[spectre] [CAS] Listen Scoundrels! - calls to action from early CAS - 26 March 2025

[Paul Brown]

The Computer Arts Society 2025 programme continues

The Radical Past and Future of the Computer Arts Society
Exhibition Opening and Talks

Speakers: Sean Carroll & Others; Moderator: Sean Clark
18:00 GMT, Wednesday, 26 March 2025
Other time zones here:  https://www.timeanddate.com <https://www.timeanddate.com/> 

This hybrid event will be held In Person and via Zoom.  Booking link below.
BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT
25 Copthall Avenue, London, EC2R 7BP, UK
Directions here: https://www.bcs.org/about-us/our-london-office-and-event-venue/

Vladimir Mayakovsky's 1922 poem Écoutez, Canailles! (Listen, Scoundrels!) is a fierce critique of institutional apathy and a call for artists to engage with urgent social issues. Gustav Metzger was the first editor of the CAS bulletin PAGE and he advanced this dialogue: in PAGE 10, he presented Mayakovsky's poem without commentary or translation, compelling readers to question its meaning and engage with its critique on their own. Then in PAGE 11, his essay about the military-industrial development of computers invited readers to draw their own connections.  This exhibition reflects this critical spirit, encouraging viewers to draw their own parallels between past artistic exploration and contemporary challenges. Listen, Scoundrels! serves not just as a title but as a call to action, urging artists to critically engage with technology and avoid entanglement in the systems of power and apathy that Mayakovsky and Metzger condemned.

As we draw parallels between the historical debates documented in PAGE and present challenges, calls to action such as John Whitney’s statements in PAGE 24 resonate with striking clarity. “Who is the genius who will use the computer for real great ART? Not a trained artist - not a programmer - but someone (anyone) with extraordinary imagination and a very human sensitivity”. His words remind us that the true potential of technology lies not in technical mastery, computational power or even in algorithms, but in the capacity for imagination and empathy. In a time when AI increasingly shapes our tools, systems, and creative practices, Whitney’s question remains urgent: how might we cultivate the sensitivity and vision necessary to navigate this moment?

Listen, Scoundrels!, forms part of Sean Carroll's PhD research at DeMontfort University into the application of AI to explore archival materials in the curatorial process. This particular exploration centres on PAGE, the bulletin of the Computer Art Society that has shaped dialogues around art and technology since its inception in 1969.  Carroll began his investigation without providing guidance for the AI, allowing it to construct its own interpretation of the source material through a series of generative summaries. On examining these insights, what emerges from the AIs analysis is a story of radical conversations, of pioneers, of debates and arguments, all centred on a deeply focussed and committed community.

The presentations will be followed by the exhibition opening and reception.  The event will be recorded and uploaded to the CAS YouTube Channel.

This hybrid event is In-Person and via Zoom and open to the public and is free but you must book your place here:  https://ComputerArtsSociety260325.eventbrite.co.uk <https://computerartssociety260325.eventbrite.co.uk/>

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Our next meeting will be a talk by the artist Bhavani Esapathi on 16 April 2025 in Person and Zoom.

You can see our future programme here: https://computer-arts-society.com/events/index.html