transmediale 2015 – Capture all

Based on the motto Capture all, the 28th edition of transmediale, for the fourth time with artistic director Kristoffer Gansing, aimed to investigate the quantification of life, work and play and its limits.

In a society ruled by algorithms, we are more or less consciously contributing to a permanent capture of life into data due to the drive to quantify everything: Value can now potentially be extracted from everything, and productivity can be measured in all fields of life. This particularly redefines the relation between work and play, as ludic and participatory structures are purposefully used to render personal information traceable, social relationships and behavioural patterns recognisable.

Artists and scientists reacted to current phenomena such as gamification, smart city, quantification and algorithmic control in an exhibition, performances, screenings and panels. They are looking for artistic strategies and potential approaches, blind spots and gaps to work out alternative ways of living. A special section of the festival experimentally challenged and redefined the increasing influence of smart technologies on our daily lives: Collectives such as unMonastery introduced local and “off the cloud” solutions for living in the 21st century.

The transmediale is a project by the Kulturprojekte Berlin GmbH in cooperation with the Haus der Kulturen der Welt. The Federal Cultural Foundation supports the transmediale as one of Germany’s cultural institutions of excellence.

Artistic director: Kristoffer Gansing
Artists and participants: LaTurbo Avedon, Zach Blas, Christian von Borries, Heather Dewey-Hagborg, Dominic Gagnon, Jennifer Lyn Morone, Bernard Stiegler, Tiziana Terranova, Judy Wajcman, McKenzie Wark, Eastwood - Real Time Strategy Group, Otolith Group, unMonastery a.o.