life - pkd edition (inkubation 2)

video installation with thomas grill

part of an exhibition celebrating the 30th anniversary of philip k. dicks epiphany.

in philip k. dicks works the quest for life is essential. wether it is the androids in “do robots dream of electric sheep / blade runner” or himself in valis. even in minority report, the sages are seeking nothing more than real life. this is the origin of robot feelings - freudian robot traumatas emotionalising them. what if the machine is already alive, just waiting to be made perceived as living being?

individuals never fullfill all requirements to be counted as alive. sometimes they are not able to reproduce, sometimes they are not able to move. but even in that cases, they house other populations that do reproduce / move / seek living. bacteria and viruses live within all higher life forms. they form the basis of what is called life by mathematically simple behaviour.

is the collective of machines that is spread in an interconnected way around the globe already to be counted alive? there is software that reproduces. it even sometimes alters the code when doing so. there is a lot of copying happening. most of it is perfect, yet we humans serve as talented mutation creators sometimes (remix). the evolution of technological devices is following the rules of reproduction, mutation, selection and isolation. the origin of life will always be a birth.

exhibition:
2004 pink light, freiraum / museumsquartier, Vienna

material:
linux computer, television set (mono), net, footage from blade runner and documentaries.