{"id":39860,"date":"2024-02-25T18:01:19","date_gmt":"2024-02-25T17:01:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.akademie-solitude.de\/de\/?p=39860"},"modified":"2024-05-14T10:00:51","modified_gmt":"2024-05-14T08:00:51","slug":"what-else-can-technology-be","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.akademie-solitude.de\/de\/what-else-can-technology-be\/","title":{"rendered":"What Else Can Technology Be?"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"project":[357,354],"project_type":[807,725,732,735,741,743],"class_list":["post-39860","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","project-solitude-blog","project-studio-visits","project_type-studio-visit","project_type-formats","project_type-interview","project_type-spheres-of-practice","project_type-digital","project_type-themes"],"acf":{"bgcolor":"","bgcolor_custom":"","custom_color_css_variable":"","content_type":[{"acf_fc_layout":"content_img","acfe_flexible_layout_title":"Bild(er)","bgcolor":"","bgcolor_custom":"","layout_col_size":6,"img_gallery":false,"img":[39951],"img_gallery_format":false},{"acf_fc_layout":"content_txt","acfe_flexible_layout_title":"Text","bgcolor":"","bgcolor_custom":"","layout_col_size":8,"txt_cols":"is-1-txtcol","txt":"Uzoma Orji:<\/span> First of all, where\u2019s your head at, at this point in your residency at Schloss Solitude?\r\n\r\nKombo Chapfika:<\/span> Well, there are two things. First, my priority is the Venice Biennale where I will show works at the Zimbabwean pavilion. I found out about my participation when I got here. I\u2019m looking to dive further into production. And then just trying to balance my own mental health but also being available to be helpful in whatever way I can because some of the people here are really struggling with everything going on in the world. Yeah. I\u2019m also trying to reconnect with some people back home because I\u2019ve been here a while, and it takes work to keep those relationships going. It\u2019s about focusing on production but staying a member of this community.\r\n\r\nUO: <\/span>Before we go deeper into the discussion, I wanted to find out if there\u2019s anything you want to talk about. Maybe something you\u2019re looking forward to getting out of this conversation. Or are you just happy to ride the wave?\r\n\r\nKC:<\/span> There\u2019s an idea that\u2019s hard for me to articulate but I can try \u2026 it\u2019s like this conflict where I\u2019m asking myself, \u00bbHas technology so far developed in such a capitalistic Western way that trying to morph it into something else is going to be difficult, because it\u2019s already started this way?\u00ab If that\u2019s the case, which my intuition is telling me it is, then it\u2019s too important in our lives for us to just ignore it. We can\u2019t just leave it this way. It\u2019s almost like math at this point. Though math is more universal than these things, it\u2019s the foundation.\r\n
\u00bbHas technology so far developed in such a capitalistic Western way that trying to morph it into something else is going to be difficult, because it\u2019s already started this way?\u00ab<\/blockquote>\r\nUO:<\/span> Is math more universal than tech? Can you say more about that?\r\n\r\nKC:<\/span> Math is more universal than technology because counting is a very fundamental thing, on the most basic level. Even some animals have shown that they can count. Although I have to say there have been different counting systems, like, for example, Ifa divination system. But thinking of digital technology, which is based on math and equations, and all that stuff, I mean, you don\u2019t have to engage with technology at all. No email, no nothing, and you can still be functional \u2013 take for example our fellow fellow Deepika Arwind\u2019s dad: He understands math perfectly but doesn\u2019t engage with digital technology. A lot of the technologies that we\u2019re now using are only necessary because we\u2019ve grown up with them. But you can still live quite successfully in this world without some of these things. In my case, I couldn\u2019t, because I\u2019ve built my whole knowledge base around these technologies.\r\n\r\nUO:<\/span> Yeah, same.\r\n\r\n "},{"acf_fc_layout":"content_img","acfe_flexible_layout_title":"Bild(er)","bgcolor":"","bgcolor_custom":"","layout_col_size":6,"img_gallery":false,"img":[40012],"img_gallery_format":false},{"acf_fc_layout":"content_img","acfe_flexible_layout_title":"Bild(er)","bgcolor":"","bgcolor_custom":"","layout_col_size":6,"img_gallery":false,"img":[40014],"img_gallery_format":false},{"acf_fc_layout":"content_txt","acfe_flexible_layout_title":"Text","bgcolor":"","bgcolor_custom":"","layout_col_size":8,"txt_cols":"is-1-txtcol","txt":"KC:<\/span> It\u2019s related to this idea of how much do we get to steer it? With these sudden major changes, like in AI and machine learning, it feels more like being taken by the tide, rather than getting to make a conscious choice like I was making before. I chose to learn After Effects, for example, a visual effects software. But now, the big tech marketplace wants to move towards AI because it favors capital, it\u2019s less reliant on artists. They just use the artwork as training data, and then make the platforms necessary. So, I feel like we\u2019re kind of being pulled along. I\u2019ll send you a link to a studies by Google scholar Janiya R. Peters<\/a>. It\u2019s the first phase of a study on creative people\u2019s opinions about AI. Some of the questions were good, like in terms of, \u00bbHow much do you use AI?\u00ab \u00bbDo you feel like you\u2019re choosing to use it, or like you have to?\u00ab Overall, I think big money is leading the creatives. AI is where we\u2019re going. And that whole push toward novelty is what I\u2019m most worried about. It\u2019s an appetite for anything brand new and a devaluation of things that are traditional. It seems you can't just be amazing at Photoshop and that\u2019s enough. I mean you can, but the people with money want to fund the latest thing, because that\u2019s where they make more money. It\u2019s new, rather than things we\u2019ve learned to pirate so much already.