Field Notes

Published article: ‘Kitsch, the apparatus and a dead theorist’ in Technoetic Arts

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Reading Time: 2 minutes

I am incredibly pleased to share that I have a published piece titled Kitsch, the apparatus and a dead theorist in Technoetic Arts(Intellect). Massive thanks to Dr Justin Hunt from Shifting Power/The OU, who was so encouraging and supportive after I delivered a talk for Shifting Power’s first After AI symposium in 2024. The final article published this year was developed from that talk. Thanks also to Justin’s co-editor, Dr Ben Sweeting, and to Dr Claudia Westermann from Technoetic Arts, who was enormously patient with me.

A kitsch red melting man on a green floor, with clear 'machine-learning' generated smoothness. Looks like he's broken and traumatised.

For the article, I deliberately chose not to include ‘pictorial images’ as the text-images stand in for those. During the initial talk, however, I had a sequence of images running in the background as I spoke. I include that sequence here, along with the few slides I presented (the middle slide contained the slow-moving GIF). For those who wish to read the article, it is available onTechnoetic Art’s website either as a single purchase, part of a subscription or via an institutional account. Claudia’s introduction to the edition is open access.

A kitsch red melting man on a green floor, with clear 'machine-learning' generated smoothness. Looks like he's broken and traumatised.
A kitsch red melting man on a green floor, with clear 'machine-learning' generated smoothness. Looks like he's broken and traumatised.
A kitsch red melting man on a green floor, with clear 'machine-learning' generated smoothness. Red background and TV screen. Looks like he's broken and traumatised.

And do keep a lookout for more articles due out later this year.

In other news:

Live BHAM Get-together. Putney Library. 6pm to 19.30 pm. A sales pitch? A manifesto? Or a deadpan instructional seminar? An audience is invited to attend, play and contribute to the speculation (refreshments provided!) Doughnut(W)Hole curator, Kim Shaw, will be giving an introductory talk.

Book here.