GUEST, GHOST, HOST: MACHINE!
October 6–7, 2017
Day 1: GUESTS, GHOSTS, HOSTS: An Evening with Manthia Diawara, Alexander Kluge, Sarah Morris and Richard Sennett, October 6, 7–10.30pm, Serpentine Sackler Gallery, Kensington Gardens, London W2 2AR
Day 2: GUEST, GHOST, HOST: MACHINE! Marathon, October 7, 10am–10pm, City Hall, The Queen’s Walk, London SE1 2AA
Online at radio.serpentinegalleries.org
#serpentinemarathon
Day tickets available from Ticketweb or the Serpentine Galleries: T +44 (0)20 7402 6075
After a trilogy of Marathons which addressed Extinction (2014), Transformation (2015) and Miracle (2016), the Serpentine turns to the near future, exploring artificial intelligence, interspecies cooperation, machine learning, transhumanism and non-linear time. Over more than 12 hours in front of a live audience, more than 50 participants will address the most pressing themes and challenges that will define the coming age of automation. The GUEST, GHOST, HOST: MACHINE! Marathon brings together artists, scientists, engineers, poets, AI developers, sociologists, philosophers, filmmakers, writers, anthropologists, occultists and musicians to investigate the impact of artificial intelligence and its relationship to human development on planet Earth. Participants will question the potential role of non-human intelligence under platform capitalism, the biopolitical economies of automation, the divinatory rites of machines, conscientious objection to drone warfare and other spectres that haunt our collective future.
For the first time in its history, the Marathon will be taking over City Hall, headquarters of the Mayor of London and the Greater London Assembly. The entire Marathon will be broadcast live on Serpentine Radio, radio.serpentinegalleries.org, an online platform dedicated to the broadcast and distribution of talks, events and performance.
Participants and contributors include: Etel Adnan, Fatima Al Qadiri, Amnesia Scanner, Ain Bailey, Shumon Basar, Louise Belfrage, Daniel Birnbaum, Black Quantum Futurism, Andrew Blake, James Bridle, John Brockman, Thomas Buckner, Federico Campagna, Jimena Canales, Ian Cheng, Emanuele Coccia, Patrizio Di Massimo, Manthia Diawara, Marcus du Sautoy, Keller Easterling, Richard Evans, Briony Fer, Charlie Fox, GAIKA, Gilbert & George, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Ross Goodwin, Boris Groys, Anupam Guha, Juliana Huxtable, Evan Ifekoya, Caroline A. Jones, Hannah Catherine Jones, Isaac Julien, Natalie Kane, Dean Kenning, Alexander Kluge, Mark Leckey, Paulo Lemos Horta, Esther Leslie, Ranjana Leyendecker, Jason Louv, Louisa Martin, Kenric McDowell, Sarah Morris, Timothy Morton, Walter Murch, NAKED, Andrew O’Hagan, Philippe Parreno, Micki Pellerano, Gala Porras-Kim, Johannes Paul Raether, Venki Ramakrishnan, Raqs Media Collective, Alice Rawsthorn, Jasia Reichardt, Tobias Revell, Richard Sennett, Murray Shanahan, Himali Singh Soin, Hito Steyerl, Jenna Sutela, Jaan Tallinn, Eduardo Terrazas, Eugene Thacker, Adam Thirlwell, Enrique Vila-Matas, Julia Voss, Marina Warner, Zadie Xa with Jihye Kim, Joanna Zylinska, and more.
To launch the GUEST, GHOST, HOST: MACHINE! Marathon, Raqs Media Collective will present Hollowgram, a new holographic sculpture commission which meditates on the inner life of power and its fragile abdication from the world. Situated in the Serpentine Pavilion designed by Francis Kéré for the duration of Frieze Week, from October3-8, 10am-6pm, Hollowgram will register a trace of that which haunts London. Raqs Media Collective are also key interlocutors in the shaping of the ideas that underpin this year’s Marathon.
The GUEST, GHOST, HOST, MACHINE! Marathon is curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist, Artistic Director; Claude Adjil, Curator, Public Programmes; Ben Vickers, CTO; Taylor Le Melle, Assistant Curator, Public Programmes; and Kay Watson, Assistant Digital Curator.
Core Advisory Team: Sophia Al Maria, Zach Blas, Lizzie Carey-Thomas, Marcus du Sautoy, Ben Eastham, Nicoletta Fiorucci, Ed Fornieles, Leo Hollis, Mark Leckey, Kenric McDowell, Andrew O’Hagan, Yana Peel, Lucia Pietroiusti, Alice Rawsthorn, Marianna Simnett, Victoria Sin, Himali Singh Soin, Morgan Sutherland, Igor Toronyi-Lalic and Zadie Xa.
Curatorial Assistants: Tamar Clarke-Brown and Kostas Stasinopoulos.
Serpentine Radio is produced by Reduced Listening and hosted by Legacy Russell.
GUEST, GHOST, HOST: MACHINE! Marathon
In collaboration with
Nicoletta Fiorucci, Founder of the Fiorucci Arts Trust
Additional support from
The Hayden Family Foundation
Frances Reynolds
DLD Conferences
Goethe-Institut
AMI at Google
Digital Engagement supported by
Bloomberg Philanthropies
Advisors
AECOM
Weil
Serpentine Galleries supported by
Arts Council England
