Alan N. Shapiro, Technologist and Futurist

Blog and text archive about media theory, science fiction theory, future design, social choreography, Computer Science 2.0, new media art, robots and androids, Star Trek, The Prisoner, Jean Baudrillard, Albert Camus, Michel Foucault, and Marshall McLuhan

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“Point, Click, Love”: A Novel by Molly Shapiro

January 14th, 2012 in Category: American Literature, Fiction, Social Media

Other commentators will talk about the "chick lit" dimension of the novel "Point, Click, Love." I will talk about the book’s intellectual side.
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“I Bring Philosophy and Biotechnology into the Sphere of Art”: Polona Tratnik interviewed by Alan N. Shapiro

January 13th, 2012 in Category: The Illusion Beyond Art

On December 17, 2011, I interviewed the Slovenian artist and media culture-cultural studies professor Polona Tratnik in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
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Introduction to Polona Tratnik, by Anja Wiesinger

January 12th, 2012 in Category: The Illusion Beyond Art

Being a signifier for health, fruition, and beauty, hair also fulfills an aesthetic function. It is a medium with tactile qualities, associated with intimacy on the one hand, and with the abject on the other hand.
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“Nature Disappears Beneath Our Words and Images”: Nicola Toffolini interviewed by Alan N. Shapiro

December 9th, 2011 in Category: The Illusion Beyond Art

On November 11, 2011, I interviewed the Italian artist Nicola Toffolini in Bologna, Italy. I spoke in English, and Nicola spoke in Italian. I have translated his comments into English.
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From The Technological Herbarium, by Gianna Maria Gatti: Artworks of Nicola Toffolini

December 9th, 2011 in Category: The Illusion Beyond Art

Nicola Toffolini works on the nature-technology marriage by elaborating singular ecosystems enclosed in glass and aluminium cases of marked formal elegance. Inside plants have been placed which, in order to live, depend on sophisticated electronic mechanisms, which visitors operate from the outside interactively.
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Impressionist Paintings by Florence Morrison, Installment 3

December 8th, 2011 in Category: Painting

Moving Shadow (1968), Black and White Pondside (1966), Maritime Artefacts (1964)
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Media theory: beyond the dualities of form and content, critical and enthusiastic, real and fake

December 7th, 2011 in Category: Media Studies

On January 26, 2012, I will give a lecture in the Speakers' Series of the Centre for the Study of Theory, Culture and Politics at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada.
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How can we redefine information in the age of social media?

December 7th, 2011 in Category: Information Society, Social Media

On January 24, 2012, I will be a keynote speaker at the BOBCATSSS conference on Information Management in Amsterdam. The conference is organised by students from 3 universities of applied sciences, namely Hogeschool van Amsterdam (NL), Hanze Hogeschool Groningen (NL), and Stuttgart Media University (GER).
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Anticipating the Future through Knowledge of the Fiction in Social Reality

November 17th, 2011 in Category: Future Design

I was the keynote speaker at the conference on "Das Wissen der Zukunft" ("Knowledge of the Future") that took place at the University of Vienna on November 4-5, 2011. These are the lecture notes for my speech.
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Alan N. Shapiro interviewed by Mattia Nicoletti

November 16th, 2011 in Category: Uncategorized

On November 3, 2011, Alan N. Shapiro was interviewed by the Italian journalist Mattia Nicoletti for the Milanese daily newspaper "Il Metro Quotidiano." This is the English version of the interview that appeared in Italian.
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Alan N. Shapiro interviewed by Erik Aru

October 19th, 2011 in Category: Uncategorized

This interview appeared in October 2011 in the Estonian print magazine "HEI: Hea Eesti Idee", an EU publication known as "Estonia's biggest innovation magazine." I think that this and Ingrid Peek's radio interview are my two best interviews thus far.
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The Jig She Saw: Reflections on Creating Relational Encounters in Participatory Theatre, by Regan O’Brien

October 15th, 2011 in Category: Performance Studies

In this essay, I will be reflecting on the theories and practice which took place in the process of creating and performing "The Jig She Saw: Reflections on You," a small scale immersive, interactive performance installation. The project is rooted in Relational Aesthetics and in social choreography.
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Alan N. Shapiro interviewed by Ingrid Peek

October 10th, 2011 in Category: Uncategorized

On September 25, 2011, Estonia Public Broadcasting Radio 2 broadcast a 112-minute interview with Alan N. Shapiro on the show "HALLO, KOSMOS!" The interview was conducted by the well-known Estonian journalist Ingrid Peek. This is the .MP3 audio in English.
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Improving the Information Society Through Awareness of Languages

September 29th, 2011 in Category: Information Society, Language

This is about half of a paper that I presented at the ISEA2011 festival of new media, electronic and digital arts in Istanbul, Turkey on September 21, 2011.
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What is the Meaning of Life?

September 29th, 2011 in Category: Albert Camus, Paul Goodman

On September 13, 2011, I gave a speech called "What is the Meaning of Life?" at the Plektrum Festival for Electronic Culture in Tallinn, Estonia.
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