Divination: A Romantic Mutiny in a Maelstrom of Data

BACKGROUND This artistic research contributes to the discourse concerning the role played by computational devices in contemporary culture, specifically, in performance art. It draws parallels between modern day information piracy and arcane object-based bounties. It refers to media philosopher and art practitioner Florian Cramer (2005) who writes: ‘The technical principle of magic, controlling matter through manipulation of symbols, is the technical principle of computer software as well.’ The research proposes that the performance of code in its everyday use in computing is rich with historical significance. CONTRIBUTION ‘Divination: A Romantic Mutiny in a Maelstrom of Data’ was a 3-week durational performance art installation. Along with performing in the premiere, Mauro-Flude - as artistic director – curated the large-scale event that involved an international group of artists. The work fostered a ‘feminist folklore aesthetic,’ and referred to notions of piracy, predictive analytics and fortune telling. Mauro-Flude’s ‘modern bounty' in the form of audience information was collected to generate an audio-visual experience. Customising a computer network as a performance tool, the audience was able to interact with non-human actors throughout the city of Hobart through WIFI nodes. The work contributes to wider debates around the real-world implications of making live, software-based artworks. SIGNIFICANCE The work was commissioned by Museum of New and Old Art’s winter festival, which had 76,260 visitors. ‘Divination’ attracted critical acclaim and extensive press coverage including The Guardian, The Mix (ABC TV) and Artlink. It received competitive funding including $30,144 from Australia Council Creative Australia fund (success rate 4%). The work also appeared in a subsequent iteration in Radical Networks Eyebeam in 2017 in NY.