Alexander R. Galloway ist Professor of Media, Culture, and Communication an der New York University. Zudem war er Gastprofessor an der University of Pennsylvania und der Harvard University. Seine Forschungsinteressen umfassen Medienkunst, Film und Videospiele sowie kritische Theorie, Ästhetik und Semiotik.

Zu seinen Publikationen gehören unter anderem The Interface Effect (Polity, 2012), ein Standardwerk der Erforschung digitaler Kulturen, sowie zuletzt Uncomputable: Play and Politics in the Long Digital Age (Verso, 2021). Galloway wurde unter anderem mit dem Golden Nica des Prix Ars Electronica und dem Berlin Prize der dortigen American Academy ausgezeichnet. 2019 förderte die John-Simon-Guggenheim-Gedächtnis-Stiftung Galloways Forschung Arbeit mit einem ihrer renommierten Stipendien.

Three Quick Questions:

In a few words, can you tell us about your current research interest?

This semester I'm returning to old questions, trying to develop better definitions of seemingly straightforward terms like "digital" and "analog." While the question of the digital leads in many different directions, at Cinepoetics I am focusing on the problem of "correlation." Data-driven digital images -- such as those created by machine learning models -- rely on methods borrowed from the empirical sciences, as opposed to symbolic logic or rational causality. This often entails the correlation of disparate data points. At the same time thinkers like François Laruelle and Quentin Meillassoux have described a post-Kantian scenario in which correlation is no longer valid. I'm trying to untangle this thicket, particularly with an eye toward digital images.

How do you relate the term poiesis to your work?

I consider the act of creation (poiesis) to be intimately connected to the process of critique. In recent years, I've tried to do both at the same time. This will typically involve making, building, or programming specific technical objects. Often the objects are discovered within the historical archive. I've started to call this "algorithmic re-enactment." Although that term is a bit clunky; perhaps there's an a better word to describe it.

Which film or other audiovisual format has resonated with you lately and why?

That's tough, but I might focus on two late works by Harun Farocki that deal with computer games: Serious Games and Parallel. Farocki made these two series of pieces from 2009 to 2014. While in Berlin I'd like to get further acquainted with Farocki's turn to games prior to his death.