\r\n\r\nUO:<\/span> Yeah. When you said big money\u2019s leading creativity, I thought big money is leading the world.\r\n\r\nKC:<\/span> Yeah, yeah, you\u2019re right.\r\n\r\nUO:<\/span> You know, looking at your question \u00bbHas technology been so far developed in a capitalistic Western way that trying to morph it into something else is impossible?\u00ab it seems to me like a question of world views, values, and systems. The things that cause technology are the result of innovation and innovation responding to necessity, but who\u2019s defining what is necessary? We need a redefinition of what is necessary. How can we change our understanding of what is necessary, and what we want technology to morph into?\r\n\r\nKC<\/span>:<\/strong> Sometimes we feel like we don\u2019t have that agency. We see how big these platforms are and we\u2019re like there\u2019s no way we can make something that can compete with them. But we need to just kind of ignore that scale and actually start super small, and remember the origin stories of some of these big things like Facebook. It started off with people in college with a LAN (Local Area Network), you know. If we can start small, we can make things that actually serve our values and what we actually want these platforms to do. The most innovation happens with college-age people who are not being served by the status quo. They try something new. They\u2019re synthesizing recent information. I think starting small and with the youth is the way to go.\r\n
\u00bbIf we can start small, we can make things that actually serve our values and what we actually want these platforms to do.\u00ab<\/blockquote>\r\nAnd we need to articulate what the errors are, what we don't like about the status quo, like the way so much data is centralized, the way it\u2019s being used for surveillance. If we start from knowing that these are things we don\u2019t want, we can create systems that don\u2019t have those issues. When blockchain first came out, maybe I was misunderstanding it, but now, oh my goodness, we could get decentralized systems where your data is secure. I am also thinking of decentralized social media and news platforms like Mastodon.\r\n\r\nUO:<\/span> Mastodon, yeah.\r\n\r\nKC:<\/span> \u2026 it might be the closest version to that. That\u2019s more the direction I hope things will start to go. I\u2019ve been hacked and don\u2019t think it was a hacker. I believe it was unscrupulous censorship because the coincidence of when it happened was just too much. I\u2019d been posting some commentary from a distance about Justin Trudeau as they were shutting down the trucker anti-vaccine rallies in Canada then. And then literally the next day, Facebook hacked my account. I never again want a situation where that can happen. Maybe I should have moved on to Mastodon but that\u2019s the trick now. It\u2019s such a big jump. I understand why people want to address these big issues and be visible. But there is value in trying to keep things personal. Even I do sometimes. Yeah. I just wish we could articulate that it\u2019s not bad when people don\u2019t show. In fact, it could be a good thing for some people to understand this.\r\n\r\nUO:<\/span> Yeah, it seems like this is one of the many negative consequences of this homogenous, global techno culture, which is like we\u2019re all on the same platforms, and we\u2019re all seeing the same things and we\u2019re all having the same responses. And there is a subtle push toward sameness.\r\n\r\nKC:<\/span> Yes"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content_img","acfe_flexible_layout_title":"Bild(er)","bgcolor":"","bgcolor_custom":"","layout_col_size":6,"img_gallery":false,"img":[39954],"img_gallery_format":false},{"acf_fc_layout":"content_txt","acfe_flexible_layout_title":"Text","bgcolor":"","bgcolor_custom":"","layout_col_size":8,"txt_cols":"is-1-txtcol","txt":"UO:<\/span> This thing about decentralization is a question that I\u2019m thinking about a lot in my own work and life: What would an internet created by our ancestors look like? It relates to that question that you asked at the start of this conversation. When we talked about this in our studio visit, your response to that was, it would be a network of smaller nodes and not these big monoliths.\r\n\r\nKC:<\/span> It has to be!\r\n\r\nUO:<\/span> Yeah. So this thing about decentralization is very interesting.\r\n\r\nKC:<\/span> The way I tried to think about decentralization was to reimagine the context. If you\u2019re living in a more rural communal situation where people know each other, you might want smaller nodes. Today\u2019s networks rely on technology and the heavy emphasis on entertainment (streaming platforms, scrolling, accumulation). It all used to become a form of entertainment and spectacle. There\u2019s a good book called Amusing Ourselves to Death<\/em>, written in 1985. Everyone always loves entertainment, but I think that in ancestral times they put more value on cultural rituals that would encourage a sense of community, connection with your past, rather than this hyper-individualistic consumption of accumulative sensation. Even the sensation of outrage is now being consumed, and it\u2019s also addictive.\r\n\r\nUO:<\/span> Super addictive. Why do you think so? What purpose does the sensationalization of everything and everything being entertaining serve?\r\n\r\nKC:<\/span> It goes back to the capitalist profit motive. Today, If you want people to pay attention to a topic, you have to present it in a way that it competes with TikToks and all that stuff."