Fear of Missing Out
29–31 May 2015
Institute of Contemporary Arts
The Mall
London SW1Y 5AH
Participants include: Hito Steyerl (Chair), Karen Archey, Erika Balsom, !Mediengruppe Bitnik, Helen Hester, Olia Lialina, Yuri Pattison, Laura Poitras (via satellite), Tony Prescott, Oleksiy Radynski, Eleanor Saitta, Ashkan Sepahvand, Peter Sunde Kolmisoppi, McKenzie Wark and a screening of work by Harun Farocki.
Chaired by Berlin artist and theorist Hito Steyerl, this three-day event brings together leading international theorists, academics, social thinkers and artists to discuss postdigital anxieties and the social condition.
Using the year 2015 as a lens through which to view the early 21st century, Fear of Missing Out captures current debate and forecasts future possibilities for action and change, while acknowledging the complexities of historicising the present at the expense of the future.
Examining the progression and trajectory of technological, ecological and cultural advances, speakers from diverse disciplines present on topics from Artificial Intelligence to the Anthropocene. Supported by the Goethe-Institut London.
Schedule of events:
Friday 29 May
2pm
Peter Sunde Kolmisoppi, !Mediengruppe Bitnik
The Fear of Missing Out opening address is followed by two individual presentations by Peter Sunde and !Mediengruppe Bitnik.
5pm
Judy Wajcman, Olia Lialina and Karen Archey, FOMO panel chaired by Hito Steyerl
Olia Lialina is in conversation with Karen Archey, discussing her pioneering work as a net artist. Hito Steyerl chairs a panel with FOMO participants.
Saturday 30 May
11am
Oleksiy Radynski, Women Inc. Lexicon
Presentations by Oleksiy Radynski on his films documenting the Ukranian war and new feminist working group Women Inc.
2pm
Tony Prescott and ZENO, Eleanor Saitta
Tony Prescott presents on the psychology of the “robot self,” exploring the possibility of social cognition for humanoid robots. Hacker, designer, artist and writer Eleanor Saitta presents on her work.
4:30pm
Ashkan Sepahvand, Erika Balsom introduces Harun Farocki’s Serious Games (2009–10), FOMO panel chaired by Hito Steyerl
Ashkan Sepahvand presents on his collaborative initiative “the technosexual reading circle” and Erika Balsom introduces a screening of Harun Farocki’s four-part series Serious Games (2009–10).
Sunday 31 May
noon
Yuri Pattison, McKenzie Wark
Artist Yuri Pattison discusses ideas to his practice and McKenzie Wark presents on his new book Molecular Red: Theory for the Anthropocene (Verso, 2015).
3pm
Helen Hester, FOMO panel chaired by Hito Steyerl
Helen Hester presents on the idea of “war porn,” exploring pornography in the postdigital age. Hito Steyerl chairs a panel discussion with FOMO participants.
To coincide with Fear of Missing Out:
ICA and BRITDOC present Laura Poitras: 9/11 Trilogy and Selected Shorts
27–30 May
Screening a selection of documentaries and shorts by acclaimed filmmaker, journalist and artist Laura Poitras; on Saturday 30 May Poitras will be in conversation with Hito Steyerl.
O’Say Can You See + My Country, My Country
Wednesday 27 May, 8:30pm
O’Say Can You See draws on sounds recorded in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 and My Country, My Country, which follows Dr. Riyadh, an Iraqi doctor, father of six and Sunni political candidate.
Death of a Prisoner + The Oath
Friday 29 May, 8:30pm
Two films featuring stories from those incarcerated in Guantanamo Bay, including Osama Bin Laden’s bodyguard.
The Program + CITIZENFOUR + Q&A with Laura Poitras
Saturday 30 May, 8:15pm
Two films exploring security and surveillance in post 9/11 America.
Also at the ICA:
Looks
22 April–21 June
Lower and Upper Galleries
A group exhibition that explores the ways in which mass digital culture informs how identity is constructed, performed and challenged.
Shout Out! UK Pirate Radio in the 1980s
26 May–19 July
Fox Reading Room
An archival exhibition looking back at the early tower block pirate radio movement which emerged in the UK during the 1980s, prompting a new musical phenomenon that would change the face of British music.
