The Browser - Lonely Watch

Lonely Surfaces

L. M. Sacasas | The Convivial Society | 10th December 2022

The most important thing about a technological development is not what it can do, but how it trains us to behave. Better AI images encourage us to look shallowly, as if skim reading, because these works do not reward close attention. This is not an existential problem for art unless "we find ourselves conditioned to never expect depth at all or unable to perceive it when we do encounter it" (3,699 word)

'There's No Such Thing As A Free Watch'

Jenny Odell | Bureau Of Suspended Objects | 18th August 2017 | PDF

Deep dive into the surprisingly twisted history of a single mass-produced object and what it can tell us about capitalism. Sold via a complex network of drop-shipping sites, the watch in question is a "physical witness" at the heart of a storm of deception. It is certainly the product of a scam, but is perhaps merely a more overt one than most of the objects we unthinkingly purchase (2,963 words)

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