Artists Open Studios by MozFest

MOZILLA FESTIVAL 2017

D G TAL

vulnerability makes us human

Vulnerability

NCLUS ON BROOKLYN

today i want to talk about the vulnerabilities of being (digital and all) i don’t know if we ever truly interrogate what vulnerability is and what it means for us.

TEXT > DIGITAL INCLUSION > KEY TERMS

as a tool to navigate the world

inc ca lus ex n’t ioa wi ist n em th ou pa t th y

EMPATHY

Technology

Empathy is the capacity to understand or feel what another person is experiencing from within the other person’s frame of reference, i.e., the capacity to place oneself in another’s position. There are many definitions for empathy that encompass a broad range of emotional states. Types of empathy include cognitive empathy, emotional empathy, and somatic empathy.1

SELF-REFLECTION

Human self-reflection is the capacity of humans to exercise introspection and the willingness to learn more about their fundamental nature, purpose and essence. The earliest historical records demonstrate the great interest which humanity has had in itself. Human self-reflection is related to the philosophy of consciousness, the topic of awareness, consciousness in general and the philosophy of mind. 2 2

i’m rejecting the idea of vulnerability as a mode of disregarded weakness. our sense of vulnerability is in fact innately human. instead, let’s explore the vulnerabilities of being and it’s necessity to build connective collective empathy.

Feeling vulnerable online

the vulnerabilities of dreaming, in a world governed by homogeneous toxic misteachings of branded macho-ism. in a world that requires improvisation at every moment. so this is what we are exploring.

In order to create inclusive spaces, we need to create inclusive spaces

INCLUSIVITY

i want to explore the technologies we implore every day as tools to navigate all the things that exist in a very resilient selfdriven world.

Empathy

An intention or policy of including people who might otherwise be excluded or marginalized, such as those who are handicapped or learning-disabled, or racial and sexual minorities.3

BROOKLYN ASKS

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safe-space

AUDIENCE RESPONDS Come and join us!!

SAFE-SPACE

I’m so lost (I found a way)

In educational institutions, safe space (or safe-space), safer space, and positive space are terms that, as originally intended, were used to indicate that a teacher, educational institution, or student body did not tolerate anti-LGBT violence, harassment or hate speech, thereby creating a safe place for all LGBT students. The term safe space has been extended to refer to an autonomous space for individuals who feel marginalized to come together to communicate regarding their experiences with marginalization, typically on a university campus. Safe spaces exist in educational institutions of anglophone countries. The idea of safe spaces has seen criticism on the grounds that it stifles freedom of speech. Critics claim safe spaces hinder the exposure of sensitive material that needs to be discussed and explained in an educational environment.4 4

i’m not interested in sweeping statements of empathetic learning and building for the sole purpose of opportunist capital gain.

Emotional labour

The vulnerability of the individual

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-reflection

today i want us to imagine, to dream, to question.

There is a necessity to build a collective connected emphathy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empathy

J PAKATH

TEXT > DIGITAL INCLUSION > PROJECT DESCRIPTION > BY BROOKLYN J. PAKATHI

This is my home Type of Project: Pixelated Digital Renderings | Poster Art | Public Art Project Description: this is my home, aimed at creating dialogues of empathy and diversity for a greater sense of digital inclusion, is a series of digital renderings representative of the spectrum of shades within human skin tone and overlaid with subtle and often gentle messages of understanding in hopes to promote a higher level of care and concern in digital communication and accessibility. the digital renderings will be produced as large posters and placed across the mozilla festival venue to act as a public service announcement to engage with guests in attendance, prompting viewers to feel considered in their contribution towards an open and diverse internet. Project Statement: empathy involves the inner experience of sharing in and comprehending the momentary psychological state of another person (schafer, 1959). what future do we envision, when we talk about digital inclusion? we

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safe-space

DIGITAL INCLUSION

BROOKLYN J. PAKATHI

in searching for the connectors of cause, meaning and sense of resolve, brooklyn j’s work fundamentally speaks to the tragic vulnerability of romance he explores these themes of an existential nature, plagued by fragility, through video vignettes, digital observations, and photographic interrogations. making loneliness an art since 92’ often define inclusion as the ability of individuals and groups to access and use information and communication technologies. encompassing not only access to the internet but also the availability of hardware and software; relevant content and services; and training for the digital literacy skills required

for effective use of information and communication technologies. but in and of itself, digital inclusion can often overlook the necessity for creating and maintaining a dialogue of digital empathy. as with many other aspects of contemporary culture, rapid adoption of social and mobile technologies has altered society’s communication patterns and disrupted the expression of empathy, specifically in digital conversations. mobile and social media use has transformed when and how individuals interact with others. the ability to instantly share thoughts, feelings, and behaviors with the rest of society via digital channels can occur in mere seconds, often without the empathetic social filter that accompanies traditional communications. moreover, digital communications are devoid of many of the emotional signals and cues experienced in face-to-face settings, often leading to more impersonal interactions. creating and exploring digital empathy unlocks the digital communication of empathy, one of the core elements missing from how we currently communicate online. there are few ways to show a friend, a loved one, a group or a community as a whole that you feel empathetic towards their situation. the project, this is my home, tries to understand what it means to be digitally human taking into account the worlds of digital and non-digital are becoming more and more one in the same. the messages project empathy as enacted between a community and pay attention to someone else’s experience in a way that allows the other to realize that we all share and understand the essential quality of our digital experiences. the work aims to understand how other people feels and to be able to communicate this understanding in a way that is uniquely ‘human’. this physical and tangible work presented seemingly offline but still represented in a digital space reflects the present day failure of digital devices and online communications to facilitate the expression of empathy between people. the importance for the work to exist in and around the festival space works

