Last fall, For The Wild was invited to participate in a workshop on art and technology in the Anthropocene hosted at the Guggenheim Museum. Facilitated by Kenric McDowell, alongside support from Troy Conrad Therrien, Curator of Architecture and Digital Initiative at the Guggenheim, we explored the role art and technology will play in our future depending upon its design. On this week’s episode we rejoin Kenric in conversation to follow up on some of the most fruitful topics from this workshop, like the cultures in which machine learning and technological advancement are cultivated in, the implications of anthropocentrism in design and how our understanding of relationship impacts technology and design. What might an Earth-centered technological paradigm look like? How can we design beyond human-centeredness?

Kenric McDowell has worked at the intersection of culture and technology for over twenty years. Kenric leads the Artist + Machine Intelligence program at Google Arts & Culture, where he facilitates collaboration between artificial intelligence researchers, artists, and cultural institutions. Kenric is a regular conference speaker and consultant to think tanks and arts organizations, helping groups connect artistic practice and technology production with larger traditions of human understanding.

Our conversation with Kenric covers topics near and dear to For The Wild’s heart, like relationality, more-than-human intelligence, the trappings of consumerism and personal agency, while also being pushed to delve into realms of discussion we visit less often, like artificial intelligence, technology, design and interspecies connection. This episode also features recordings from the Guggenheim workshop. We invite you to find time this week to join us in navigating the delightful complexity of these worlds. 

♫ Music by South London HiFi, Bad Snacks, and Qenric

Episode References

Artists + Machine Intelligence

Dr. Yuk Hui

Cosmotechnics as Cosmopolitics by Yuk Hui

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