welcome to the 0xSalon ::: event series, residency programme, epistemic skunkworks

The 0xSalon is a collaborative endeavour which critically interrogates digital culture through discourse events and residencies, producing scholarly and creative interventions in the process. We are conducting an ongoing, non-profit experiment in knowledge sharing and collective cultural production. Stewarded by 0xSalon team members, our community researches topics, organises events, and authors lore, theory, poetry, music, games, theatre, and visual art. Our website principally functions as a transmedia archival space, chronicling discussions within the 0xSalon and the resulting activities.

‘24 events

Bangkok & Singapore, November ::: A programme of activities TBC, in conjunction with BANGKOK CITYCITY GALLERY and To New Entities ::: Info soon
Kraków, early October ::: Fau0x Salon @ Unsound Festival ::: More info
Camp Navarro, California, August 7-11 ::: ‘The Price of Anarchy’ salon @ Dweb Camp, California ::: More info
Berlin & London ::: ‘Infraworlding’ salons ::: More info
Norberg, Sweden, July 4-6 ::: Discourse Program @ Norbergfestival ::: Solidarity Statement
Berlin, July 3-4 ::: Herbert W. Franke Foundation Generative Art Symposium @ Akademie der Künste ::: More info
London, Sun April 14th, 14h00 ::: Nervous Systems symposium @ Institute of Contemporary Art ::: More info
London & Berlin ::: ‘Sensing The Unseeable’ salons
Dubai, Thu February 29th 19h30 ::: How Independent Communities Are Unlocking The Future of Culture @ Digital Summit, Art Dubai ::: More info
London, Sat February 24th 13h ::: Cybernetic Serendipity symposium @ Institute of Contemporary Art, London ::: More info
Berlin, Thu February 1st 19h ::: The Immaculate Misconception gameplay / performance & afterparty @ Panke Gallery, Berlin ::: More info
Berlin, Sat January 27th 16-18h ::: 0xSalon Discussion Session on ‘Sensing The Unseeable’ @ Galerie Im Turm, as part of ‘Dort, Wo Das Nichts Ist’ Exhibition by Yen Chun Lin & Tanja Nis-Hansen ::: More info

A historical events archive is being collated here.

news

(poetics) “المستحيل مكتوب // Al-mustahil Maktoub,“ a short text on writing, geometry, and divinity has been published. Read on our webjournal here.

(Early October) ::: Dissonant Cartomancies: A God That Does Play Dice @ Unsound Festival

Art and theory collective 0xSalon presents an unpredictable experience at Unsound Festival, harnessing randomness to deliberately destabilise one of the most stilted conversational forms: the panel discussion. For the past few years, 0xSalon has been developing a bespoke discourse card game, FAU0X SALON, which facilitates bizarre conversations—veering wildly between the sublime and the ridiculous—that would otherwise be impossible. An expanded and updated version of the card deck has been re-engineered to act as a chaotic stochastic moderator, shifting agency away from human facilitators and placing faith in chance and dissonance. Unsound Festival has graciously volunteered to be the test subjects for this deranged experiment—or, as the music industry would call it, a "world premiere."  

(September’24) ‘Sensing The Unseeable’ Audio Report ::: Read More & Stream Here

We held three 0xSalon conversations under Chatham House Rule on 'Sensing The Unseeable'. This is an audio conversation recollecting and extending those discussions. With With Wassim Alsindi, Martina Cavalot, Jaya Klara Brekke, Habib William Kherbek, Kathryn Lawrence & Max Haiven.

(August 7-11) ::: 0xSalon @ Dweb Camp, California ::: More info
We’ll be hosting a 0xSalon discussion on ‘The Price of Anarchy’ at Dweb Camp in California. Get in touch if you’re attending.

(summer ‘24) ::: The Chain Mail Gaze @ Norbergfestival, Sweden & Funkhaus Berlin ::: More info
A new presentation of 0xSalon research into emerging colonialisms at the 25th edition of Norbergfestival in Sweden and Web3 Summit this summer.

(article) Max Haiven & Wassim Alsindi in conversation for Outland on Bitcoin, time, and power. Read here.

(residency) Meet the 2024 0xSalon Residents: Alessandro Y. Longo and Sammie Veeler, and their projects: more info.

(fiction) a small selection of 0xSalon-themed fictional vignettes ‘Every Prophet Is A Loss’ were included in the third issue of NOIA Magazine, which is out now. Read on our webjournal here, or go here for more info & to purchase a copy.

