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Blog

Computers Watching Movies in Wired, El País, FastCoDesign, Creators Project, and More

Computers Watching Movies on the front page of Wired

Computers Watching Movies on the front page of Wired

My work Computers Watching Movies was the subject of significant international press during January and February of 2014. Following are links to the major sources.

Articles About Computers Watching Movies

posted on 03/03/2014 | tagged:

Named Super Hot Artist for 2014 by ArtBookGuy

ArtBookGuy Named Me a Super Hot Artist for 2014

ArtBookGuy Named Me a Super Hot Artist for 2014

ArtBookGuy has named me a “Super Hot Artist for 2014.” I’m honored to be recognized by ABG this way. Last summer, he interviewed me about my work, and through that process I learned some essential things about him. For example, he is passionate about art and those who make it. He expresses this passion with his in-depth interviews and tireless promotion of those interviews. But most interesting to me is his desire to demystify the artistic process and the work it produces. He aims to get at what artists do, why they do it, and what their work does in the world. He does this with artists across genres and styles, and he does it all on his own time. There is too little of this in the world, and ABG is doing more than his fair share.

posted on 03/03/2014 | tagged:

International Media Coverage of ScareMail

ScareMail in The Guardian

ScareMail in The Guardian

Since launching ScareMail a couple weeks ago, there has been a significant amount of media coverage. I’ve been thinking a lot about how ScareMail has been discussed across various types of media, including articles, comments, commentary, and social media sites like Reddit. I expect to post some writing about this soon. In the meantime, here is a list of a few interesting quotes. Following that are links to the major articles themselves.

…creative civil disobedience in the digital age. –Slate

Grosser … is the unrivaled king of ominous gibberish. –Chicago Tribune

…don’t blame us when the feds knock on your door. –FastCoExist

Articles About ScareMail

posted on 10/17/2013 | tagged:

ScareMail is Art

A newspaper columnist at the Chicago Tribune asked me this week if ScareMail is “potentially dangerous,” and whether it is “somewhat similar to jamming legitimate eavesdropping devices.” My response follows:

No, ScareMail is not dangerous. It’s an artwork about how systems interact with systems, about the role of language within those systems, how software enables surveillance, and about the challenges to privacy and free speech in the current political climate. On this last point, ScareMail draws attention to a flaw in the NSA’s thinking—that words in an email are the same thing as intent. Further, ScareMail proposes a model of privacy built on visibility and noise as opposed to one built on encryption and silence. 

ScareMail also demonstrates that very few people feel comfortable challenging the NSA; after thousands of visitors to the ScareMail website and international press attention, ScareMail has had few downloads. The number of people still using it after that initial download is probably much smaller. Clearly people are interested in challenging the NSA in some way, but not by attracting too much attention to themselves. 

Whether one could be private within ScareMail’s model is debatable. What is less debatable is that those with nefarious intent are unlikely to use ScareMail. They don’t want to attract NSA attention. They’re more likely to use encryption and to avoid commercial email services based in the USA. In other words, the NSA’s mass email surveillance isn’t catching who they want anyway.

Before the Internet, surveillance was a targeted operation, based on probable cause and the result of a warrant signed by a judge. This makes sense as it fits our due process clause of the Constitution and maintains appropriate checks and balances on police power.

What doesn’t make sense is taking advantage of new communications technologies in order to conduct mass unchecked surveillance on everyone without any sense of probable cause or due process. Searching our electronic text for keywords draws all kinds of people into government focus without any cause. ScareMail demonstrates this clearly, as any mail caught because of its ScareMail signature is an email whose “scary” words have no meaning.

posted on 10/12/2013 | tagged:

ScareMail in PRISM Breakup at Eyebeam

PRISM Breakup at Eyebeam

PRISM Breakup at Eyebeam

I’m very happy to share that my latest work, ScareMail, is premiering as part of the PRISM Breakup show opening at Eyebeam in New York, NY. From the show website:

On October 4–6, 2013, Eyebeam will host the first event of its kind, PRISM Breakup, a series of art and technology events dedicated to exploring and providing forms of protection from surveillance. This event came about in part from Eyebeam’s mission to support the work of artists who critically expose technologies and examine their relationship to society, as well as offering continued support to its alumni following their residencies. The gathering will bring together a wide spectrum of artists, hackers, academics, activists, security analysts and journalists for a long weekend of meaningful conversation, hands-on workshops, and an art exhibition that will be open October 4–12.

