Ultima and TronTalks present a timely debate on artificial intelligence the tech industry’s competition for attention, and how new music can reflect these issues back to us.
Panel: Lena Lindgren, Nosizwe Baqwa & Einar Duenger Bøhn
Moderator: Glenn Erik Haugland
Musicians: Sheriffs of Nothingness - Kari Rønnekleiv, violin & Ole Henrik Moe, violin
Tomas Nilsson, percussion
Music programme:
Valentin Silvestrov: Postludium for solo fiolin (1981)
Sheriffs of Nothingness: Muted Birch-logs (2020)
Moe, Rønnekleiv, Nilsson & Haugland: Ekko uten lyd (2022)
TronTalks is an innovative new festival concept, mixing contemporary music and art with talks on philosophy and creativity. Taking place in October near the Tron mountain, at Tynset and Alvdal in central Norway, TronTalks opens a space for people to listen together and think aloud.
This year Ultima begins a new collaboration by hosting a special TronTalks happening in Oslo. In a mix of debate and live music, the event is based on journalist and media commentator Lena Lindgren's acclaimed book Ekko (Echo, 2021) – a contemporary diagnosis of how algorithms, artificial intelligence and digital desire are impacting on society.
‘We are many who think the same, same, same’, writes Lindgren in Ekko. The book outlines how social media and algorithms reinforce consensus thinking and exploit humans’ instincts to mirror the behaviour and opinions of others. But when too many groups of people think and act alike, rivalries and polarisations arise, which can lead to violence. Our current attention-deficit crisis is the result of ‘an economy based on the monitoring, control and sale of human attention.’
In addition to Lena Lindgren, festival founder Glenn Erik Haugland has invited actor and activist Noziswe Baqwa and philosopher Einar Duenger Bøhn, who recently published Teknologiens filosofi (The Philosophy of Technology).
What role can art and music play in this discussion? Can close listening to music focus our attention and help make us more than just ‘imitating machines’? As part of the conversation, Ole Henrik Moe, and his group the Sheriffs of Nothingness with Tomas Nilsson, perform contemplative modern music including the reflective music of Ukraine’s Valentin Silvestrov.
The talk is in Norwegian.
Lena Lindgren. Photo: Gyldendal forlag.
Sheriffs of Nothingness. Photo: Tania Kelley.
Panel
- Lena Lindgren, Noziswe Baqwa & Einar Duenger Bøhn
Moderator
- Glenn Erik Haugland
Featured artists
- Ole Henrik Moe, Sheriffs of Nothingness & Tomas Nilsson
In collaboration with
- TronTalks