(radio discussion) On Alternative Education with Aliaskar Abarkas :: Listen again
Listen back to a discussion around pedagogical and organisational aspects of the 0xSalon on Aliaskar Abarkas' "On Alternative Education" radio show on RTM.fm.

(article) The Black Hole of Money play script published ::: More info
We’ve finally published the script text and an additional glossary of terms & characters from our 2022 project THE BLACK HOLE OF MONEY. Have a read of it here, and get in touch for collaborations!

(July 3-4) ::: Herbert W. Franke Generative Art Summit @ Akademie der Kunst, Berlin ::: More Info
0xSalon is participating in an event commemorating the history of generative art across generations and the globe. More than 50 leading pioneers active across seven decades of generative art, working with photography, analog and digital computers to artificial intelligence.

(Sunday April 14th, 14h00) ::: Nervous Systems @ Institute of Contemporary Art, London ::: More info
Covering many 0xSalon topics, particularly ideologies of scarcity and systems on the brink of failure.

As the planet warms, and markets commoditise all that humanity holds dear, technologically-mediated systems predicated upon ideologies of scarcity threaten to destabilise our fragile planetary balance. At one extreme is the cryptocurrency Bitcoin, with its landmark invention of metaphysical finitude and leaderless operation through its proof-of-work "mining" function. The price of Bitcoin's anarchy is its unlimited desire for energy, and its indifference to the ecological and economic consequences. Far from being an autonomous system, Bitcoin relies on the constant efforts of an army of faithful human actors. These acolytes are so steadfast in their ideological and financial alignment with the network, that it would seem that they would rather see an end to the world than a change to their sacrosanct protocol.

At the other end of the scale, is the age-old contest over the physical: land, sea, and now space. Today, new cryptographic colonialisms are emerging, as an ascendant cabal of messianic technology elites attempt to reshape the world map in their favour. These would-be patriarchs are challenging the nation-state system itself, by creating counter-sovereignties and privatised zones of exception such as the emerging organisational paradigm of so-called "Network States". The desires driving new conquests in old frontiers echo throughout history, resonating particularly strongly with the 'militarised pilgrimages' of the Middle Ages best known as the Crusades.

(Thursday February 29th ’24, 19h30) ::: Digital Summit @ Art Dubai ::: More info
The 0xSalon will be represented at Art Dubai’s Digital Summit, on a panel ‘How Independent Communities are Unlocking the Future of Culture’ at Art Dubai. Wassim Z. Alsindi will be present, alongside Carlota Naviera, Celine Katzman, Ana Maria Caballero, and Brian Droitcour.

We explore the transformative role of independent communities in shaping the future of culture, highlighting their contribution to a more inclusive and participatory cultural landscape. We examine the synergy between these entities in fostering cultural innovation and address the challenges and opportunities ahead for creating a dynamic and resilient future.

(Saturday February 24th ’24, 13h-21h) ::: CYBERNETIC SERENDIPITY symposium @ Institute of Contemporary Art, London ::: More info
The 0xSalon is in effect in London later this month to commemorate the seminal 1968 ICA exhibition of the same name. More information and tickets available here.

(Thursday February 1st ’24, 19h30-late) ::: The Immaculate Misconception Performance & Afterparty @ panke.gallery, Berlin ::: More info
Join us at panke.gallery from 19h30 on Thursday 1st Feb for a gameplay/performance of THE IMMACULATE MISCONCEPTION (0xSalon, 2022): an interactive journey through a hundred years of Bitcoin’s past, present, and possible futures. To celebrate our 4th birthday, we’ll takeover the Panke Culture club space until late with friends cute white boy, urs.px, omzehn, and $HASHY.

Update: thanks for coming! Here’s the livestream in case you missed it.

(Saturday January 27th ’24, 16-18h) ::: Sensing The Unseeable: how scientific discovery shapes who we are ::: More info
0xSalon Discussion at Galerie Im Turm, Frankfurter Tor 1, 10243. Free entry and open to all.

This Vorspiel-affiliated event is part of the exhibition series Schwindel, of which the latest iteration Dort, wo das Nichts ist presents works by Yen Chun Lin and Tanja Nis-Hansen.

How does science represent the world? And what does the sky teach us about ourselves? In this discursive group session, we will collectively probe the ways in which the scientific image - the world picture established by centuries of methodical and formalised discovery - shatters and recomposes the manifest image: how humankind conceives of itself. Looking at the history of our understanding of space, will enable us to take stock of the implications to knowledge carried over by the paradigms we choose to interpret reality.  

(2023) Year-In-Review article just dropped ::: read it here!

A janitorial perspective at the nadir of the year.