This is the kind of thing Eyebeam excels at—if you’re in NYC between Oct 4-12, I highly recommend you stop by! The show is coordinated by Heather Dewey-Hagborg, Allison Burtch, Aurelia Moser, and Ramsey Nasser.

posted on 10/02/2013 | tagged:

Grosser Interviewed by ArtBookGuy

Grosser Interviewed by ArtBookGuy

Grosser Interviewed by ArtBookGuy

This summer I was interviewed by Michael Corbin, also known as ArtBookGuy. It was a great conversation, and we covered a variety of topics including new media, software, Facebook, presentism, artistic labor, why we always want more, robots, and the point of art. If these topics sound intriguing, take a look at Ben Grosser: New Media.

If you aren’t familiar with ArtBookGuy, he has amassed an impressive collection of artist interviews. They don’t have the stilted, formal feel of many of the genre, but are instead in a conversational style that follows threads wherever they go. There’s lots to learn here! ArtBookGuy has also interviewed a couple of my friends: Patrick Hammie and Flounder Lee.

Many thanks to Michael for the great conversation and for contributing to the artist community in this way.

posted on 08/19/2013 | tagged: ,

Flexible Pixels Project in National Self-Portrait Exhibition

Within: National Self-Portrait Exhibition at 33 Contemporary in Chicago

Within: National Self-Portrait Exhibition at 33 Contemporary in Chicago

My work Self Portrait, from my Flexible Pixels Project, will be part of the upcoming show Within: 9th Annual National Self-Portrait Exhibition in Chicago.  The show, curated by Sergio Gomez, features small works less than 12×12″ in size. Held at the 33 Contemporary Gallery in the Zhou B. Art Center, the show runs from July 19 to August 10.  The opening is on July 19 from 7-10pm.

posted on 07/19/2013 | tagged:

Facebook Demetricator Part Of Public Assembly in London

My work, Facebook Demetricator, will be part of the upcoming show Public Assembly at The White Building in London, UK. Organized by Free Cooper Union UK, the show promises “a one-day free school celebrating alternative forms of knowledge and creative expression in art and technology.”

Public Assembly, at The White Building, London

Public Assembly, at The White Building, London

Facebook Demetricator will be part of the new media protest art section of the program, and is also a featured download on the show’s website. The show will be held on June 30, 2013, at The White Building, 7 Queens Yard, London.

posted on 06/27/2013 | tagged:

Video of Presentation at Unlike Us #3, Amsterdam

This past March I travelled to Amsterdam to give an invited presentation on my work, Facebook Demetricator, at the Institute of Network Cultures’ annual Unlike Us #3 conference.

Presentation at Unlike Us #3, Amsterdam, Spring 2013

The title of my presentation was “Facebook Demetricator and the Easing of Prescribed Sociality,” and it was part of the Political Economy of Social Networks: Art & Practice panel. It was great to get to present to such a fantastic audience at a conference that equally embraced both theory and practice. I felt like I fit right in.

I highly recommend you explore other talks from the conference: they’re all up online.

posted on 05/04/2013 | tagged: , , , ,

Facebook Demetricator in ‘The Public Private’ curated by Christiane Paul

The Public Private at Parsons, Curated by Christiane Paul

The Public Private at Parsons, curated by Christiane Paul

I’m very happy to share that Facebook Demetricator will be part of a show titled The Public Private at The New School in NYC this spring. The show is curated by Christiane Paul, and will be held in the Kellen Gallery at Parsons. From the release:

The Public Private will be the first New York exhibition of contemporary art to explore the impact of social media and new technologies on the relationship between the public and private realm. The artworks brought together in The Public Private—several presented for the first time in the United States—address these issues from psychological, legal, and economic perspectives and use strategies ranging from hacking to self-surveillance to reflect upon the profound changes in our understanding of identity, personal boundaries, and self-representation.

Other artists in the show include Paolo Cirio, Alessandro Ludovico, Eva and Franco Mattes, Jill Magid, Luke Dubois, Wafaa Bilal, Carlo Zanni, James Coupe, and Nicholas Felton.

I’ll be at the opening on February 6th at 6pm, and the show will be up through April 17th. If you’re in town I’d love to see you there!

posted on 01/09/2013 | tagged: , ,