This gathering is an open conversation between Milan Stürmer, Simone C. Niquille, and Dave Murray-Rust around the perils, challenges, and enchantments of what we have called the magical condition of technique. It is an attempt to comprehend our historical affective relationship with technology and our desire to replicate intelligence. We will delve into the history of automated devices and what makes them appear intellectually independent, questioning concepts like automation or intelligence in itself. Drawing from the tension between disenchantment and enchantment, we will try to understand how the history of technology influences the worldview and our explanations of phenomena in the Western world. 

From the desire to reproduce intelligence and the growing role of prediction and automation, to the ways technology is shaped by metaphor, spectacle, and processes of enchantment, the conversation will explore how our relationship with technology is never purely rational. What makes a machine appear intelligent? What happens when prediction becomes a model for intelligence itself? And how do the metaphors and imaginaries through which we understand technology shape what we build with it?

Bringing together perspectives from philosophy of technology, design, and digital culture, the event will consider the tension between rationalization and magic, automation and novelty, revelation and concealment. Rather than treating magic as the opposite of technological rationality, we will ask whether it might be understood as one of the forces that has historically driven our desire to develop, understand, and reinvent technique.

The conversation will be moderated by Andrea Muniáin and Paula Ramos Mollá, who are currently developing a broader artistic research project investigating the magical condition of technique.

Please note that the event will take place at the Waterfront room. On entrance to the Eye, walk down to the permanent exhibition. The room is located on the left side at the end of the main hall for the permanent exhibition, next to the water.

If you can't find it, you can always ask at the reception.