<div dir="ltr"><span id="gmail-docs-internal-guid-ed217f4f-7fff-ed0a-00aa-a5c23b6ca176"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Thank you to Margaretha and -empyre- for having us. </span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">As Margaretha mentioned, we co-edited the Living Room Light Exchange’s fourth annual publication, </span><a href="https://squareup.com/store/lrlx/item/spellwork-technologies-and-conjurings" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;font-style:italic;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Spellwork: Technologies and Conjurings</span></a><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">, along with Rose Linke, which was released this past fall. It is a book that calls forth the techno-witches, wizards, sorcerers, animists, and magicians, and provokes the possibility that technology and magic have always been entangled rituals. In short, its artists and writers explore the double bind of magic in technology and the technology of magic. </span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">We thought we’d use the invitation to post on -empyre- to share some excerpts from the book, which we hope will spark dialogue. </span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">So to start things off, here’s an excerpt from Ingrid Burrington’s essay “Alchemy and False Gods” which posits that the “medieval discipline of alchemy was perhaps the original annihilator of time and space.” Burrington writes, </span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">"While transportation technologies are more legible as technologies that also transform the natural world (or at least the human experience of it), communication technologies' alchemical materiality is somewhat less appreciated. Which is odd, since that alchemical materiality is also arguably what makes those technologies often feel like magic. Patterns etched on silicon crystal circuits channel programmatic incantations into ashes of lightning, memory lives in the vacillations of magnets, love and anguish and horror are rendered into beams of light traversing oceans and reconstituted anew in seconds, a soothing voice from far beyond tells you to turn left onto Fourteenth Street as a blue dot on a screen nudges onward."</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">We wonder, how is technology like alchemy in its annihilation of space? How is it not? And what of the ineffable mutability that alchemy and circuit boards share, which are both more than the sum of their parts? </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">-- Liat + Elia + Rose</span></p></span><br class="gmail-Apple-interchange-newline"><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><span></span><div>--</div><div>liat berdugo // <span style="font-size:12.8px"><a href="https://twitter.com/whatliat" target="_blank">@whatliat</a> // </span><a href="http://www.liatberdugo.com/" style="font-size:12.8px" target="_blank">liatberdugo.com</a><span style="font-size:12.8px"> </span></div><div><br></div><div><div><font size="1">/////////////////////////////////////////////</font></div><div><p style="margin:0px;font-stretch:normal;line-height:normal;font-family:Helvetica"><b><font size="1">recent + upcoming thing(s)</font></b></p><p style="margin:0px;font-stretch:normal;line-height:normal;font-family:Helvetica"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"><font size="1">\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\</font></span></p><p style="margin:0px;font-stretch:normal;line-height:normal;font-family:Helvetica"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:x-small;white-space:pre-wrap"><br></span></p><p style="margin:0px;font-stretch:normal;line-height:normal;font-family:Helvetica"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:x-small;white-space:pre-wrap">Nov 1-15 — Digital Art Festival Die Digitale 2019, NRW Forum Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany. My work, "Unpatentable Multitouch Aerobics" will be presented and performed by a local German artist (who I have trained by Skype!) at the fourth annual festival for digital art. </span></p><p style="margin:0px;font-stretch:normal;line-height:normal;font-family:Helvetica"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:x-small;white-space:pre-wrap"><br></span></p><p style="margin:0px;font-stretch:normal;line-height:normal;font-family:Helvetica"><font size="1"><span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:"Maison Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Nov 14 - 15 — </span><a href="https://networkcultures.org/moneylab/events/moneylab-7-outside-of-finance/" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;outline:none;border:0px;color:rgb(0,195,255);line-height:24px;font-family:"Maison Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif" target="_blank">MoneyLab #7: Outside of Finance</a><span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:"Maison Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">, Tolhuistuin, Amsterdam. My collective's video work, </span><i style="margin:0px;padding:0px;outline:none;line-height:24px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:"Maison Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">The Insufferable Whiteness of Being</i><span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:"Maison Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">, will screen at the seventh edition of MoneyLab, which considers feminist economics, social payments, corporate crime, and the "blokechain.