Constellations: August

August 30, 2023 W. David Marx Daisy Alioto Yanis Varoufakis

Trying something new: A list of things I’ve encountered this month, and which have stuck with me for one reason or another.

  1. Jörg M. Colberg on accidental drone photography in wartime:

I’ve been looking at the imagery emerging from the war in Ukraine in part because I am interested in both the use of images and in whether or not there are new types of images.

  1. Cage for reviving canary, with oxygen cylinder, made by Siebe Gorman & Co. Ltd, London

  1. How Socialist Realism and AI images compare.

https://twitter.com/bildoperationen/status/1693505465542414347

  1. W. David Marx on our human defenses against AI-generated culture:

At the moment, generative A.I. produces works by repurposing a large body of pre-existing material, which means it mostly recycles clichés and drips out stale kitsch.

  1. Yanis Varoufakis has a new book coming out: Technofeudalism.

Insane sums of money that were supposed to re-float our economies in the wake of the financial crisis and the pandemic have ended up supercharging big tech’s hold over every aspect of the economy. Capitalism’s twin pillars - markets and profit - have been replaced with big tech’s platforms and rents. Meanwhile, with every click and scroll, we labour like serfs to increase its power. Welcome to technofeudalism.

  1. Rosetta S. Elkin’s stunning Landscapes of Retreat

I love a good website project, and this one translates the entire book onto the web.




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