“Our imaginations, haunted by the old archetypes, have remained far behind the sophistication of the
machines. The various attempts to integrate modern science into new myths remain inadequate.“
Gilles
Ivain (Ivan Chtcheglov), Formulary for a New Urbanism, Internationale Situationniste #1, 1953.
It is now said that we are living in the Anthroposcene epoch, a time in the Earth's history where humanity's
effect on the planet, whether intentionally or not, has a severe and recognisable impact on the Earth's
landscape and biosphere. The collision between the Industrial and the Information/Digital Revolutions has
cohesively catalysed into the greatest moment in our history. The human race is positioned to radically alter
the way in which perceive and experience our environments. The doors are now open for the creation of a
fully 'technonatural' state, in which the division of technology woven into the fabric of humans and their
environments becomes invisible.
ALTER//SHIFT//CONTROL seeks to present responses to both present and future contexts that reflect on the
relationships between technology, our environment and personal experience. As the age of ubiquitous
technology is already upon us; nations, cities, infrastructure and inhabitants rely heavily on digital systems.
Natural barriers have been smashed by computer generated portals which allow us to gain spatial
perspectives that are not physically available. ALTER//SHIFT//CONTROL investigates the possibilities of new
spatial definitions and our perceptional and cultural shift to a new sub-dimension.
The past century saw many hypotheses on what the future would hold, eccentric visions of space exploration
fused with technological conjecture captured the imagination. It could now be said we stand on the brink of
a new era where many of these visions are becoming reality. Is this really a pivotal period, or are we echoing
our predecessors by misjudging our ability to create the extent of our imaginations in the laboratories.
Engulfed in digital devices, our children now grow up submerged in a digital sphere; a new dependency
lingering. As fully autonomous computing draws ever closer, it brings with it a mode of slavery. The deluge
of microchips and infinite algorithms has a paradoxical ability to both liberate and exclude.
ALTER//SHIFT//CONTROL is a platform for interpretations of the role that technology will play within our
environment, what impact it will have on our lives, how the Man/machine relationship will be formed and its
possible influence over the emergence of a new transient variant of the Homo Sapien. It seeks a cartographic
vision of the landscape of the future, laced with omni present webs of technology, embedded throughout our urban architecture. To charter realms of digital consciousness and to contemplate a second Age Of
Discovery with trails blazed by 'Neo-Pioneers' across the interstellar void |