this is your home

it’s going to be okay

Embrace them. If you need a chat / walk / silent film, let me know

this is a safe space

Outcome

You are not alone and all will be well. It’s because of you, that I am still standing!! This will pass. You are fine. We are with you. Use this. Become better from experience.

Round table discussion cted

empat

Safe space

[...] Making Web literacy meaningful for everyone Web literacy should mean all the skills we need to think, create, and thrive online. Many people hear the term Web literacy and think it means learning to code, or STEM (science, technology, engineering, maths) education. But Web literacy is much broader than that – it should include all the skills to be confident and competent online. To be empowered digital citizens, we all need to know how to navigate, how to share, what information to trust, and most importantly, how to expand the frontiers of our knowledge.

[...] Cultivating digital citizenship

Web literacy should be a foundational to education as reading, writing, and maths are – and it should be taught everywhere learning happens.

A fundamental part of Web literacy is understanding the forces that shape our lives online: the companies building our experiences, the politicians crafting and supporting government policies, and the power we hold as digital citizens to create the Internet we want. Having a say in our shared future on the Web means deciding which values are most important to us, and standing up for those values when they are threatened.

Protest Culture DIGITAL CULTURE

Digital Animal Memes by The Civic Beat (Jason Li and An Xiao Mina)

(A digital thing showing top into a physical thing.)

Variation

Cross geography connections in the memes.

Variation of a same meme

The process

IMAGES

Washington, DC

Digital

#nastywoman

PHOTOGRAPHS

HASHTAG

Audience creating physical memes during the Meme Lab workshop

Digital memes

Physical

Product memes

Photo courtesy of Erik Westra

Formal taxonomies can be developed from the folk taxonomy rendered machine-readable by the markup that hashtags provide; this process is called folksonomy.6 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hashtag

MATERIAL CULTURE

Material culture is the physical aspect of culture in the objects and architecture that surround people. It includes usage, consumption, creation and trade of objects, and the behaviors, norms and rituals these objects create or take part in. The term is commonly used in archaeological and anthropological studies, specifically focusing on the material evidence which can be attributed to culture, in the past or present. Material culture studies is an interdisciplinary field telling of relationships between people and their things: the making, history, preservation, and interpretation of objects. It draws on theory and practice from the social sciences and humanities such as art history, archaeology, anthropology, history, historic preservation, folklore, literary criticism and museum studies, among others. Anything from buildings and architectural elements to books, jewelry, or toothbrushes can be considered material culture.7

For the Mozilla Festival residency, I propose #MemeLab: an installation and workshop that looks at these themes and engages attendees in co-creating the installation. The installation will take the form of a scientific laboratory, with walls covered in chalk paint, as we try to diagram meme culture in both its online and offline manifestations. This might include a world map, to help emphasize the global-ness of meme culture. We will pre-install a few diagrams, including #RefugeesWelcome, #NastyWoman, #CatsAgainstBrexit, #Covfefe and a few others in other languages. These diagrams will start with a meme sparking event, with hashtags drawn in chalk, digital memes printed out and taped to the wall, product examples, and selfies in a loop on a digital screen. Attendees will be invited to create diagrams of their own, starting with a meme sparking event, whether in politics or general life. They will then be walked through a few key exercises: Hashtag station: Select a strip of paper from a test tube and write out a hashtag. Printing station: create a simple meme,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Material_culture

Photo courtesy of Erik Westra

Digital again

Selfies memes TEXT > WEB LITERACY > PROJECT DESCRIPTION > AN XIAO IN COLLABORATION WITH JASON LI

Because of its widespread use, hashtag was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in June 2014. The term hashtag can also refer to the hash symbol itself when used in the context of a hashtag.

Washington, DC

San Jose, CA

Someone says something (‘She is a nasty woiman)

Pussycat vs. Redhat

Users create and use hashtags by placing the number sign or pound sign # (also known as the hash character) in front of a string of alphanumeric characters, usually a word or unspaced phrase, in or at the end of a message. The hashtag may contain letters, digits, and underscores. Searching for that hashtag will yield each message that has been tagged with it. A hashtag archive is consequently collected into a single stream under the same hashtag. For example, on the photosharing service Instagram, the hashtag #bluesky allows users to find all the posts that have been tagged using that hashtag.

Washington, DC

Images from An Xiao Mina’s presentation.

A thing from internet gets remixed, goes to physical world and back to digital.

ARTWORK

# on manifestation boards

Internet Culture

https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Digital_culture

[...] Teaching Web literacy effectively

Learning Web literacy is like any other essential skill: we learn best by doing. And in the digital world, learning happens not just with teachers in the classroom, but everywhere there’s an Internet connection. We need all kinds of educators to have the knowledge and resources to teach Web literacy the way kids learn it best. And we need to make sure every student grows up not just on the Web, but fluent in the way it works.

