OOTC'14/ The Topology of Non-human Agents

Guests:
Dr. Manfred Mücke - Sustainable Computing Research
Darko Fritz - Computer Art Theory

Space exploration programs bring forth - alongside with the recent biotechnological and digital advances - the consideration that a universe populated with artificial life might soon become a force recalibrating the human condition. Autonomous and self-sustaining systems based on the principle of life kindle alternative paradigms through which the exploration of space and its informational colonization might be approached. Attempts to engage the wider space community in a discourse with various developmental practices complementary to existing programmes is resulting in flying laboratories intended to test and validate new techniques and proposals on low-cost and robust satellites. The Arts and humanities are emerging as key mental articulators of thoughts on the ontology of the human in outer space and engage in projects aiding the construction and manifestation of data from and intended for space transmission. Invited speakers will, from their respective fields of expertise, illuminate contemporary topics associated with human presence in space.