Proprietary algorithms, secret data troves, and inscrutable systems rule the day. How is this registered in art? KW Digital presents Poetics of Encryption, a year-long program elaborated through a publication, a website, a gathering and an exhibition in 2023–2024.

The publication Poetics of Encryption: Art and the Technocene explores artworks that probe the hidden dimensions of our technological landscape. This supplies a critical framework for the program – outlining a cultural landscape defined by Black Sites, Black Boxes, and Black Holes.

The central platform for the content of Poetics of Encryption is published in the form of a website. It showcases digital commissions and functions as a hub for information and documentation throughout the project.

A gathering end of October will bring together artists and media theorists to explore new questions in the continuum between digital and physical realms of art, followed by an extensive group exhibition on-site at KW in spring 2024.

Curator: Nadim Samman