Digital Culture stands for the contemporary phase of communication technologies, one that follows 19th century print culture and 20th century electronic broadcast culture, and that is deeply amplified and accelerated by the popularity of networked computers, personalised technologies and digital images. The emergence of digital culture is usually associated with a set of practices based on the ever more intensive use of communication technologies. These uses imply more participatory behaviors on the user side, an ever more visually riched environment and connection features that excell personal dimensions. Digital culture stands first of all for the changes brought about by the emergence of digital, networked and personalised media in our society and the passing from communication phases centred on print and broadcast media, to more personalised and networked media, that use digital compressing and processing capacities at their core. The consequences of such processes in societal terms and the means via which media technologies transform our modes of interaction and representation, broadly constitute what is called “digital culture”.5

HTTPS://CYBER.HARVARD.EDU/PEOPLE/AXMINA

WEB LITERACY

Photo courtesy of Erik Westra

Hashtag wall

Make a bag

Recently a 2016 Knight Visiting Nieman Fellow, where she studied online language barriers and their impact on journalism, Mina is currently working on a book about internet memes and global social movements (working title: “Memes to Movements”), to be published by Beacon Press.

using a meme template, of the hashtag and print it out. Making station: create a button, sticker, paper sign and/or canvas bag inspired by the hashtag. Selfie station: take a photo of yourself with the hashtag, printed meme, and object. Attach the hashtag and objects to the wall and draw chalk lines connecting them to each other and to others to which they have a thematic relationship. Since long before the internet, social movements have relied on a vast repertoire of creative actions and media to represent what they stand for: buttons, bumper stickers, paper signs, hats. Creative culture has leaned on street art, hip hop and dance to generate cultures of remix and performance. These same media actions are still utilized frequently in movements and marketing, but now, in the age of smartphones and the internet, they quickly intersect with the online world. Objects of meme culture get printed out and placed on t-shirts. People carrying clever signs watch their signs get photographed and then go viral on the

Photo courtesy of Erik Westra

DIAGRAM Spatial and participatory mapping of the installation/workshop

She has spoken at venues like the Personal Democracy Forum, ACM SIGCHI, Creative Mornings, the Aspen Institute, RightsCon and the Institute for the Future, and she has contributed writing to publications like the Los Angeles Review of Books, Fusion, the New Inquiry, Nieman Journalism Lab, Places Journal and others.

Make a badge

Create a hashtag

internet. The digital and the physical are deeply intertwined, and this workshop will help visitors see the process. The installation and workshop will build on themes from “The Things of the Internet,” a lecture I gave at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University. In this talk, I explored the online-offline. I adapted the talk for a lecture at the University of Hong Kong’s Journalism and Media Studies Centre, where I developed a workshop format that proved to be quite successful and engaging with undergraduates from the University of Hong Kong and Fudan University (Shanghai). It also builds on Grotte de l’Internetz, a workshop and installation at SOMArts in San Francisco, where the artist invited participants to create Stone Age art of animal memes in the spirit of the Grotte Chauvet; as well as the World Animal Meme Map and photo exhibition, shown at the Victoria and Albert Museum’s Friday Late program this past summer.

TAKE A SELFIE

AN XIAO MINA

TEXT > WEB LITERACY > INTRO > SOURCE > ALL FROM HTTPS://WWW.MOZILLA.ORG/EN-GB/INTERNETHEALTH/WEB-LITERACY/

Make a emoji

Make a poster Use an existing Hashtag

Make a cap

OPEN NNOVAT ON

GRETTA LOUW

TEXT > DECENTRALISATION > KEY TERMS

ARCHANA PRASAD AND SEAN BLAGSVEDT

ADAO CURRENCY NOTE Each grantee will receive a currency note, personalized with their photo

CRYPTOCURRENCY

DECENTRAL SAT ON

Decentralisation is outside of control of one specific autority, distributing for many form of conentration...

Bitcoin, created in 2009, was the first decentralized cryptocurrency. Since then, numerous cryptocurrencies have been created. These are frequently called altcoins, as a blend of bitcoin alternative. Bitcoin and its derivatives use decentralized control as opposed to centralized electronic money/central banking systems. The decentralized control is related to the use of bitcoin’s blockchain transaction database in the role of a distributed ledger.11 11

Decentralisation

Distribution of power from concentration? power=money? Decision making? actions? Federation? Choices? Diversity?

Visibility of a transaction chain

Traces of this transaction

Decentralisation: brings the problems of lack of trust

Value comes with trust.

