FFF6 | The Gift of Automation

• From quite a young age, Petros Moris turned his attentions to computing and information technology, with a view to studying programming and security network systems. His engagement with digital and online culture is combined with a practical interest in materials and handcrafting techniques that emerged during his earliest school days, when he spent time helping out at his parents’ mosaic workshop in his hometown of Lamia.

• In the core to his work lies an interest in the dynamic relationship between memory and progress. He examines this conceptual configuration via a poetic reading of the intersections between the material and cultural stratifications that constitute the human, technological and cognitive environment, and of the interactions between natural and societal phenomena.
  
  
• His research is undertaken through the creation of sculptural installations and artistic writing, as well as via a network of artistic, curatorial and publication-oriented collaborations. These collaborations delineate the conceptual and aesthetic framework within which his personal artistic output is developed.

• In collaboration with Lito Kattou, he recently released “AM” – a literary, poetry and theory zine that brings together texts from centuries past that are now in the public domain, in order to create eclectic anthologies on a different theme for each issue.

• Ancient automata were self-operating machines powered by steam, water, gravity and other basic means. They were developed by various cultures, from the ancient Mediterranean and the Arabian Peninsula, to India and even the late medieval Europe. Moris’ interest in these hybrids of technological innovation and art lies in their developing during the Hellenistic period, when the art of automata was taught by scientists of the day, particularly at the Library of Alexandria.

Debating: The Gift of Automation

The speakers will explore the concept of technological automation as a kind of binate intellectual flight of fancy, though its mythological and historical roots down to its contemporary manifestations: from the automation of work in the Anthropocene to the development of artificial intelligence.

With: Debbora Battaglia (Research Professor of Anthropology), Daphne Dragona (Berlin-based curator and writer), Petros Moris, Matteo Pasquinelli (Professor in Media Philosophy at the University of Arts and Design, Karlsruhe)

Anima

Performative readings by Petros Moris and Lito Kattou, to the sounds of Khmer Rouge

An evening of readings, with texts taken from the latest issue of AM zine by Petros Moris, and accompanied by a live soundtrack performed by Khmer Rouge. "AM" is a literary, poetry and theory zine that brings together texts now in the public domain. Its second issue, "Anima", collates a peculiar anthology of texts and book extracts stretching from antiquity down to the mid-twentieth century, all of which concern themselves with the mythological and historical roots of technological automation and magical animism. "AM" is edited by Lito Kattou and Petros Moris.

From quite a young age, Petros Moris turned his attentions to computing and information technology, with a view to studying programming and security network systems. He combines an immersion in digital and online culture with a practical interest in materials and handcrafting techniques that emerged during his earliest school days, when he spent quite some time helping out at his parents’ mosaic workshop in his hometown of Lamia.

Core to his work is an interest in the dynamic relationship between memory and progress. He examines this conceptual configuration via a poetic reading of the intersections between the material and intellectual stratifications that constitute the human, technological and cognitive environment, and of the interactions between natural and societal phenomena.

His research is undertaken through the creation of sculptural installations and artistic writings, as well as via a network of artistic, curatorial and publication-oriented collaborations. These co-creations delineate the conceptual and aesthetic frameworks within which his personal artistic output is developed.

In collaboration with Lito Kattou, he recently released “AM” – a literary, poetry and theory zine that brings together texts from centuries past that are now in the public domain to create eclectic anthologies on a different theme for each issue.

Ancient automata were self-operating machines powered by steam, water, gravity and other means. They were developed by various cultures, from the ancient Mediterranean and Arabia through to India and even late medieval Europe. Moris’ interest in these hybrids of technological innovation and art lies in their study during the Hellenistic period, when the art of automata was taught by scientists of the day, particularly at the Library of Alexandria.