Artificial Physicality (Drew Austin)

Why does everyone care about New York? Drew Austin explores the interplay bt digital/physical env and how tech values shape our lives. We discuss some of his past essays: fashion as public good, airport lounge-ification highlighting, and how digital paradigms reshape our physical spaces. Topics include: fake serendipity, lofi, gm, resilient systems, the commons as customs, postmodernist software, leaving a trace, Twitter as a waiting room. (Recorded October 2021) Transcript: https://hopeinsource.com/artificial

• (00:00) - Artificial Physicality (Drew Austin)
• (00:08) - So what's the weather in New York?
• (01:58) - Even a pandemic becomes about NYC
• (03:18) - We behave the same, online or in a city
• (04:39) - Technology, Memory, and Depersonalization
• (06:46) - Lofi, CDs, and Artifical Physicality
• (13:19) - From Sharing Silence to gm
• (15:58) - Worn Out: Fashion and Public Space
• (21:39) - Modernist architecture and postmodernist software
• (27:41) - Code isn't just code
• (29:25) - Infrastructure requires resilience
• (31:28) - The commons as customs
• (33:43) - Airport Lounge-ification of Cities
• (37:03) - McDonalds as the only third place
• (39:51) - Reverse engineering bodegas
• (41:31) - Fake serendipity vs the city
• (44:17) - Can digital environments enable serendipity?
• (47:12) - Leaving a trace, a legacy, provenance
• (48:17) - Twitter as a waiting room