2019
Fictional Realities
The images are projections into the future but not as mere fantasy; rather, they exist as fictional realities, producing scenarios that directly comment on our own moment in time by accelerating into the future current critical problems. I consider these scenarios as critical filters and tools to engage with contemporary issues. Deep Learning (GANs) enables a representation that makes the above new realities “plausible” (Carrie Lambert-Beatty). I argue these fictions can achieve
political power (influence) if the aesthetics of a potential reality are expressed to a point where the familiar seems oddly distinct. As reconstructed satellite maps, the fictions fit into the real world without delimiting where reality ends and fiction begins. Satellite maps are considered as one of our most trusted signals of institutional authority by which knowledge is produced. In this sense, the results distort our view of the everyday and trigger doubts.
Credits
Ingrid Mayrhofer-Hufnagl, Benjamin Ennemoser