Accountability means taking integrity on an action

DIAGRAM Spatial and participatory mapping of the installation/workshop

Much of the recent sociological debate about power revolves around the issue of its means to enable – in other words, power as a means to make social actions possible as much as it may constrain or prevent them. The philosopher Michel Foucault saw power as a structural expression of “a complex strategic situation in a given social setting” that requires both constraint and enablement.12

TEXT > DECENTRALISATION > PROJECT DESCRIPTION > ARCHANA PRASAD AND SEAN BLAGSVEDT

What is the ADAO? The ADAO stands for Altruistic Democratic Autonomous Organization and offers ada coins as a normative currency with 30% of token supply allocated to form an endowment. Borrowing from Ethereum’s DAO, currency holders in the ADAO will be able to vote on which socially beneficial projects are funded from the endowment. As the value of the currency pool grows, the endowment will grow with it, with the ultimate goal of creating one of the world’s largest democratically run philanthropy funds.

ACCOUNTABILITY

How does it work? A significant share of the currency will form an endowment to support SDG focused artists and social organizations worldwide, with governance and decisions over who gets funded controlled by the community of adacoin holders via Ethereum smart contracts. To raise funds, we will accept donations in other crypto-currencies directly such as ETH and Bitcoin. The ADAO organization will help aid recipients navigate local jurisdiction issues such that they can legally and efficiently convert crypto-donations into local currencies. We will also encourage everyone, but especially artists, developers and social organizations to accept payments in ada coins and to provide services and artifacts that can be bought in ada coins. In doing so, we will fund the greatest democratically governed social/art endowment fund in the world and ultimately monetarily encourage acts of social value.

In governance, accountability has expanded beyond the basic definition of “being called to account for one’s actions”. It is frequently described as an account-giving relationship between individuals, e.g. “A is accountable to B when A is obliged to inform B about A’s (past or future) actions and decisions, to justify them, and to suffer punishment in the case of eventual misconduct”. Accountability cannot exist without proper accounting practices; in other words, an absence of accounting means an absence of accountability.

This installation-performance will speak in the aesthetic, language and mode of a modern bank. Blurring satire with reality, participants can apply for actual grants to be paid in ADAO coins, which will be tradable for traditional currencies on crypto-currency markets. The ADAO Bank will award grants, loans and saving schemes to people interested in working on the SDG’s. It will provide investment and

Accountability is an element of a RACI to indicate who is ultimately answerable for the correct and thorough completion of the deliverable or task, and the one who delegates the work to those responsible. There are various reasons (legitimate or excuses) why accountability fails.13 13

[...] User Control: Deciding who can collect your data We should all be able to choose – with clarity and confidence – what information we share with what companies, understanding the trade-offs we’re making when we do. Right now, we all lack meaningful choice online – privacy policies are often miles long and hard to read, we don’t understand what information we’re sharing or when, and opting out is seldom on the menu.

[...] Cyber Security: Locking down your sensitive information We should all have the ability to protect our online identity. At this point, it feels like we’ve all been victims of a cyberattack somewhere, somehow. Data breaches can lay bare the passwords of millions of people, often going undiscovered for years. Which means your identity may be at risk of theft without you even knowing it.

[...] Government Surveillance: Keeping prying eyes and ears out of your business We should all have the freedom to be ourselves — online and off – without surveillance, judgement and imposed societal bias. You wouldn’t want the government following your every move in real life – there’s no reason they should be shadowing you on the Internet. The Edward Snowden disclosures showed that even democracies can and do take liberties with your privacy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accountability

Fill out a form

Interview

Take a photo

Get tokens

Get currency note

ARCHANA PRASAD AND SEAN BLAGSVEDT IN COLLABORATION WITH FREEMAN MURRAY Round Table

Archana Prasad, is an artist from Bangalore, India. Her work is a particular conjunction of visual art, technology and urban community art, ste wed in design and research methodologies. As Founder of Jaaga.in, Archana has a unique artist-activist role. Sean Blagsvedt is a technologist and entrepreneur. His recent company babajob provided job information to 10 million blue collar workers across India. Archana and Sean are concerned about the unjust assignment of value, thus currency, that tilts towards mechanisms of successful acquisition based models and stockpiling capital, rather than rewarding innovation and creation, especially around work that fulfills important societal goals but do not create large profits.

philanthropic options for those interested in growing their crypto-currency assets. The ADAO Bank booth provides MozFest participants human connections and conversations about the coin, the bank, its goals and objectives. Additionally the “employees” at the ADAO booth have discretionary power to award a limited number of coins to deserving participants from MozFest. Interaction Model: Participants fill out a form at the booth. Similar to a loan application, they will be invited to describe their own pledges to support the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Two tellers - the artists, will interview applicants, take their photo and given a limited number of token grants. Each grantee will receive a currency note, personalized with their photo.

currency, with the needed crypto-graphic keys printed on it such that the participant can claim the ADAO token online). Our Vision What do we want to accomplish? 1. To Take Back Crypto-currency and money itself for 2. Creativity = Wealth Currency is a Choice of: Ethics Models Value Alignment A sustainable futur Politics

(The rendering of the note is a Deep Learning based Style filter of the participant’s photo and a traditional

DIAGRAMS

POLARIZATION (POLITICS)

In politics, polarization (or polarisation) can refer to the divergence of political attitudes to ideological extremes. Polarization can refer to such divergence like public opinion or even to such divergence within certain groups. Almost all discussions of polarization in political science consider polarization in the context of political parties and democratic systems of government. When polarization occurs in a two-party system, like the United States, moderate voices often lose power and influence.14 14

