Axel Springer Lecture

The Consequences of Computation

Media theorist Alexander Galloway investigates the history and culture of computation. In this lecture, he presents historical developments that help define the “crystalline” nature of contemporary computational media. He begins by tracing the lesser-known histories of German and French chronophotographers in the late nineteenth century, particularly Albert Londe and his strange multi-lens cameras. He goes on to consider mathematician Nils Aall Barricelli and the algorithms he used to create artificial organisms that could live, reproduce, mutate, and even die. Finally, he turns to a nearly forgotten chapter late in the life of French filmmaker and philosopher Guy Debord, who in the 1970s defied expectations by establishing a commercial game company and releasing a table-top parlor game called The Game of War.