Talk
Artistic Research Lecture: Antonio Vega Macotela / Characteromancy
Characteromancy in transhistorical terms, i.e., the study of the prediction of events through characters, either in its historical or practical dimension. In this sense, we find no distinction between the ancient practices of predicting the future and the modern practices of encryption and predicting events in A.I.
My talk will be about the latest work of the project "The ballade of the Q'aqchas", developed with two hackers in the mountains of Teruel, Spain. I will develop the idea that codification is a transhistorical tradition, founded on the reading of stellar constellations that allow for the preservation of civilization through language, and the interpretation and creation of meaning. This project has different approaches that complement each other: from the cryptographic and semiotic analysis of ancient canonical texts through number theory and combinatorial mathematics, to the critical review of artificial intelligence algorithms and the investigation of computer security protocols, and the poetics of language, oneiric exercises, and Dadaist processes.
Antonio Vega Macotela is a Mexican artist based between the mountains of Teruel Spain, and Oslo. He has been a fellow Resident of The Rijksakademie Van Beldende Kunsten, a fellow of the Digital earth Fellowship, and a Ph.D. fellow of the National Art Academy KHIO in Oslo, Norway. He exhibited, besides the most of the Mexican museums, in international venues such as the 23th and 34th Sao Paulo Biennial, the 14th Istanbul Biennial, the Second Triennial of the New Museum in NY, Manifesta 9 in Genk Belgium, Prospect 3 in New Orleans, dOCUMENTA 14, the Center Pompidou Metz and The Hammer Museum in Los Angeles to mention a few.
This artistic research lecture will be hosted by professor Lisa Rosendahl and is a part of the Academy of Fine Arts public program.