Polarization creates

Questions polarised by the (geographical) context

Yes or No

Bringing tension to the debate by polarising the responses (he doesn’t’ believe in polarisation so that is his way of questioning it)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polarization_(politics)

INFORMATION ETHICS

The term information ethics was first coined by Robert Hauptman and used in the book Ethical challenges in librarianship. It examines the morality that comes from information as a resource, a product, or as a target. It provides a critical framework for considering moral issues concerning informational privacy, moral agency (e.g. whether artificial agents may be moral), new environmental issues (especially how agents should behave in the infosphere), problems arising from the life-cycle (creation, collection, recording, distribution, processing, etc.) of information (especially ownership and copyright, digital divide, and digital rights). It is very vital to understand that librarians, archivists, information professionals among others, really understand the importance of knowing how to disseminate proper information as well as being responsible with their actions when addressing information.15 15

By Paolo Cirio. Source > http://globaldirect.today

Experiment about liberation: people all agree if they can access the same information

TEXT > PRIVACY AND SECURITY > KEY TERMS

15 TEXT > WEB LITERACY > INTRO > SOURCE > ALL FROM HTTPS:// WWW.MOZILLA.ORG/EN-GB/ INTERNET-HEALTH/PRIVACYSECURITY/

HTTPS://THEADAO.ORG

DECENTRALISATION

The ADAO is a philanthropic cryptocurrency that supports creatives who advance the Sustainable Development Goals, representing an entirely new way to fund social and creative revolutionaries.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_(social_and_ political)

Decentralisation is related with lack of accountability

Accountability= integrity of action? trust?

A Healthy Internet is Secure and Private The Internet only stays healthy if we trust it as a safe place – to explore, transact, connect, and create. Our privacy and security online is under constant threat. But there’s something you can do about it: get informed, protect yourself, and make your voice heard. A healthy Internet depends on you. [...]

PHOTOGRAPHS Audience interacting at the Adao Bank installation

POWER

PRIVACY & SECURITY PAOLO CIRIO

Decentralisation feedback mechanism in economical transactions

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptocurrency

In social science and politics, power is the ability to influence or outright control the behaviour of people. The term “authority” is often used for power perceived as legitimate by the social structure. Power can be seen as evil or unjust, but the exercise of power is accepted as endemic to humans as social beings. In business, power is often expressed as being “upward” or “downward”. With downward power, a company’s superior influences subordinates. When a company exerts upward power, it is the subordinates who influence the decisions of their leader or leaders.

Politics

PHOTOGRAPHS Participatory installation set up and audience interacting with polls part of Aesthetics of Information Ethics.

Information ethics How to represent sensible information (and the aesthetics derived from it)

Information Ecology

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_ethics Photo courtesy of Erik Westra

DELIBERATION

Deliberation is a process of thoughtfully weighing options, usually prior to voting. Deliberation emphasizes the use of logic and reason as opposed to power-struggle, creativity, or dialog. Group decisions are generally made after deliberation through a vote or consensus of those involved.

VS PARTICIPATION EMANCIPATION FREEDOM

In legal settings a jury famously uses deliberation because it is given specific options, like guilty or not guilty, along with information and arguments to evaluate. In “deliberative democracy”, the aim is for both elected officials and the general public to use deliberation rather than power-struggle as the basis for their vote.16 16

Photo courtesy of Erik Westra

HTTPS://PAOLOCIRIO.NET/PRESS/TEXTS/AESTHETICS-INFORMATION-ETHICS.PHP

MISLEADING POLARITIES IN INFORMATION ETHICS

INCLUSION ACCESS COMMONS

EXPLOITATION CONTROL WITHHOLDING PROPERTY

PRIVATE

PUBLIC

OPACITY

TRANSPARENCY

PRIVACY OBSCURITY EMPATHY ANONYMITY

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deliberation

COERCION

EXCLUSION

RESPONSIBILITY

SURVEILLANCE EXPOSURE HUMILIATION ACCOUNTABILITY IMPUNITY

REPUTATION

SCORING

AUTONOMY

MANIPULATION

EDUCATING

MISINFORMING

QUANTIFIABLE SIMPLICITY

UNDETECTABLE COMPLEXITY

HTTPS://CYBER.HARVARD.EDU/PEOPLE/AXMINA

PRIVACY & SECURITY

PAOLO CIRIO

Paolo Cirio works with legal, economic and semiotic systems of the information society. He investigates social fields impacted by the Internet, such as privacy, copyright, democracy, and finance. He shows his research and intervention-based works through artifacts, photos, installations, videos, and public art. Cirio has exhibited in international museums and institutions and has won numerous prestigious art awards. His artworks have been covered by hundreds of media outlets worldwide and he regularly gives public lectures and workshops at leading universities.