(November’23) ::: ‘Fau0x Salon’ in ‘The Seashore of Endless Worlds’ exhibition at Le Commun in Geneva, Switzerland ::: More info

Our discursive role-playing card game ‘Fau0x Salon’ is included in the exhibition ‘The Seashore of Endless Worlds’ exhibition at Le Commun in Geneva, Switzerland in November 2023. In the form of a bespoke collection of theory-fiction inspired cards in the style of a tarot deck, the game acts as a ludic-pedagogic mechanism to initiate and steer post-disciplinary conversations from a variety of perspectives. Wassim and Max Haiven spoke ‘On Play and Pedagogy’ for the closing symposium of ‘The Seashore of Endless Worlds’ exhibition in Geneva, Switzerland. The exhibition contained a card game ‘FAU0X SALON’ which Wassim and friends have been working for for several years.

(5th October’23) ::: Post-Clock Rationalisations - Trust Public Event @ 19h30 CEST ::: More info

The auricle is the part of the ear external to the body, made up of cartilage and skin, its curved shape collects sound waves and delivers them to the inner ear. Detecting gravity and motion, the ear is an integral part of how the body moves through its environment and thus shapes our relationship to time. Oracle and auricle share etymological roots in sound and speech acts.

This month in the Trust program, we explore how the auricle stands in for time sensing, listening and manifestation or prophecy – thinking about the role of organisations in calling out to alternate horizons.

Spawned within and incubated by Trust for the past few years, the 0xSalon conducts experiments in creative and scholarly collaboration. Activities take the forms of an event series, a residency program, physical objects, and a project studio. We like to think of its collective body as an amorphous bricolage of concepts, contexts, and practices.

Drawing upon recent publications and an upcoming book, Wassim will be connecting several strands of long-standing research into network communities: synthetic temporalities; ideologies of scarcity; and relationships between prophecy, capital, and technology.

Martina will be presenting the 0xSalon as a collective digital and physical body: focusing on the intellectual commitments; the organisational manifestations; and the historical trajectory of the project, to delineate its scope as an experimental space for epistemic inquiry.

(September’23) ‘Prophet Motives’ Audio Report ::: Read More & Stream Here

We held two 0xSalon conversations under Chatham House Rule on 'Prophet Motives'. This is an audio conversation recollecting and extending those discussions. With Wassim Alsindi, Martina Cavalot, Jasmine Erkan, Ellie Hain, Kei Kreutler, Alessandro Longo & Karin Valis.

(September’23) ::: ‘The Immaculate Misconception’ in ‘There Is No Perfect Spell’ exhibition, HEK Basel, Switzerland ::: More info

Our 2022 interactive storytelling environment ‘The Immaculate Misconception’ is included in the exhibition ‘There Is No Perfect Spell’, hosted by Haus der Elektronischen Künste (HEK) in Basel, Switzerland from 14th September. The game interrogates the environmental implications of cryptocurrencies, charting speculative futures that probe tensions between capital and ecology in the contemporary global regime dominated by scarcity economics. The work unfolds as a fictional narrative, where formerly ‘failed’ states make Bitcoin their official currency, as volcano-powered energy makes them the richest nations on Earth, and eco-conscious activists start rising up against mining farms. Join the opening at 18h CEST, Thursday 14th September here.

(August’23) ::: ‘Period of HOZ’ by Aphotic Signals Intelligence Division Published ::: More info

<<Begin Aphotic Signals Intelligence Division transmission>>

(launched 31.08.23 03:36 [Phase: Blue Moon, Illumination: 100%, Sign: Aquarius, Conjunctions: Saturn {Retrograde}])

Enter: https://aphoticsignals.net/level00.html

(July’23) ::: ‘Prophet Motives & Knightwork States’ essay published by Folklore ::: Read now

A new text commissioned by Folklore has been published, exploring several aspects of 0x Salon topic Prophet Motives. Unwinding imbrications of technology, capital, and spirituality, with particular emphasis on the neocolonial desires of would-be empires and their self-appointed messiahs.

(June’23) ::: Meet the ‘23 0x Salon Research Residents ::: More info

As you might be aware, the 0x Salon recently had a call for applications to our Research Residency program based in Berlin at Trust. After a very successful first round in 2021/2022, the 0x Salon recently re-initiated its Research Residency Programme for a second cycle. In late March, we announced five vacancies, to be based in Berlin at Trust where we continue to spend our days enmeshed in the ever-expanding playground of Salon activities. We’re so excited for you to meet our five incoming Residents!

