Arse Elektronika 2014
TRANS*.*
monochrom‘s festival on sex and tech!
October 2-5, 2014 in San Francisco, USA.
Call for talks, performances, games, workshops, machines, systems!
Trans is a Latin noun or prefix, meaning “across”, “beyond” or “on the
opposite side”. What does that mean for sex and technology?
– Transitions, translations, transgressions, transistors &
transducers, transactions, transmission (specifically sexually
transmitted infections), transdermal?
– How does sex change as we age? As we grow, as we mature? And what
about old age? Sex in nursing homes? Sex when people have lost much of
their sense of identity with Alzheimer’s Disease and the like, but are
still horny, still sexual entities? How do pharma and biotech
help/monetize this situation?
– Sex under drugs, sex under other altered states? Is Viagra a drug? At
what point does a loss of cognitive function take away our ability to
consent?
– Transnationality and sex. What about translations and transitions
across cultures? For example: Hacking, porn, dissent in Iran? Purity
Balls and the American obsession with virginity whatever that really
means?
– How does our sex and our perception of sex change with the
introduction of new gadgets? Who are the early (sexual) adopters? And
what about the adapters? What about (white male) privilege and new
gadgets? Google Glass Ceiling?
– SCOT (social construction of technology) research, such as that of
Mackenzie and Wajcman, argues that the path of innovation and its social
consequences are strongly, if not entirely shaped by society itself
through the influence of culture, politics, economic arrangements,
regulatory mechanisms and the like. So if its true that technology
itself doesnt matter, but the social or economic system in which it is
embedded (Langdon Winner), then what does that tell us about the
transition from sex tech into the cultural mainstream?
– Is human sexual behavior transforming our planet? What’s the sexual side of the anthropocene?
– Transgression and mechanophila? Is our technological society driven by
erotogenic fixation on machinery? What about hardcore pornography such
as Fucking Machines? Can this be seen as constituting the limit of
current sexual biopolitics?
– Sex puppets, Real Dolls and the Uncanny Valley? A never-ending transition?
– Teagan Widmer’s latest app, Refuge Restrooms, highlights the
importance of providing safe public accommodations for trans people. How
can apps like Widmers help with tasks that most people take for
granted, like the ability to use the bathroom?
– Is trans* a controversial label online? How do we develop
language-theory-activism in general? Programming languages are designed
to be inclusive of “trans” in a broad sense for both binary and
non-binary gender modalities. Does it have transmisogynist qualities?
– Feminists, among other critical scholars, have long argued the
problems with the notion of the Transcendental. Focusing on the
transcendental moves our attention away from the day-to-day struggles
involving the material and instead replaces it with transcendent ideas
and ideals. How is this manifested through issues of sexuality and
technology? What can we do about it? What are the power struggles
involved, positionalities afforded and relationships to, that
transcendental modes of thought afford for socio-economically
marginalized populations? Can we compare and contrast notions of
transcendence alongside notions of immanence? What is the role of the
body and embodiment with respect to transcendentalism? What are the
implications of transcendental for power? Grassroots activism? Citizens’
movements? Open source? Hacking? Can we have visions of the future
without being transcendental?
– And, last but not least, since sex is a pretty biological thing
(insofar as things are biological things), we want to remind of genetics
with our theme. Genetic
transformation/translation/transcription/transmission.
Submit a talk, a performance, a game, a workshop, a machine, a system!
(Online form)
Deadline: August 5, 2014.
Our selection will be announced August 20, 2014.
For questions, please email: office AT monochrom.at
See you in San Transisco!