SOME PROBLEMATIC ISSUES CONCERNING INFORMATION ETHICS: SEARCH ENGINES & SOCIAL MEDIA MODERATION HATE SPEECH HARRASSMENT TROLLING BULLYING BLACKMAIL STIGMAS SOCIAL PROFILING SOCIAL SCORE & BIAS CONSUMER PROFILING SEX OFFENDERS CRIMINAL RECORDS PREDICTIVE POLICING RACIAL PROFILING PRIVACY & SURVEILLANCE STATE AND CORPORATE SURVEILLANCE CRYPTOGRAPHY FOR POWER STRUCTURES CRYPTOGRAPHY FOR INDIVIDUALS PUBLIC SHAMING BLOCKCHAIN, DEEPWEB AND DARKNET ANONYMITY TRUST PRIVACY FRAUD HATE SPEECH CRUELTY ALGORITHMS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE CONTROL ACCOUNTABILITY OF CODERS ROBOTICS AUTOMATED WEAPONS AUTOMATED LABOR PIRACY COPYRIGHT TRADEMARK FAIR USE EDUCATION ROYALITIES MEDIA AND POLITICS TARGETING VOTERS FAKE NEWS SHARING ECONOMY PRIVATE PROPERTY LABOR RIGHTS DIGITAL CURRENCIES TRANSPARENCY VOLATILITY ACCESS TO MEANS INFRASTRUCTURES ECOLOGICAL IMPACT DECENTRALISATION INTERNET OF THINGS POLICY CLOUD SERVERS

The Aesthetics of Information Ethics discusses methodologies, strategies, and practices of art addressing the personal and societal spheres affected by information systems. Information Ethics is broadly defined as “the branch of ethics that focuses on the relationship between the creation, organization, dissemination, and use of information.”[1] The so-called information revolution brings us an increasing number of pressing ethical issues. Artists can be particularly sensitive to these issues and they are able to question ethics by proposing and challenging perceptions and scenarios beyond common understanding. Artworks can creatively discuss and play with distribution systems of sensitive information, ethereal economies, flexible labor and property, circulating bodies and goods, manipulated and monitored relationships, expanded public spaces, exploited opinion formation, and, generally, technological apparatuses affecting social systems. Nowadays, social contracts are fluid; they constantly reorganize society and produce new social conditions. These active spaces are where information ethics emerge and where artists intervene in questioning, revealing, and reassembling the agents and environments of their artworks. Ethics of Aesthetics concerns the ethical frameworks in arranging the sensibility of the audience and the subjects of the artworks. The aesthetic methodologies of intervention, discourse, and representation of information systems can include the production of critique, distress, fear, empathy, alienation, complicity, spectacle, confusion, awareness, and other artistic devices. The aesthetic qualities of the artworks can be called into question through the articulation of the ethical conditions of the works and their subjects. The responsibility and conscience of the artists - as well as of the art critics and curators - are integrated in the analysis and validation of the social and artistic efficacy of the artworks. Concurrently, the ethical and social relations created by these artworks produce aesthetic forms, which concerns the field of the Aesthetics of Ethics. Social fields and norms are increasingly interdependent with technological advancements of information

Ethics are negotiated, developed, and balanced through reflections on the consequences and intentions of human activity. Differentiating themselves from morals - which are often static and ideological - ethics are dynamic, reflexive, and evolving principles that must be

oriented to maximize and develop the common good within the notion of ethics as the making and understanding of a dignified existence for humans and the environment surrounding them.

The Ethics of Representation and information systems

As such, techniques like the exposure and appropriation of sensitive information as well as the manipulation and disruption of social relations should be balanced with the parameters of intentions, receptions, and outcomes of the artwork. In the Aesthetics of Information Ethics, context is main the principle from which we can assess the ethics of artworks. Meaning and impact vary based on the context of presentation, execution, and results. The context needs to account for all the properties of the information systems involved. These methodologies, techniques, and practices of art production and critique are ultimately

Questions from Aesthetics of Information Ethics’ polls.

Should fake news on social media be removed by Internet companies themselves?

Should the coders of algorithms with racial biases be legally accountable?

Should we be able to trace individuals who use digital currency, such as Bitcoin?

Should the documents leaked by Snowden be made available to everyone – not only journalists?

Should politicians be able to use fully cryptographed communications for work?

Should vulnerable individuals be protected online even if they are key to public debate?

Should electronic voting be completely avoided and analog systems restored?

Should we remunerate the open source code utilized by big corporations such as Google?

Can the hacking of political parties during election be justified?

Should Facebook delete posts concerning hate speech toward refugees?

Should public figures on TwiFer be given access to block other accounts?

Should voter profiling and databases being banned?

Should poli:cal spending for online ads be regulated like they are on TV?

Should ads managed by algorithms be considered physiologically manipulative advertising?

DIAGRAM Spatial and partecipatory mapping of the installation.

Presentation screen

Diagrams Yes No

Results

The ethics of the power of these information systems are directly embodied in artworks that use and address such power. The ethical inquiries and relations activated by art with information systems create aesthetic forms. This aesthetics is discussed by measuring, comparing, and evaluating the strategies, consequences, conditions, and circumstances of the works of art. Such analysis needs to take into account a broad social context, therefore integrating the distribution of the work, the mode of presentation within the site of execution, and ultimately the intended and unintended recipients, critiques, and results that the work generates.

constantly discussed and confronted. Art plays a central role in this process. Evolving cultural forms and critical art are essential instruments for sensing and signaling the forming of ethics.

QUESTIONS

SHOULD FAKE NEWS ON SOCIAL MEDIA BE REMOVED BY INTERNET COMPANIES THEMSELVES ?

