Open Codes II

We live in an age where knowledge production, dissemination, and acquisition are changing on a global scale due to the ongoing evolution of technologies based on codes. Knowledge of programming and a profound understanding of coding is increasingly becoming a fundamental skill for individual agency and self-determination.

Phase I of Open Codes presented many varied examples of codes, from Morse code to the genetic code, as well as their applications in art and industry. In Open Codes II. The World as a Field of Data, the focus is on exploring a world that is not solely generated, driven, and controlled by things, words, and images, but above all by data. Living in digital worlds means increasingly a life spent in a programmed, smart environment, a so-called “scripted reality.” The script is dictated in part by sensors, which provide information about the state of reality around us. The data from the sensors are processed by algorithms, which steer us through the world as a field of data.

The second edition of Open Codes reflects on this new world composed of fields of data in a variety of examples. A total of 40 new works, which are primarily concerned with artificial intelligence and machine learning, have been added to the show, among them a “data cloud”—the large-scale installation The World as a Field of Data, consisting of 40 screens. The exhibition opens a new horizon for humankind: posthumanism built on artificial intelligence.

The architectural concept and scenography of Open Codes is inspired by places of co-creation in the sense of hacker and maker spaces. Interspersing the artworks on display are elements of studios, laboratories, offices, and a home environment. Here the museum serves as a commons, as an assembly, whereby the museum becomes a venue of an open source community where people can interact freely, sharing knowledge and ideas and be critical and creative. With this novel type of exhibition-making the ZKM presents a new function and understanding for the museum in the 21st century, out of necessity in a changing field of political culture. To this end, we have developed a deinstitutionalized format, a platform of knowledge to which access is always free: no entrance fee, but free fruits, free drinks, free electricity, free wlan, because knowledge acquisition must be rewarded. Open Codes II is designed as a communal space, as an environment in which people come together and exchange ideas, views, information, and experiences. Citizens teach citizens.

With new works by !Mediengruppe Bitnik, Refik Anadol, Anil Bawa-Cavia, Zach Blas and Jemima Wyman, James Bridle, Antoine Chapon and Nicolas Gourault, Harm van den Dorpel, Constant Dullaart, Jake Elwes, Christian Großardt, Joe Hamilton, Norimichi Hirakawa, Perry Hoberman, Jaromil, Egor Kraft, Luca Leggero, Lawrence Lek, Golan Levin and Zachary Lieberman, Christian Lölkes, Nicolas Maigret and Maria Roszkowska, Alex McLean, Ciro Múseres, Nefula, Mimi Onuoha, Pasi Orrensalo, Rafaël Rozendaal, Chris Salter, Sebastian Schmieg, Antoine Schmitt, Fito Segrera, Shinseungback Kimyonghun, Karl Steinbuch, Daniel Temkin, Nye Thompson, Troika, Varvara and Mar, Coralie Vogelaar, Peter Weibel, and Dan Wilcox.

Open Codes II is conceived by Peter Weibel and curated by Peter Weibel, Blanca Giménez, Yasemin Keskintepe, and Lívia Nolasco-Rózsás.