</span><span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:"Maison Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">"</span></font><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:x-small;white-space:pre-wrap"><br></span></p></div></div><div><p><span style="background-color:transparent;font-size:x-small;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Dec 9-13 — Residency at the </span><a href="https://mediaarchaeologylab.com/" style="font-size:x-small" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(17,85,204);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Media Archeology Lab</span></a><span style="background-color:transparent;font-size:x-small;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> (MAL), University of Colorado, Boulder. I'll be working on a new video series on the rituals of 'unboxing' technological devices.</span></p><font size="1">Feb 12-15, 2020 — <a href="https://www.collegeart.org/programs/conference/conference2020/" target="_blank">College Art Association Annual Conference</a>, Chicago, IL. I will be presenting two papers: "Eternal Boy Playground: an artistic critique of cryptocurrency, colonialism, and gender in a post-Maria Puerto Rico" and "The Weaponized Camera in the Middle East: Video, Politics, and the Visual in Israel-Palestine." I will also be co-organizing a series of events, panels, and workshops for the <a href="http://www.newmediacaucus.org/" target="_blank">New Media Caucus</a>.<br><br>Mar 3 - Apr 8, 2020 — Studio Visit: The Art + Architecture Faculty Triennial, <a href="https://www.usfca.edu/thacher-gallery" target="_blank">Thacher Gallery</a>, San Francisco, CA. More information forthcoming,<br><br>Mar 2020 — <a href="https://heavyheavybreathing.com/" target="_blank">Heavy Breathing</a>, San Francisco + online. I will be producing a video-based version of "Internet Aerobics" as part of Heavy Breathing's HB/AV, a series of artist-led movement seminars designed for audio/video download.<br><br>Apr 2020 — <a href="https://archive.org/details/MilitaryPowerPointEvent" target="_blank">Military Powerpoint Karaoke</a> returns to the Internet Archive, presented in partnership with Charlie Macquarie. More details forthcoming.</font></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Thu, Nov 21, 2019 at 7:49 AM margaretha haughwout <<a href="mailto:margaretha.anne.haughwout@gmail.com">margaretha.anne.haughwout@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">----------empyre- soft-skinned space----------------------<div dir="ltr">Dear -empyre-,<br><br>Greetings to two special guests: Liat Berdugo and Elia Vargas, who recently published *Spellwork -- Technology and Conjurings* through their *Livingroom Light Exchange* publication in San Francisco. I am so delighted that they are willing to spend some time sharing their thoughts on Magic and Technology with us today.<br><br>...<br><br>Liat Berdugo (US) she/her/hers<br>Liat Berdugo is an artist, writer, and curator whose work -- which focuses on embodiment and digitality, archive theory, and new economies -- interweaves video, writing, performance, and computer programming to form a considerate and critical lens on digital culture. Berdugo has been exhibited in galleries and festivals internationally, and her book, The Everyday Maths, was published by Anomalous Press in 2013. She is the co-founder and curator of the Bay Area’s Living Room Light Exchange, a monthly new media art salon, and one-half of the two person art collective, Anxious to Make. Her writing appears in Rhizome, Temporary Art Review, Institute for Network Cultures Longform, and others. Berdugo received an MFA from RISD and a BA from Brown University. She is an assistant professor of Art + Architecture at the University of San Francisco, and is currently writing a book about the weaponization of cameras in Israel/Palestine (forthcoming, Bloomsbury). More at <a href="http://www.liatberdugo.com/" target="_blank">www.liatberdugo.com/</a>.<br><br>Elia Vargas (US) he/him/his<br>Elia Vargas is an Oakland based, globally situated, artist, curator, and scholar. He works across multiple mediums, including video, sound, projection, writing, and performance. He is co-founder of the Living Room Light Exchange, a monthly salon on art and technology, and a Ph.D. candidate in Film and Digital Media at UC Santa Cruz. Vargas has a long history of community radio broadcasting and place-based projects following an interest in transmission and human/non-human cultural formulation. He collaborates widely with artists, musicians, and institutions. His current work argues for refiguring crude oil as media. More at <a href="http://www.eliavargas.com" target="_blank">www.eliavargas.com</a>.<br><br>--<br><a href="http://beforebefore.net" target="_blank">beforebefore.net</a><br>--<br><br></div>
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