14 QUESTIONS = 14 POLS

Feedback from the audience + Add new questions

Yes

87 NO

Question

Polarities in Ethics of Representation In the Aesthetics of Information Ethics, the appearances, perceptions, and sensations of reality created by artists should take into account the formation of polarities. Mystifications and oversimplifications about the social impacts of information systems are instances of the Ethics of Representation. As such, the creation of falsehoods, hype, confusion, anxiety, or fatalism sustained by the producers and reporters of information systems create polarities in understanding ever-changing technological apparatuses and their social impacts. The Aesthetics of Information Ethics is about breaking down polarities to offer a broader understanding of the conditions within these systems. Examples of problematic issues in Information Ethics The Aesthetics of Information Ethics can be applied to examining the liability of algorithms, responsibility in anonymous networks, exploitation of shared content and labor, censorship on social media, freedom of speech used to harass, public shaming to condemn, hacking to protest or leak, and micro-targeting for political campaigning. In order to inspire inquiry, the artist questions how to balance freedom, empathy, justice, and accountability. By Paolo Cirio. 2017. [1] Joan, Reitz M. “Information Ethics.” Online Dictionary For Library And Information Science. N.p., 2010.

tomorrow will be better.

It gets better, but it does take time. She’s always with you. You got this. You can do this.

Conne

PHOTOGRAPHS

Tactical Technology Collective instructing the audience on how to use their Data Detox Kit

Visitors exploring vistual reality at Callum Cooper’s VR installation about privacy.

SOURCE > HTTPS://TACTICALTECH.ORG/NEWS/ DATA-DETOX-KIT/

Detox your Digital Self THE 8-DAY DATA DETOX Do you feel like your digital self is slipping out of control? Have you let yourself install too many apps, clicked “I agree” a few too many times, lost track of how many accounts you’ve created? Perhaps you feel you’re not as in control of your digital life as you’d like to be.

Photo courtesy of Erik Westra Photo courtesy of Erik Westra

Don’t despair! This data detox is designed just for you. By the end of the 8-day program, you’ll be well on your way to a healthier and more in-control digital self. The Data Detox Kit was produced for The Glass Room NYC, presented by Mozilla and Tactical Technology Collective.

Photo courtesy of Erik Westra

SHOULD POLITICIANS BE ABLE TO USE FULLY CRYPTOGRAPHED COMMUNICATIONS FOR WORK ?

57 YES

You are valuable. You don’t need to achieve + lead + be visible to others to be valuable + deserve consideration.

Deep breaths - water.

Remember the last time you faced a major change -> it turned out to be for the better. This will too.

User Responses

Don’t overthink, it will be fine. Just relax. Nothing is constant. Think about all the good that has happened.

Don’t worry you’re still pretty. Lin chiah pà bē? Everything is temporary

Project Description: although the construct of empathy is multidimensional in nature and difficult to measure, i hope to create an effective strategy for highlighting empathy that focus specifically on communication skills training. the open lab project will visually explore the mozilla festival’s community’s understanding of digital empathy through a survey in which users can answer a serious of questions by applying coloured stickers to a chart in an effort to reflect levels of understanding towards digital empathy, accessibility and inclusion. self-reflection is a useful method for addressing empathy. and as such self-reflection activities could theoretically prompt guests to question and examine their interactions in the online world. this self-examination process may potentially develop heightened online awareness and promote increased digital empathy. the means by which empathy is expressed is naturally evolving as the world and its forms of communications become increasingly digital and recognizing and addressing barriers to the expression of digital empathy is important. if we can sharpen the communication skills of traditional empathy, how can we then use those skills to address the greater discussion of digital empathy?

everyday is trying. I am with you. well done. I’m here… and I promise to never let you go.

Life has its ups & downs.

build grow heal love

Open Lab Session. Type of Project: Survey | Data Visualization

What is the worst that can happen? How likely is it to happen?

This too shall pass.

You have overcome so many other things already too

Digital Renders

You’re always trying so hard,

You are loved You are not alone! We are with you

If you’re just travelling when there’s sun, you’ll never get anywhere

TEXT > WEB LITERACY > KEY TERMS

A healthy Internet means everyone has the skills to thrive People everywhere should have the knowledge they need to tap into the full power of the Internet – and use it to make their lives and the world better. This means everyone needs to be able to read, write, and participate online. A healthy Internet is yours to master.depends on you. [...]

Trying makes a difference. Trying can be your victory.

Are you ok?

Spatial and partecipatory mapping of the installation.

Tsemppiä!

Aim to be comfortably lost

The pendulum will swing

DIAGRAM

You haven’t killed anyone… it’s ok!

This too shall pass

What is (realistically) the worst that could happen?

COLLABORATRIVE SPACE

WEB LITERACY

i found that certain understandings of definitions become very nuclear, contaminated and porous so what does it mean when i talk about technology in the context of vulnerability and who we are today.

