Divination: Ode to Ching Shih

Background: This research mobilises media theorist Kitchin’s argument that the character of data lies in material treatment of non-representational phenomena. The work develops his claim that “data do not exist independently of the ideas, instruments, practices, contexts and knowledges used to generate, process and analyse them” (2014). It engages with a tradition of critical engineers (Julian Oliver and Danja Vasiliev), artists and software hackers seeking to break out of the rigidity of the black box, giving (untrained) audience ‘live’ contact. Contribution: Mauro-Flude’s live code installation Divination: Ode to Ching Shih invites the public to consider topical issues of technocultural imbroglios, as it develops nautical data to present the espionage tale of a formidable 16th century pirate who commanded the China Sea. This work contributes to wider debates about big data as a ‘hyperobject’ (Morton 2013), an entity that increasingly shapes globalised society and exceeds the usual parameters of objecthood. Not readily amenable to representation, through customising application of open-source code libraries, the work repositions aesthetics to centre the inquiry into technology and culture. Significance: The exhibition was featured in China Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) Art Museum and 2018 Beijing Media Arts Biennale (BMAB). Mauro-Flude presented this work at BMAB – an international platform for discourse and experiments in art and technology – alongside esteemed Australian peers including Guy Ben-Ary, Helen Pynor, Oron Catts+Ionat Zurr, Wade Marynowsky and Michaela Davies. Mauro-Flude received $3000 in competitive funding from Arts Tasmania and was endorsed by an Australian Cultural Diplomacy Grant of $20000. The exhibition received widespread media coverage on several national art blogs and international television coverage.