Today, we continuously produce enormous amounts of data – when we use the GPS in our car, talk on our mobile phone, surf the web or shop with our credit card. Such data has acquired considerable value. In business, there is talk that big data is the new oil. Is it an inexhaustible source of knowledge, efficiency, transparency, democracy and prosperity? Or is it a tool for mass surveillance and something that turns our privacy into a commodity? Large computer systems have been developed to handle and systematize these amounts of data. Artificial intelligence (AI) is a collective term for such systems, and for many, such terms and possibilities seem frightening: Do we have control over the development?
The computer also creates new realities. For many, the virtual worlds of computer games are very real, even though they are not physical. The games create different sensory experiences. They are also social meeting places.
The gaming industry has become a major industry and video games have become an important part of popular culture. Other arts and cultural arenas such as film, broadcasting and music have also become part of the digital worlds.
In the new exhibition we will find insights into computer technology and its history that stimulate reflection on how this technology processes data, creates representations of the world and produces new realities.
To begin developing ideas and techniques for such a programmable exhibition, we will establish a small experimental zone in the museum's LAB in spring 2020. It will be possible for museum visitors to see inside, and to come in and participate when we open the doors. Here we will place a small selection of historical artifacts, and begin the process of developing a computer system that will control the upcoming exhibition.
