Monday, March 30 at 6:00 pm to 7:45 pm

Laura Kurgan, Associate Professor of Architecture; Director, Spatial Information Design Lab; GSAPP Columbia University

Abstract: Laura Kurgan will present recent work from Spatial Information Design Lab.  SIDL is known for converting information that is otherwise dormant, invisible, or simply incomprehensible into images and arguments that provide grounds for research, discovery, and action.

Monday, April 6, 2015 at 6:00 pm to 7:45 pm

Chi-hui Yang, Film Curator

Abstract: In this session, Yang will discuss his work as a curator of film and video, in particular, what it means to curate and what the political and creative aspects of this act are. What kind of public interventions can be made in the presentation and contextualization of creative works? How are information and art assembled and organized to create new meanings? What is the function of a curator as an idea connector in today’s art and media economies, and how might one explore this practice?

Monday, April 13, 2015 at 6:00 pm to 7:45 pm

Melissa Gregg, Principal Engineer, Intel Corporation:

Abstract: The rise of personal productivity systems reflects the consumer-enterprise collision underway as work escapes the confines of place to be more flexible, pliant, and ambient.

Monday, April 20, 2015 at 6:00 pm to 7:45 pm

Stephanie Boluk, Assistant Professor, Pratt Institute

Abstract: This talk will describe the concept of metagaming and its relationship to emerging forms of financialization in and around videogames. Focusing specifically on the labor practices of Valve Corporation and its digital distribution marketplace Steam, I will discuss the experimental management structures of Valve, the architecture of its corporate headquarters, and the practices of players, modders, makers, and spectators who contribute to Steam’s digital economies.

Monday, April 27, 2015 at 6:00 pm to 7:45 pm

Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Artist, PhD Candidate and Lecturer, Forensic Audio Investigator

Co-Sponsored by the Vera List Center for Art & Politics

Abstract: Since 2010 Lawrence Abu Hamdan’s Aural Contract has been dedicated to understanding the role of voice in law and the changing nature of testimony in the face of new regimes of border control, algorithmic technologies, medical sciences, and modes of surveillance.