---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Krystian Woznicki <[email protected]> Date: Tue, Aug 29, 2017 at 5:02 PM Subject: [bgcon] SIGNALS – an Exhibition of the Snowden Files in Art, Media and Archives To: [email protected] Hi, the Berliner Gazette (BG) has worked on the Snowden disclosures from the very beginning. We have launched several critical interventions under the motto 'Snowden Commons' that are intended to explore and expand the democratic potential of the disclosures. Now we can move a step further: Today a critical mass of artists is working with the Snowden Files and it is through such works that we can reflect the long term consequences of the post-9/11 War on Terror in full complexity. So we are happy to annouce "SIGNALS – an Exhibition of the Snowden Files in Art, Media and Archives" taking place September 12-26, 2017 in Berlin. Please read and share the info below. ----------- SIGNALS – an Exhibition of the Snowden Files in Art, Media and Archives September 12-26, 2017 | DIAMONDPAPER Studio | Köpenicker Straße 96 | Berlin www.berlinergazette.de/signals SIGNALS is the first project to critically engage with artists responding to the NSA-files leaked by whistleblower Edward Snowden. Considering the most relevant contexts in which the files have 'surfaced' (including media and archives), it reflects on how artists are deploying the files as raw material. With contributions by Zeljko Blace (CRO), Andrew Clement (CAN), Naomi Colvin (GBR), Simon Denny (NZL), Christoph Hochhäusler (GER), Evan Light (CAN), Geert Lovink (NED), M.C. McGrath (USA), Henrik Moltke (DEN), Deborah Natsios (USA), Julian Oliver (NZL), Trevor Paglen (USA), Laura Poitras (USA), Norman Posselt (GER), SAZAE bot (JPN), Stefan Tiron (ROU), University of the Phoenix (CAN), Andi Weiland (GER), Maria Xynou (ESP), John Young (USA) and more. The title of the project takes its cue from the special language used by intelligence agencies: they refer to any communication that takes place within society as a 'signal', and they collect and analyze these 'signals' on a massive scale. The exhibition translates this special language into the language of culture, where the world is coded and decoded in the form of 'signals' shaped by political and economic contexts. *Idea of the exhibition* The exhibition is partitioned into two sections: frontend and backend. These terms designate on the one hand computerized user interfaces, on the other data bases which reside behind the interfaces. The latter, the backend, structures the possibilities of the frontend, e.g. by monitoring all interactions and by using that data to optimize and predict future uses. All of this remains unaccessible and opaque to users. The exhibition turns the tables on these conditions and complicates them. The exhibition program is complemented with talks, performances and workshops as well as two publications that extend the dialectical frontend/backend narrative of the exhibition. *Background* The Snowden disclosures have triggered debates on democracy, civil rights, the internet and intelligence agencies all around the world. These debates have led to a number of political changes, including negative ones: e.g., consolidating the delusion of cyber-security. Meanwhile, the documents that triggered the debates remain arcane for the general public, as well as for many experts. And it is not ensured that the documents will be preserved for posterity or for those writing our history. The SIGNALS project takes this problem as its starting point and situates the historic leak in the context of civic appropriation. Foregrounded are artists who test the files as material and, by creating works, transform them into commons. More info: www.berlinergazette.de/signals *Events* and *Books* The exhibition program is complemented with talks, performances and workshops (see dates below) as well as two publications that extend the dialectical frontend/backend narrative of the exhibition. "A Field Guide to the Snowden Files. Media, Art, Archives. 2013-2017", edited by the exhibition curators Magdalena Taube and Krystian Woznicki, gathers for the first time a representative selection of artists working with the Snowden files and places them in context with appropriations by media folks and archivists. "Fugitive Belonging" is a monographic publication by Krystian Woznicki. Containing an extensive essay and more than 100 photographs, it reflects the broader socio-political context behind the Snowden disclosures, focusing on the politics of citizenship in the networked state. Both books are published by DIAMONDPAPER: https://diamondpaper.net/ *Dates* September 11, 2017 | 7 p.m. | Launch of "A Field Guide to the Snowden Files" A book published in conjunction with the SIGNALS project feat. filmmaker Christoph Hochhäusler (GER) & other contributors Buchhandlung Walther König an der Museumsinsel, Burgstraße 27, 10178 Berlin September 12, 2017 | 6 p.m. | SIGNALS Exhibition opening feat. artists Zeljko Blace (CRO), Stefan Tiron (ROU) & other artists of the exhibition September 13, 2017 | 6 p.m. | Workshop feat. activist Naomi Colvin (GBR) & artist/researcher Evan Light (CAN) September 25, 2017 | 6 p.m. | Talk feat. social critic Max Haiven (CAN) & culture theoretician Joseph Vogl (GER) September 26, 2017 | 6 p.m. | Finissage feat. performance by Sazae Bot (JPN); talk by archivist Andrew Clement (CAN) & artist Simon Denny (NZL) November 1, 2017 | 6 p.m. | Special closing performance feat. art collective University of the Phoenix (CAN) All events – except the book launch on Sept. 11 – will take place at DIAMONDPAPER Studio, Köpenicker Straße 96, Berlin. *Tweets* SIGNALS exhibition > please click and re-tweet: https://twitter.com/berlinergazette/status/902466940857450496 SIGNALS reader > please click and re-tweet: https://twitter.com/berlinergazette/status/871673242074968064 For further info please visit https://berlinergazette.de/signals Stay tuned, Krystian -- -------------------------------------------------------------- BG – Berliner Gazette | since 1999 | http://berlinergazette.de -------------------------------------------------------------- BG BOOKS OUT NOW: A FIELD GUIDE TO THE SNOWDEN FILES http://diamondpaper.net/title_26 AFTER THE PLANES http://diamondpaper.net/title_25 -------------------------------------------------------------- BG EVENTS COMING UP: SIGNALS – Exhibition of the Snowden Files | Sept. 12-26, 2017 http://berlinergazette.de/signals FRIENDLY FIRE – BG Annual Conference 2017 | Nov. 2-4, 2017 https://berlinergazette.de/friendly-fire -------------------------------------------------------------- _______________________________________________ Digi-yards_berlinergazette.de mailing list [email protected] https://ml06.ispgateway.de/mailman/listinfo/digi-yards_berlinergazette.de -- Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: http://commonstransition.org P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net <http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation>Updates: http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/