The artist about the exhibition:
My artistic practice has had a focus on the relation between humans and technology for several years. On the one hand I am interested in how human bodies increasingly merge with technology, on the other hand I investigate the metaphysics of machines and how they can be seen as more than mere objects. I believe there to be an urgency in questioning our relation to technology and to reflect upon the narratives that Big-Tech provides to us since they do it in the interest of expanding market share and profits.

Technology tends to be seen within the frame of logic and reason. A strict order made out of zeros and ones, out of copper, steel and silicone. But the way we treat and interact with technology is often more in the tradition of occult practices. Tech has become a quasi-religion, not just in Silicon valley, but across the globe. There are people claiming to receive divine messages from ChatGPT, there are the ones that talk of AI as a force of salvation in biblical proportions, and many of us try to charm the speed of downloads with tiny rituals.

One of the main aspects in which contemporary technology and especially data collecting can be seen as a practice related to magic is the interpolation and projection of possible futures made by data processing companies. It is fascinating to me that two of the biggest and most controversial of these data companies are called Oracle and Palantir (based on the crystal ball from Lord of the Rings). Oracle and Palantir – presenting themselves as two magical crystal balls – plan and predict our collective future. These future scenarios mingle the worlds of finance, war and politics. The Large Language Models that Oracle and Palantir use are called ‘Artificial Intelligence’, but by their names alone these companies claim that what they have is more than mere intelligence. They wield the power of clairvoyance. In their world DATA IS MAGIC.