Future (After) Life

The old law which stated that the future is influenced by the present has broken down irretrievably. The future is now – take from it hope, but also some sense of dystopia. How do we interact with the system, be it the OS or the socio-political one? From the nature of contemporary labour to artificial intelligence or to popular media, Future (After) Life explores the manners in which progress has affected our ways of life, dissecting tensions and anxieties, while allowing for tenderness or even for dissent. At the core of it all lies the image, as mediator and as an essential instrument not only for mirroring or defining the present, but also as a utilitarian tool integrated in our day to day work. (Dora Leu)

POLYCEPHALY IN D

Michael Robinson | Duration 23 min

Polycephaly in D is a densely collaged exploration of the existential drift, collective trauma, and psychological free-fall of the contemporary moment. Leaping, falling, and meeting your new self in an earthquake; we lose one head so as to grow another.

LIFE, AS A DREAM

Zhao Xu | Duration 20 min

Five workers are asleep. What are they dreaming of? Their voices recount memories of their dreams, yet they seem to be talking about their own daily lives. Suggestions of precarity and deep exhaustion creep in through lyrical, illusory moments.

HARDLY WORKING

Total Refusal | Duration 21 min

We find ourselves inside a video game. The NPCs (non-playable characters) are leading their dull lives on loop, bringing mechanical bustle into the simulation. But what can their repetitive gestures say about life and labour under capitalism?

AGRILOGISTICS

Gerard Ortín Castellví | Duration 21 min

Agrilogistics looks at recent technological transformations in contemporary industrial agriculture, where everything is processed through cameras and data sets. Only at night do things come ‘alive’, when plants, animals and machines form new entanglements.

3 DIALOGUES ABOUT THE FUTURE

Alina Manolache | Duration 14 min

Three pairs of robots engage in dialogue. How does artificial intelligence see the world? How does it see itself? There is a hidden tenderness in their algorithmic musings – what seems to preoccupy the robots most is the definition of being human.