ABC No Rio in Exile at 292 Gallery/Bullet Space
292 E. 3rd Street (b/w Ave C & D)
New York, NY 10009
An Exhibition by Members of the Strategic Transparency Network
Organized by Roopa Vasudevan with Christina Freeman & ABC No Rio
On view February 24–March 19, 2023
Opening Reception February 24, 6-9pm
Viewing Hours Fri-Sun, 2-6pm
We Refuse, We Want, We Commit focuses on the role of artists in building better technical systems for the Internet and beyond. The artists in the exhibition center technology and society in their work, in dialogue with themes of ethical technology, cautionary tales from the current Web, and artist approaches to building technology we want to see. We aim to open up the conversation about how artists and cultural workers can begin moving in solidarity to make meaningful change in technology—with the hope that just maybe, by reflecting on the current state of our digital lives, we can avoid repeating the same mistakes as we envision and create the future.
The exhibition celebrates the launch of the online version of We Refuse, We Want, We Commit: The Manifestos for Creative Resistance in Technology, to which all of the participating artists have contributed. These works explore notions of virtual space, decentralization and ethics from a diverse array of perspectives—community building, the human microbiome, embodiment, domesticity, climate and more—but they all offer perspectives on building the Internet we want to see as artists, not just one we have to get used to living and working in. The publication also collects the Strategic Transparency Network’s manifestos, which have been generated in workshops since 2020.
The Strategic Transparency Network is a group of media art practitioners working to build solidarity and find voice within the structures of Big Tech and surveillance capitalism. Initiated by media artist and researcher Roopa Vasudevan, the Network advocates a robustly self-reflexive approach to working with technology and data, and encourages artists to align their goals with each other and work as a community rather than in creative silos.
We Refuse, We Want, We Commit is funded in part by the New York State Council on Arts and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. The We Refuse, We Want, We Commit publication was supported by the Next Web Seed Grant, an initiative of NEW INC and Meta Open Arts.