Paper short abstract:

The conference South-by-SouthWest (SXSW) highlights tensions between tech innovation with alternative embodied life and work practices. This ethnographic study examines SXSW's role in promoting alternative work-life narratives through sensory experiences, foregrounding human-centric digital futures.

Paper long abstract:

The annual South-by-Southwest (SXSW) conference in Austin, TX, gathers technology experts, innovators, artists, and policymakers showcasing emerging trends in their fields. This event not only celebrates technological advancements and industry success but also embraces alternative, wellness-oriented paths, challenging the paradigms of tech-driven work practices with experiences that include psychedelic exploration, immersive technologies used for aesthetic purposes, and other sensory practices. This juxtaposition reflects a broader tension: the allure of progress versus a growing concern over unsustainable work models accentuated by the rise of generative AI and new digital workflows.

This study employs a mixed-method approach, including digital and sensory ethnography, to analyze SXSW's 2022, 2023, and 2024 editions. It considers SXSW’s impact on reshaping work culture by fostering social innovation and lifestyle experimentation. The research captures how SXSW has become a tastemaker for reimagining work-life narratives that prioritize sensory and embodied experiences, countering the prevailing digital monotony.

SXSW's dual focus creates a dynamic dialogue between the excitement for digital futures and a critical view that questions the sustainability of such futures, underscoring the need for well-being and genuine human connections. Through its findings, this paper contributes to the discourse on the future of work by highlighting narratives around human-centric digital work environments.

The paper studies these alternative future projections in which innovation is harmonized with our innate need for wellness and purpose where technology serves to enhance, rather than dictate, the contours of our lives.