In the series HMKV Video of the Month, HMKV presents current video works by international artists for the duration of one month each – selected by Inke Arns.
Sebastian Schmieg: I Will Say Whatever You Want In Front Of A Pizza
HMKV Video of the Month
On view 1 – 31 May 2020
I Will Say Whatever You Want In Front Of A Pizza is a speculative Prezi* that explores digital labor, the amalgamation of humans and software, and the possibility of interventions inside algorithmic systems. It is narrated from the perspective of a cloud worker. While technology is often described as an extension of our bodies, the Prezi video explores a reversed relationship: digital workers as software extensions. The ubiquitous network and the computerization of everything have not only blurred the lines between bots and people – supposedly autonomous programs are sometimes people that have to act as if they were software. This development has also made it very easy for everyone to hire, program, and retire humans as part of any workflow: bodies and minds that can be plugged in, rewired, and discarded as one sees fit. The Prezi can exist in multiple forms simultaneously – video, slideshow, lecture performance, etc. Furthermore, the piece is never finished and can constantly update in order to always meet the market’s demands.
*Prezi is a visual storytelling software.
Read full statement on Akademie Schloss Solitude’s Schloss Post:
www.schloss-post.com/will-say-whatever-want-infront-pizza
Sebastian Schmieg, *1983 in Berlin, DE, is an artist and lecturer based in Berlin/DE. He examines the ways networked technologies shape online and offline realities, in artworks that range from shredded hard-drives from a Google datacenter to crowd-sourced versions of popular self-help books using Amazon’s Kindle. Schmieg’s output encompasses websites, videos, books, interface performances, online interventions, neural networks, botnets and Ї\(°_o)/Ї. His works have been presented at Transmediale, Berlin/DE, Art Center Nabi, Seoul/South Korea, Bitforms Gallery, New York, NY/USA, and Impakt Festival, Utrecht/NL.
Sebastian Schmieg
I Will Say Whatever You Want In Front Of A Pizza
Video, 12:29 min., loop, lecture performance, Prezi, 2017