DEFRAG

An event series developed for Somerset House Studios exploring the role technology plays in the development, production and consumption of art and culture. Memes, video games, social media, post-production techniques and generative algorithms: New technologies and internet culture offer artists infinite possibilities and few technical limits. As consumers and remote critics, we click, scroll and like our way through these digital spaces. We are comforted and besieged by hyperactive content streams, presenting us with an increasingly fragmented and chaotic view of the world. Defrag explores confusion, control, creativity, appropriation and resilience, delving into the practice of artists, designers and thinkers utilising and critiquing the latest tools and questioning the realities of our newly augmented human experience. Featuring the work and practices of Somerset House Studios residents and invited guests, the night is structured as a live navigation through artists’ digital footprints, alongside some collective internet browsing. The first series of events explored: Commercial Technologies ft Werkflow and The White Pube The Feminist Internet: Digital Clinic ft Charlotte Webb, Travis Alabanza, Seyi Akiwowo and Azmina Dhrodia. Reality ft Ted Hunt, James Ball, Mevan Babakar, Carmen Aguilar y Wedge and Seyi Akiwowo. Encryption ft Silkie Carlo and Anne Duffau. Hype ft Jon Wright, Katie Baron and Natalie Khan. DEFRAG X IAM ft La Turbo Avedon, Joana Chicau, Ted Hunt, Zoe Ligon and Andres Colmenares. DEFRAG returns in 2019 for a second series.