MoMA R&D
Salon 10 The Object, Connected
The Object, Connected is the last salon in a three-part series dedicated to the object. In short, the first salon The Object, Online explored the translation of physical objects—such as painting, buildings, animals and exhibitions—into the digital realm. The following salon, The Object, Offline considered the diametric translation of digital objects—such as digital works of art, computerized manufacturing methods, and online crowdfunding campaigns—into the physical world. The Object, Connected delved deeper into the Internet of Things, exploring its impact on the world and taking into consideration how the ability to connect objects among themselves and within networks of usage and knowledge will impact museums and the cultural sector at large.
Watch the videos from the salon and explore some of these questions: How do artists, designers, architects, and curators use connected objects in their work; and what developments can we foresee? Should arts and humanities curricula necessarily include technological modules to best equip the future generation of cultural agents? How can we harness the Internet of Things to improve the cultural sector? What would connected museums be like to curate, to experience, and to work in? What are the ethical (and legal) issues at stake in a “smart” museum? What sort of collaboration between museums and relevant technological institutions would be most fruitful?
The salon took place on October 14th, 2014.
Speakers
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Fiona Romeo
Fiona Romeo is the Inaugural Director of Digital Content and Strategy, The Museum of Modern Art. Fiona has over a decade of experience in creatively developing digital content and services for brands like the BBC, Disney, and most recently, the Royal Museums Greenwich, London. She is particularly interested in new ways to visualize museum data and invite the public to respond to collections.
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Jill Magid
Jill Magid is a Brooklyn-based artist and writer. Jill’s work blurs the boundaries between art and life. She explores the emotional, philosophical, and legal tensions between the individual and “protective” institutions, such as intelligence agencies or the police. Her work tends to be characterized by the dynamics of seduction, with the resulting narratives often taking the form of a love story.
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Kate Crawford
Kate Crawford is visiting Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Principal Researcher, Microsoft Research; and Senior Fellow, New York University. Kate researches the politics and ethics of big data, and is currently writing a new book with Yale University Press. She is on the advisory board at New Museum’s New Inc, and is a Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Fellow. She also has a secret life as an electronic musician.
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Matt Jones
Matt Jones is Interaction Design Director, Google Creative Labs. Previously, Matt was a principal and partner at BERG, a design consultancy specializing in connected products, and a creative director behind award-winning services like BBC News Online and Sapient’s London studio. In 2007 he cofounded Dopplr.com, a social-networking service for frequent travelers.
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Bruce Sterling
Bruce Sterling is a futurist, prolific science fiction writer, and Internet of Things curator. Bruce is one of the founding fathers of the cyberpunk genre, most notably authoring Mirrorshades: A Cyberpunk Anthology. Bruce is currently curating Casa Jasmina, an Internet of Things bed-and-breakfast apartment housed in a half-abandoned Fiat plant in Turin. The apartment will serve as a testing ground for open-source manufacturing of electronic home automation.
Reading Resources
Paola Antonelli Talk to Me (2011)
Julian Bleeker A Manifesto for Networked Objects (2006)
Kate Crawford The Anxieties of Big Data The New Inquiry (05.30.14)
Paul DiMaggio The Internet’s Influence on the Production and Consumption of Culture:Creative Destruction and New Opportunities MIT Technology Review (10.03.14)
Silvia Filippini-Fantoni Bookmarking In Museums: Extending The Museum Experience Beyond The Visit? (2007)
Adam Greenfield Everyware: The dawning age of ubiquitous computing (2006)
Matt Jones Escalante (10.08.09)
Natalie Kitroeff Home Tweet Home: High-Tech Solutions for House and Apartment The New York Times (03.07.14)
Jill Magid Evidence Locker (2004)
Julian Oliver, Gordan Savičić and Danja Vasiliev The Critical Engineering Manifesto (10.14)
James C. Scott Seeing Like A State (1998)
Bruce Sterling Epic Struggle of the Internet of Things (2014)
Bruce Sterling Shaping Things (2005)
Martjin de Waal The Urban Culture of Sentient Cities: From an Internet of Things to a Public Sphere of Things (04.07.11)
The Internet of Things (to be hacked) The Economist (07.10.14)