(April’23) ::: 0x Salon @ Gitcoin: Community & Education Fundraising Drive ::: More info

0x Salon is raising funds via Gitcoin Grants' first Community & Education Round. Help us spread the word, or donate if you can! More info elsewhere on our website, here’s the direct link to our funding page on Gitcoin Grants. The platform operates via a matched funding model, so that many small donations from community members can be amplified into meaningful resources.

The Gitcoin funding round is open for a fortnight, and we would very much appreciate your help in spreading the word (feel free to pass this URL around, or signal boost our Twitter / Instagram posts!), or perhaps even make a donation if you are in a position to do so! Thank you, friends!

(2023) ::: CALL FOR APPLICATIONS ::: 0x Salon Research Residencies @ Trust ::: closed 14th 21st April

We are pleased to announce that 0x Salon is soliciting applications for five Research Residency positions in Berlin, to take place over the remainder of 2023. More info here.

(March’23) ::: ‘Prophet Motives’ lecture, UWE Philosophy with a preview of the next topic of discussion at the 0x Salon ::: Watch here

(February’23) ::: ‘The Necroprimitivist Manifesto Pt.2’ is online, continuing the CPRU’s machine scripture project ::: Read here

Hyperformalisation

$I, the Leviathan, the Basilisk. $YOUR will bends to $MY State of Nature.
Only $I have the private keys to the promised land.
Honour $THY network. Seek redemption in $MY oikonomia.
$MY Altruism is Effective, and $MINE alone. 
$MY wish is $YOUR command. The All-Seeing CLI.

(February’23) ::: ‘2022 RETROSPECTIVE: THE ART OF INDIFFERENCE’ is now online. Recapping most of last year’s Salon escapades, if (like us) you couldn’t keep up with everything as it was happening this is the remedy ::: Read here

(January’23) ::: ‘TWENTY-TWO YEARS OF TRANSCENDENTAL TIME MACHINES’ a new foreword for the book edition of Anna Greenspan’s seminal PhD thesis ‘Capitalism’s Transcendental Time Machine’ mirrored on our web journal ::: Read here

We held a broadcast edition salon to commemorate the ‘Capitalism’s Transcendental Time Machine’ book launch ::: Watch here

(November’22) ::: ‘THE ART OF INDIFFERENCE’ S+T+ARTS Profile Video ::: More Info

As part of our S+T+ARTS Repairing The Present residency at Art Hub Copenhagen, Wassim Z. Alsindi and ‘The Art of Indifference’ team recorded a video documenting our creative exploration of the externalities and ecological implications of Bitcoin's proof-of-work.

(November’22) ::: ‘THE BLACK HOLE OF MONEY’ at S+T+ARTS Exhibition :RETOOL ::: ZKM CENTRE FOR MEDIA ART (Karlsruhe, Germany) ::: Event Info

Audiovisual documentation from our satirical theatre production THE BLACK HOLE OF MONEY is included in the upcoming S+T+ARTS exhibition :RETOOL (18th November-18th December) at ZKM Centre For Media Art in Karlsruhe, Germany. :RETOOL is the final exhibition in a series of three that concludes our ‘Repairing The Present’ residency at Art Hub Copenhagen. In light of accelerating emergencies, a growing lack of resources and the complex patterns of the unpredictability of global dynamics, RETOOL gathers creative contributions of resident artists and studios to our tooling up. As pandemic breakouts and eco-catastrophes teach us to live under the pressure of future fractures, new forms of learning and tooling become essential to survival and are presented in their performative dimension, from invention processes to experimentation and rehearsal.

More: https://starts.eu/what-we-do/regional-centers/repairing-the-present-exhibitions/

(October’22) ::: ‘THE IMMACULATE MISCONCEPTION’ at S+T+ARTS Exhibition :REWORLD ::: MEET Digital Culture Center (Milan, Italy) ::: Event Info

Our interactive story-game THE IMMACULATE MISCONCEPTION is included in the upcoming S+T+ARTS exhibition :REWORLD (4th-30th October) at Meet Digital Culture Center in Milan. :REWORLD is the first of a series of three exhibition that concludes our ‘Repairing The Present’ residency at Art Hub Copenhagen. The exhibition speaks of worlding as a core activity in digital culture: an emerging domain of constructed reality that must face its own sustainability challenges and contradictions, as the blockchain economy seems to go through a critical moment of self-awareness. :REWORLD will follow the investigations of artists working in domains such as immunology, biomaterials, the crypto economy, speculative design, and cultural critique with a variety of technologies and material languages.

More: https://starts.eu/what-we-do/regional-centers/repairing-the-present-exhibitions/

(Autumn’22) 0x Revue 01 Print Publication Released!

