Modern Times
A screening examining the blight of contemporary worker culture.
October 13th, 2017
at the Dikeou Pop-Up [312 E Colfax Ave Denver, CO 80203]
7:30pm doors. 8:00pm (not punk time) screening.
$10 or pay what you can. No one turned away.
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Artist: Sebastian Schmieg
Title: I Will Say Whatever You Want In Front Of A Pizza
Statement: I Will Say Whatever You Want In Front Of A Pizza is a speculative Prezi that explores digital labor, the amalgamation of humans and software, and the possibility of interventions inside algorithmic systems. It is narrated from the perspective of a cloud worker. While technology is often described as an extension of our bodies, the Prezi (presentation software) video explores a reversed relationship: digital workers as software extensions. The ubiquitous network and the computerization of everything have not only blurred the lines between bots and people – supposedly autonomous programs are sometimes people that have to act as if they were software. This development has also made it very easy for everyone to hire, program, and retire humans as part of any workflow: bodies and minds that can be plugged in, rewired, and discarded as one sees fit.
The Prezi can exist in multiple forms simultaneously – video, slideshow, lecture performance, etc. Furthermore, the piece is never finished and can constantly update in order to always meet the market’s demands.
Origin: Germany
Year: 2017
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Artist: Nils Clauss
Title: Bikini Words
Statement: During the industrial expansion of Korea in the 1970s and 80s, working and housing conditions gave rise to new linguistic developments among the workers.
Origin: South Korea
Year: 2016
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Artist: Andrew Norman Wilson
Title: Workers Leaving the Googleplex
Statement: Workers Leaving the Googleplex investigates a top secret, marginalized class of workers at Google's international corporate headquarters in Silicon Valley. Wilson's video documents the yellow badge-wearing ScanOps Google Books workers, while simultaneously chronicling the complex events surrounding his own dismissal from the company. The reference to the Lumière Brother's 1895 film Workers Leaving the Factory situates the video within motion picture history, suggesting transformations and continuities in arrangements of labour, capital, media, and information.
Origin: USA
Year: 2011
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Artist: Sam Barnett
Title: Operator: Episode 1
Statement: I was inspired to make this film by a few things, cordyceps mushrooms which infect and control the minds of ants, causing them to climb up as high as possible so that when the mushroom finally bursts from the ants head the spores are spread as far as possible by the wind. Secondly, "parasitic ideas" - such as ideologies designed by cults or oppressive regimes explicitly to weaken and control the holders of such beliefs, and the callous mechanization of corporate bureaucracy. sprawling bureaucracies in super massive organizations can have so many moving parts and conflicting interests that no human maintains real control.
Origin: USA
Year: 2013
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Artist: Kelly Gallagher
Title: More Dangerous Than a Thousand Rioters
Statement: More Dangerous Than a Thousand Rioters is an experimental animated documentary exploring the powerful and inspiring life of revolutionary Lucy Parsons. This film illustrates her dedicated life to struggle, and her important, countless contributions fighting endlessly against capitalism, racism, and sexism.
Origin: USA
Year: 2016