Art and Cosmotechnics

"This book opens the way to rethinking technology beyond Gestell, by exploring the obscure paths of the experience of art."—Augustin Berque, author of Thinking Through Landscape

"Art and Cosmotechnics is a must-read, especially for Westerners, to unlock the transformative potential of art vis-à-vis technologies."—Neural

"Yuk Hui has played a key role in creating a framework within which current art-historical discourse regarding this vital subject can thrive."—Leonardo Reviews

In light of current discourses on AI and robotics, what do the various experiences of art contribute to the rethinking of technology today?

Art and Cosmotechnics addresses the challenge of technology to the existence of art and traditional thought, especially in light of current discourses on artificial intelligence and robotics. It carries out an attempt on the cosmotechnics of Chinese landscape painting in order to address this question, and further asks: What is the significance of shanshui (mountain and water) in face of the new challenges brought about by the current technological transformation? Thinking art and cosmotechnics together is an attempt to look into the varieties of experiences of art and to ask what these experiences might contribute to the rethinking of technology today.

Yuk Hui currently teaches at the Bauhaus University in Weimar. He is author of On the Existence of Digital Objects (Minnesota, 2016), The Question Concerning Technology in China, and Recursivity and Contingency.