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Paper short abstract

The paper examines the novel medium of “quantum art” as a superstructural expression of current quantum policies. Wrapped around a case study of artworks by Refik Anadol, Pierre Huyghe and Black Quantum Futurism, the presentation interrogates the risks and potentialities of quantum technologies.

Paper long abstract

“The Second Quantum Revolution” designates the current era of Quantum Technology marked by operationalisation of the principles of quantum mechanics to perform complex computational tasks and solve problems intractable for classical computers. Frequently framed as an “uncharted new territory” sparking the “race to win technological advantage,” the technology is however still at the NISQ (Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum) stage. The chief problem Quantum Technologies are facing is noise, which pushes a quantum system into decoherence, for example through an interference of the outside milieu. Despite these concerns Quantum Technologies are presented as the only possible, inevitable future.

The paper examines what is currently entailed by “quantum (media) art,” which either leverages the principles of quantum mechanics for artistic purposes while remaining squarely within the constraints of current quantum policies, or treats quantum technologies as a conceptual provocation, allowing a disruptive rethinking of the pursuit of technological progress. Wrapped around a case study of digital artworks by Refik Anadol, Pierre Huyghe and Black Quantum Futurism, the presentation is pre-emptively asking: What could be the possible shape of these new communications technologies? Would these be McLuhan’s pull or push media? And with what politics—with a radical edge serving social justice, decolonisation and anti-capitalism? Or an extension of the ruling techno-feudalism and imperial mindset?