CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: Internet of Other People’s Things – dealing with the pathologies of our digital world

An open-access publication bringing together critical perspectives on ubiquitous technologies and asymmetric battles for power.

Please send your email submissions to: opencall@kairus.org
Website Link: http://opencall.kairus.org/

by Linda Kronman & Andreas Zingerle (KairUs Art+Research) and Jonathan Woodier (Sol International School’s Department of Global Media and Communications Arts (South Korea), Associate Fellow of the Strategic Communications Centre at King’s College, London)

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS (DEADLINE April 30, 2018)

The expansion of the ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT) and the proliferation of virtually-connected data points are providing ever increasing amounts of information for those keen on use or abuse. The Hobbesian nature of cyberspace, where entry points for hacking abound and “smart” appliances can monitor a consumer’s every thought and action and threatening to eclipse human discretion. The massive implementation of IoT in hyper-connected urban environments, paths the way to technocratic governance and urban development, corporatizing our living spaces into lock-in, hack-able, “pan optic” smart cities. Citizens are the ultimate actuators of a city. How are citizens involved in co-design collaborations with private corporations and the public sector to build better cities? In this cyberwar of ideas, an asymmetric battle for power and influence, systems will have to be more robust and people will have to be more vigilant, communication more strategic.

We seek submissions from researchers, artists, hackers, makers, activists, developers, and designers that explore vulnerabilities in IoT devices and other embedded systems e.g. in smart cities. We aim to bring artworks, projects, and essays together to create new critical perspectives on ubiquitous technologies. We need standpoints that provide balance to the technotopias of smart city propaganda and cases that look beyond what mainstream developers offer.

WILL I FIT THIS CALL?
As a context we are looking for artworks, projects and essays that:

Expose vulnerabilities in IoT devices and other embedded systems
Problematize the corporatization of city governance in Smart Cities
Provide examples of citizen sensitive projects in which technology is used to reclaim control of our living environments
Critically examine ubiquitous technologies
Reflect on the uncritical excitement about virtual reality, artificial intelligence and machine learning
Draw speculative scenarios of near futures in remotely controlled smart cities and/or networked homes

We are also looking for examples outside the traditional boundaries of academic research.
Projects that abuse to expose, artistic research, and tacit knowledge that is produced through cultures of making, hacking, and reverse engineering.

KairUs is a collective of two artists Linda Kronman (Finland) and Andreas Zingerle (Austria). Currently based in Daejeon (Republic of Korea), they explore topics such as vulnerabilities in IoT devices, corporatization of city governance in Smart Cities and citizen sensitive projects in which technology is used to reclaim control of our living environments. Their practice based research is closely intertwined with their artistic production, adopting methodologies used by anthropologists and sociologist, their artworks are often informed by archival research, participation observations and field research. Besides the artworks they publish academic research papers and open access publications to contextualize their artworks to wider discourses such as data privacy & security, activism & hacking culture, disruptive art practices, electronic waste and materiality of the internet. Between 2010-2016 KairUs has worked with the thematic of cyber crime (Internet fraud and online scams), constantly shifting focus approaching the theme from various perspectives: data security, ethics of vigilante communities, narratives of scam e-mails, scam & technologies. Subjects of the research has been online scammers, vigilante communities of scambaiters and their use of storytelling and technology. In current projects; ‘Behind the Smart World’, ‘Internet of Other People’s Things’ and ‘Ruins of the Smart City’ they collaborate with a diverse group of artists, activists and researchers in both academic and non-academic contexts.