monochrom presents Arse Elektronika 2008, a conference on sex, technology and science fiction that takes place on September 25th-28th at CELLspace in San Francisco. The conference kicks off on Thursday, September 25th with the Prixxx Arse Elektronika 2008 Awards Ceremony, followed by three full days of speakers and performers. Here’s the complete schedule and ticket information.
Taking up where the successful conference in autumn 2007 left off, this year’s Arse Elektronika stands under the motto “future” — and the ways in which the present sees itself reflected in it. Maintaining a broadened perspective on technical development and technology while also putting special emphasis on its social implementation, this year’s conference focuses on Science and Social Fiction. The genre of the “fantastic” is especially well suited to the investigation of the touchy area of sexuality and pornography: actual and assumed developments are frequently depicted positively and approvingly, but just as often with dystopian admonishment. Here the classic, and continuingly valid, themes of modernism represent a clear link between the two aspects: questions of science, research and technologization are of interest, as is the complex surrounding urbanism, artificiality and control (or the loss of control). Depictions of the future, irregardless of the form they ta! ke, always address the present as well. Imaginations of the fantastic and the nightmarish give rise to a thematic overlapping of the exotic, the alienating and, of course, the pornographic/sexual as well.
The opening night event on Thursday, September 25th is also includes the presentation of the new book “Arse Elektronika Anthology: pr0nnovation?”, edited by Johannes Grenzfurthner, Günther Friesinger & Daniel Fabry and published by RE/Search Publications.
From the depiction of a vulva in a cave painting to the newest internet porno, technology and sexuality have always been closely linked. No one can predict what the future will bring, but history indicates that sex will continue to play an essential role in technological development. Is it going too far to assume that research in nanotechnology and genetic engineering will be influenced by our sexual needs? The question is not whether these technologies alter humanity, but how they do so.
Here are my photos from Arse Elektronika 2007.
photo by Scott Beale
Here Are A Few Related Posts You Might Enjoy:
- Arse Elektronika 2008 Call For Papers & Sponsorship
- Arse Elektronika 2009: Of Intercourse & Intracourse + 2nd Arse Elektronika Anthology
- Arse Elektronika 2007, A Conference About Pr0nnovation?
- Arse Elektronika 2008 Photos
- Arse Elektronika: Pornography and Technological Innovation
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
perhaps the organizers can pull together a welcome committee for peter labarbera.
see: http://www.pamshouseblend.com/showDiary.do?diar...