Poetics of Encryption: Art and the Technocene

by Nadim Samman

A critical appraisal of art’s entanglement in technological encryption “We are all inside this thing―but how?” This book explores 21st-century art’s reckonings with the technosphere. Outlining the concept of encryption that underlies this infrastructural condition, Samman explores motifs of confinement, capture and burial, as well as access and exclusion from secured domains. Poetics of Encryption excavates the art of our times in relation to these motifs, as it quests through caves, cables, codes, satellites and icons. Toggling between enlightened concern and occult dreaming, it surveys a counterintuitive aesthetic of the interface.
Nadim Samman (born 1980) is Curator for the Digital Sphere at KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin. In 2019 he was First Prize recipient of the International Award for Art Criticism (IAAC). Major curatorial projects included the 4th Marrakech Biennale (2012), the 5th Moscow Biennale for Young Art (2015) and the 1st Antarctic Biennale (2017).

Genres: Art

159 pages, Paperback

Published July 4, 2023

Reviews

[melancholinary · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's poetically written and rigorous. I really enjoyed the connection of contemporary art that tackles networked society and tech to the occult and theologist interpretation (well, black box, black sites, black holes). However, I found some projections of the artwork might be a little too far-fetched, especially in the context of theory.

[Jake Lahah · Rating 4 out of 5]

WOW!!! This book was loaded with tons of really fascinating information. I thoroughly enjoyed this, although I did find it pretty dense and will have to revisit aspects of it.

One of the most well thought out notable take away points was the duality of transparency and opaqueness in contemporary society, specifically use of it in architecture. I will be constantly navigating the world wondering why buildings are transparent and which ones aren’t, how that formal presentation are both agents of keeping people “locked out” of systems.

This would be a great book for a critical theory in the arts class. I do wish that some of the terms were introduced more slowly and with greater care. I think I would be able to put logical arguments and thoughts together more clearly if it was done so.

[Alexandra Gilliams · Rating 5 out of 5]

A pertinent, masterfully written & researched read for anyone interested in the ways in which contemporary artists are helping to expose the dark sides of our technological landscape.

[Francesca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Non credo di aver compreso fino in fondo tutto quanto viene esposto in questo saggio, ma solo per mia mancanza di alcune conoscenze tecniche.

Il libro è davvero ben fatto e organizzato e pur essendo un saggio, la prosa è notevole e coinvolgente.

Nadim Samman esplora opere d’arte che mettono in luce le dimensioni nascoste del nostro panorama tecnologico, che affrontano luoghi oscuri, scatole nere e buchi neri, oscillando tra preoccupazione illuminata e sogno occulto.

Interessante.