},{"acf_fc_layout":"content_img","acfe_flexible_layout_title":"Bild(er)","bgcolor":"","bgcolor_custom":"","layout_col_size":6,"img_gallery":false,"img":[40008],"img_gallery_format":false},{"acf_fc_layout":"content_img","acfe_flexible_layout_title":"Bild(er)","bgcolor":"","bgcolor_custom":"","layout_col_size":6,"img_gallery":false,"img":[40010],"img_gallery_format":false},{"acf_fc_layout":"content_txt","acfe_flexible_layout_title":"Text","bgcolor":"","bgcolor_custom":"","layout_col_size":8,"txt_cols":"is-1-txtcol","txt":"UO:<\/span> Yes, this conversation is making me think about the use of numbers on social media, like even going back to what we\u2019re saying about math \u2013 that numbers are so central to how we perceive the world today. With the platforms we\u2019re on, we see that this video has X number of views and this person has X number of followers and this TikTok has X number of likes, and you\u2019re always confronted with this scale of so-called reach or impact. That does something. Thinking about it now, that\u2019s very intentional.\r\n\r\nKC:<\/span> Oh, yeah.\r\n\r\nUO:<\/span> So going back to this villagization of the internet, like scaling everything down, decentralization also would involve decentering numbers on these platforms.\r\n\r\nKC:<\/span> Yes, and a lot of these numbers miss the point. Let\u2019s say Kim Kardashian posts something and it\u2019s racy or shocking or whatever. There will be millions of likes. But the average Instagram post or story is viewed for less than 30 seconds \u2013 I think it\u2019s something like in the tenths of seconds. Numbers might in themselves be a problem in terms of scorekeeping but the better number for actual value would be time of engagement. Can it help us to slow down and think more deeply about whatever ideas are being presented there? Sometimes we actually hunger for value and content over clicks and entertainment, and we can feel it. I\u2019m on Instagram for two hours a day, and my thoughts are fragmented, I\u2019m all over the place. I\u2019m consuming too many images to even pursue my own stuff, because I\u2019m scattered. So, for me, there is something calming about the idea of staying with one idea for two hours straight.\r\n\r\n "},{"acf_fc_layout":"content_txt","acfe_flexible_layout_title":"Text","bgcolor":"","bgcolor_custom":"","layout_col_size":8,"txt_cols":"is-1-txtcol","txt":"

Kombo Chapfika<\/strong> is a Zimbabwean multidisciplinary artist who studied in Atlanta\/US, obtaining a BA in Economics. Chapfika\u2019s work explores the mutation of contemporary African culture as it adapts to modernity and technological interconnectedness. Curiosity, experimentation, and social commentary are essential to his creative process, which is based on an interest in the interplay of technology and culture and how the tools we use reshape us.<\/p>\r\n

Chidumaga Uzoma Orji<\/strong> is a visual\/digital\/web artist and creative\/spiritual technologist. His work is concerned with unpacking postcolonial crises of identity, fueling imagination in service of progressive African futures, and exploring ancestral spirituality through a contemporary lens. He lives and works in the serene hills of Abuja\/Nigeria.<\/p>\r\n "}],"intro_preview_headline":"","intro_preview_txt":"In this conversation, artists Kombo Chapfika and Uzoma Orji exchange thoughts on their common interest in the interplay of technology and culture, and how the tools we use reshape us. From the accelerated influence of AI technologies, they formulate ideas on how to reshape technology's trajectory and advocate for decentralized, slow systems. Envisioning an Internet rooted in ancestral values, their dialogue challenges the dominance of numbers, emphasizing meaningful engagement over mere spectacle.<\/span>","intro_preview_img":40008,"post_id_old":"","post_author":"","post_subtitle":"Kombo Chapfika in conversation with Uzoma Orji","post_preview_img_hide_on_single":true,"post_txt_old":"","post_pdf":"","post_copyright":"ccl_default","translated_post":false,"translations":null,"post_copyright_individual":"","post_related_posts":[38664,37588,39265],"related_posts_post":[37416,35023]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.akademie-solitude.de\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39860","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.akademie-solitude.de\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.akademie-solitude.de\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.akademie-solitude.de\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.akademie-solitude.de\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39860"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.akademie-solitude.de\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39860\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40411,"href":"https:\/\/www.akademie-solitude.de\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39860\/revisions\/40411"}],"acf:post":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.akademie-solitude.de\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/person\/35023"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.akademie-solitude.de\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/person\/37416"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.akademie-solitude.de\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39265"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.akademie-solitude.de\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37588"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.akademie-solitude.de\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.akademie-solitude.de\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"project","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.akademie-solitude.de\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project?post=39860"},{"taxonomy":"project_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.akademie-solitude.de\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project_type?post=39860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}