ethics in the technological sector, care, digital autonomy, whistleblowing, and data security. Given the potential of technology to deepen divisions and injustices, this session encourages us to look into the deeper-rooted problems, such as uneven power dynamics, cultural biases, and historical injustices that shape today’s technology landscape. 

With

• Mara Ferreri, Assistant Professor of Geography, Polytechnic University of Turin (IT)
• Valeria Graziano, Visiting Lecturer, Institute for Applied Theatre Studies, Justus Liebig University Giessen (IT/DE)
• Tatiana Bazzichelli, Artistic Director, Founder, Disruption Network Lab (DE) 
• Yuchen Chen and Alex Lu, Sociotechnical Scholars (U.S.A./CN) 
• Dr. Marinos Koutsomichalis, Artist, Assistant Professor, Director, Media Arts and Design Research Lab, Cyprus University of Technology (CY/GR) 
• RYBN & Labomedia (FR)

Credits

Conference Curator: Katerina Gkoutziouli

Visual Identity: Oleg Suran

Communication: Maria Paktiti

Recording and post-production: Stefanos Konstantinidis – Fabrika Music Studio

Organised and produced by: VEKTOR Athens

The Conference is realized in the framework of the project FIO: the Art of Living through System Failures, which is financed under the Creative Europe Program (CREA-CULT-2022-COOP-1).