Conceived during a period of rapid and often unchecked technological development, this issue of Afterall aims at reconsidering and expanding our understanding of what 'technology' is.
A multifarious category, we approach technology here as always embedded within and informed by the particular conditions of the geopolitical, cultural and environmental contexts in which it is used and developed. Through this situated approach we hope to move away from a Eurocentric concept of technology and to make room instead for the multiple perspectives which shape what philosopher Yuk Hui calls 'technodiversity'.
Exploring an array of disparate technologies—ranging from AI and cyborgs to bioengineering and surfing—as well as diverse geocultural contexts, the issue includes contributions from Li Qi, Ingrid Pui Yee Chu, Christin Yu, Filipa Ramos, Joël Vacheron, Nicolas Vamvouklis and Dorota Jagoda Michalska. It features artists Lawrence Lek, Lee Bul, Revital Cohen and Tuur Van Balen, Sojung Jun, Im Heung-soon, Flaka Hality and Kateryna Lysovenko.
Published twice a year, Afterall, a journal of art, context and enquiry founded in 1998 by Charles Esche and Mark Lewis, offers in-depth analysis of contemporary artists' work, along with essays on art history and critical theory. Edited by Elisa Adami, Amanda Carneiro, Nav Haq, Mark Lewis, Adeena Mey, Charles Stankievech, and Chloe Ting, Afterall is published by Central Saint Martins in research and publishing partnership with M HKA, Antwerp; the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design, University of Toronto; NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore; and in association with The University of Chicago Press.