Questioning the role of technology in the context of vulnerability

I got you load of Biscoff, all the music you like, a bluetooth speaker and also the people you are friend with are online. ? Do you want a hug? xx Take a break – I’ve got this! It’ll be alright. Trust me. You only live once =) It’s not the end of the world!!! A vide é muito curta. Aproveite! Be brilliant by your own standards. Not of others. Go on! Don’t let fear stop your explorations! You’ve made a difference in my life, what you do matters. You are enough! <3

i want to explore the daily trauma we undergo to earn the coveted badge of successful human existence that often negates notions of struggle, loneliness and deeper meanings of wounded-ness. a trauma that plays itself in sets and loops traveling by genome and bloodstream. we need to close, we need to fill this loop. so from that, i find the vulnerability of digital immersion. soaking myself in the frailties of others to wash away things gray. and sometimes in the immersion, i find that i might be required to live them. and from disenfranchised digital cultures i learn about the vulnerabilities of race and how it was only created to sustain a larger system of capitalism. error 404, page not found. i was invited here to speak about inclusion. but i think we should focus on loops, and loopholes and continuums. about closing the gaps and expanding our capacity to include more brokenness. from distorted views of linear utoipian w

27 — 29 OCT

MOZILLA FESTIVAL 2017

ARTIST OPEN STUDIO FOR ART AND DESIGN IN AN OPEN AND HEALTHY WEB

27 — 29 OCT

Ensuring the health of the internet requires a diversity of approaches and voices. The conversations shaped by Art and Design form some key aspects for relevant creative practice and critical thinking around an open and healthy web. Art and Design bring cross-connections between different disciplines, creating awareness in dynamic ways,opening up questions and engaging diverse audiences. Exploring Mozilla’s values of the open-web through art & design based approaches is important and relevant in order to invite in and work with new audiences; to share the healthy philosophies of the web, to empower new communities in an online and off-line reality. Reviewing the role of the web in society, we can critically engage with current art practices, creative academic communities, artists-in-residence programme, and public engagement of different kinds. What is the aesthetic of a healthy Internet? Under each of the spaces at MozFest 2017, we have invited an artist to imagine and visually represent the issues a healthy internet faces.

CO-CURATORS LUCA M DAMIANI Media Artist, Tate Digital Producer, Media Design Lecturer at University Arts London IRINI PAPADIMITRIOU Digital Programmes Manager, V&A and Head of New Media Arts Development, Watermans. ANGELA PLOHMAN Executive Vice President, Mozilla Foundation SARAH ALLEN MozFest Executive Director GRAPHIC DESIGN ON SITE VISUALISATION AND DATA COLLECTION ALESSIA ARCURI JOHN PHILIP SAGE

At last year’s MozFest, we presented an interactive exhibition called MozEx, designed as a collaboration between Digital Learning teams at Tate Gallery and the V&A. We’ve amped up this collaboration, bringing the Artist Open Studio to MozFest 2017. Selected artists have shared their practices and worked live on their pieces. The Artist Open Studio is a new approach we have mindmapped and shaped. The live creation during the festival challenged the role of the arts in technology and its voice in the web culture debate. We aimed to have a flow of creative practices that challenged the idea of what the Web is, opening questions rather than giving answers. We wanted the arts to create and disrupt.

X 9; Y 123

DIGITAL INCLUSION BROOKLYN J. PAKATHI

X 9; Y 98

WEB LITERACY AN XIAO MINA

X 9; Y 74

OPEN INNOVATION GRETTA LOUW

X 9; Y 51

DECENTRALISATION ARCHADA PRASAD AND SEAN BLAGSVEDT

X 9; Y 27

PRIVACY & SECURITY PAOLO CIRIO + TACTICAL TECH + CALLUM COOPER

vulnerability makes us human

D G TAL

Vulnerability

NCLUS ON BROOKLYN

today i want to talk about the vulnerabilities of being (digital and all) i don’t know if we ever truly interrogate what vulnerability is and what it means for us.

TEXT > DIGITAL INCLUSION > KEY TERMS

inc ca lus ex n’t ioa wi ist n em th ou pa t th y

as a tool to navigate the world

EMPATHY

Technology

SELF-REFLECTION

Emotional labour

instead, let’s explore the vulnerabilities of being and it’s necessity to build connective collective empathy. the vulnerabilities of dreaming, in a world governed by homogeneous toxic misteachings of branded macho-ism. in a world that requires improvisation at every moment. so this is what we are exploring.

In order to create inclusive spaces, we need to create inclusive spaces

INCLUSIVITY

i want to explore the technologies we implore every day as tools to navigate all the things that exist in a very resilient selfdriven world.

Empathy

An intention or policy of including people who might otherwise be excluded or marginalized, such as those who are handicapped or learning-disabled, or racial and sexual minorities.3

BROOKLYN ASKS

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safe-space

AUDIENCE RESPONDS Come and join us!!

SAFE-SPACE

I’m so lost (I found a way)

i’m rejecting the idea of vulnerability as a mode of disregarded weakness. our sense of vulnerability is in fact innately human.

The vulnerability of the individual

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-reflection

i’m not interested in sweeping statements of empathetic learning and building for the sole purpose of opportunist capital gain.

Feeling vulnerable online

Human self-reflection is related to the philosophy of consciousness, the topic of awareness, consciousness in general and the philosophy of mind. 2 2