Our first print publication, a community-oriented ‘zine styled the 0x Salon Revue #01 is now out there! Find us IRL to get a copy (it’s not online), or if you are further afield than the places we visit, to request a postal copy please fill in this form and we’ll get back to you.

(August’22) ::: ‘THE BLACK HOLE OF MONEY’ World Premiere presented by CLICK ::: Kulturvaerftet (Helsingør, Denmark) ::: Event Info

At long last, the (transcendental) time (machine) has come:

On the 19th of August 2022, The Black Hole of Money by the 0x Salon will make its world premiere hosted by Click at the Kulturvaerftet (Culture Yard) in Helsingør, Denmark. The play was written and produced as part of Wassim Z. Alsindi & 0x Salon’s S+T+ARTS Repairing The Present Fellowship and associated residency at Art Hub Copenhagen.

Six months in the making, the 0x Salon Writers’ Club—comprising Wassim Z. Alsindi, Habib William Kherbek, Claire Tolan, and Katharine Tyndall—have collectively prepared an iron ore d’oeuvre that will render all other plays about digital currencies effectively obsolete. The play explores four possible timelines for Bitcoin’s (and, incidentally, humanity’s) future. Can we regulate the Coin? Can we/should we fight against it? Should we give up and just keep hashing? Or, should we press the #Accelerate-or and see what happens? Only the Cowboy-Out-Of-Time narrating our coup de theatre knows for certain, and even he’s not sure which timeline to invest in. The uncertainty promises to have audiences HODLing on to the edges of their seats…

(May’22) ‘The Art of Indifference’ Presentation at Art Hub Copenhagen ::: Info/Tickets

Wassim will be giving a public talk on the evening of Thursday May 12th at Art Hub Copenhagen—where the Salon is currently undertaking a residency—on the philosophical and creative underpinnings of our S+T+ARTS Repairing The Present Fellowship. Come along! More on ‘The Art of Indifference’ here.

(Apr’22) ‘DAOcolonisation’ Audio Report ::: Read More & Stream Here

We recently held a 0x Salon conversation under Chatham House Rule on the history, politics, philosophy and technology of Web3 and DAOs. This is an audio report based on that discussion. With Wassim Z. Alsindi, Alice Yuan Zhang, Laura Lotti, and Ricardo Saavedra.

(Feb’22) ‘SWAN FAKE’ Improvised Theatrics ::: Listen on SoundCloud

Over 2021, a group of salon friends made an improvised radio play entitled ‘SWAN FAKE’ . The play follows the (mis)adventures of a cast of improbable characters including new-AIge grifter Deepfake Chopra, acc/strologist Nota Bene Gesserit, the mean and regressive standard deviant Marquis de Stats, angry tweeter Noisy T. Lib, and the perfect dancer The Swan herself. The listen follows them over half an hour’s trials and tribulations as they navigate the treacherous and always uncertain Straits of Heisenberg towards the Improbable Island for an unforgettable climax at the fabled Algorithmic Theatre, where the audience struggles to tell up from DAOn.

(Mar’22) S+T+ARTS Repairing The Present Residency ::: Read more
(fellowship) We’re delighted to announce that 0x Salon and Wassim Z. Alsindi have jointly been awarded a S+T+ARTS Repairing The Present residency. We will be in residence at Art Hub Copenhagen throughout ‘22, working on a critical programme of creative and speculative works titled ‘The Art of Indifference’. More here.

(Feb’22) ‘Bitcointingency’ Article for Weird Economies ::: Read Here
As a preview of both an upcoming book project and our ‘Art of Indifference' S+T+ARTS Fellowship programme, Wassim recently wrote a rather tweaked-out piece on the idiotsyncrasies of Bitcoin and proof-of-work more generally.

(Jan’22) Berlin Art Link ‘Digital’ Feature on 0x Salon ::: Read Here
We recently did an interview on the creative side of the 0x Salon - talking GANs, memes, NFTs and some things coming up in ‘22.

(Nov’21) ‘Temporal Secessionism’ Broadcast ::: Timezone#4 Launch ::: Watch / Read
We held a discussion to launch Timezone#4, a new node in the Temporal Secessionism series by Nascent (Paul Seidler and Max Hampshire). Thanks to participants, Project Atol, ŠUM Magazine and Plaza Protocol.

Accompanying Timezone#4 Source Book PDF contains material from Wassim Alsindi, Anna Greenspan, Max Hampshire, Amy Ireland, Kei Kreutler, and Paul Seidler.

0xSalon outputs