Texte zur Kunst

Putting together an issue on algorithms as a pandemic is raging can feel like a performative act. The more uncertain our ability to contain the virus is, the more predictable and controllable our actions must be to curb its spread. However, predictability and regularity are key features of both the IT-based and social algorithms that govern our lives. In analyzing and discussing the influence of algorithms along social differences, this issue of Texte zur Kunst homes in on highly various aesthetic practices in order to pinpoint those differences. These practices are hardly limited to what is conventionally described as art, let alone high art, yet each contribution is very clear on one crucial point: the life of society keeps eluding the figures – the numbers, images, and ideas – that circulate about it.