Artificial Physicality (Drew Austin)

Hope in Source

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

• [00:08] 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

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