A videogame journalist flies over his hometown and nostalgica lly looks down\, through rarified clouds\, at a soccer field where he once played\; a researcher navigates an eerie sky before realising that all cl ouds are inverted\, as if inhabiting an alternative troposphere\; a multit ude of players gather in a sunlit\, submerging Pacific archipelago\, to wh ich they have no more than a remote connection. Computer game images of we ather and climate\, as in these vignettes describing experiences with Micr osoft Flight Simulator\, may speak to memory culture\, the aesthetic pursu it of photorealism\, or the enjoyment of natural phenomena in safe\, if no t sanitised\, environments. While attending to the atmospheric address of game images\, this lecture deliberately recedes to the background\, asking instead: what do these images\, and how they are made\, disclose about co ntemporary algorithmic image pipelines and the technical culture that prod uces them? Turning toward the archival present of networked game design an d performance\, the talk traces the macro-ecologies and micro-temporalitie s of media support systems through which weather is operationalised as a p rocedural gaming experience.
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Zurich:20260427T194500 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:news335@eikones.philhist.unibas.ch DTSTAMP;TZID=Europe/Zurich:20260303T182638 DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Zurich:20260429T181500 SUMMARY:Media Studies and AI Literacies: Colloquium # 4 DESCRIPTION:AI benchmarks comprise a multitude of quantitative techniques f or evaluating the capabilities and potential risks of AI models. They rang e from multiple-choice questionnaires to frameworks for assessing the free -text outputs of AI models\, and evaluations more akin to psychological in telligence tests. Within the AI industry\, benchmarks have long been relie d upon as valuable sources of insight about the performance of AI models. They are also used in policy contexts to assess and minimize potential soc ietal harms posed by AI. In her talk\, Maria Eriksson approaches AI benchm arking as an experimental practice and epistemic template for how to “kn ow” AI models. Drawing on insights from the anthropology and sociology o f tests and experimental modes of knowledge production\, she examines how benchmarks do not simply describe AI systems\, but actively (re)configure research agendas\, competitive dynamics\, regulatory imaginaries\, and vis ions of technological progress. X-ALT-DESC:AI benchmarks comprise a multitude of quantitative techniques for evaluating the capabilities and potential risks of AI models. They ra nge from multiple-choice questionnaires to frameworks for assessing the fr ee-text outputs of AI models\, and evaluations more akin to psychological intelligence tests. Within the AI industry\, benchmarks have long been rel ied upon as valuable sources of insight about the performance of AI models . They are also used in policy contexts to assess and minimize potential s ocietal harms posed by AI. In her talk\, Maria Eriksson approaches AI benc hmarking as an experimental practice and epistemic template for how to “ know” AI models. Drawing on insights from the anthropology and sociology of tests and experimental modes of knowledge production\, she examines ho w benchmarks do not simply describe AI systems\, but actively (re)configur e research agendas\, competitive dynamics\, regulatory imaginaries\, and v isions of technological progress.
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Zurich:20260429T200000 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:news337@eikones.philhist.unibas.ch DTSTAMP;TZID=Europe/Zurich:20260129T163500 DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Zurich:20260511T181500 SUMMARY:NOMIS Lecture: Cups of Honor and Reward: The Value of Silver in the Thirty Years' War DESCRIPTION:Cups of Honor and Reward: The Value of Silver in the Thirty Yea rs' War\\r\\nIn Northern Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries \, honor and reward were often signified by a silver cup. Silver and gilt- silver vessels served to commemorate births\, deaths\, and marriages\; the y sealed diplomatic relationships and represented communal institutions li ke guilds\, charitable societies\, and civic governing bodies. They were p rizes in lotteries and shooting contests. Made of a precious metal directl y tied to contemporary currency\, the silver cup embodied monetary value t hat was recognizable and easily extracted by melting and minting. But\, as the product of innovating\, skilled craftsmen\, it could also hold aes thetic as well as symbolic value\, which was tied to its ability to denote people\, places\, and historical events. These entangled value systems we re brought into high relief in wartime\, when silver plate was taken as bo oty\, or confiscated to fund military defense\, or relinquished as ransom to protect life and limb. \\r\\nThis talk tracks silver cups through the tumultuous decades of the Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648)\, a period cha racterized by dispossession and displacement. It analyzes the highly ambiv alent status the silver cup held as both financial asset and symbolic obje ct. Primary evidence for this analysis includes eyewitness accounts of con fiscation\, inventories recording the personal significance of silver cups \, and surviving hoards of valuables concealed for protection under the th reat of siege. The talk’s conclusion turns towards the present day and t he competing values that still define early modern silver as both commodit y and cultural artifact. X-ALT-DESC:Cups of Honor and Reward: The Value of Silver in the Thirty Years' War
\nIn Northern Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries\, honor and reward were often signified by a silver cup. Silver and gilt-silver vessels served to commemorate births\, deaths \, and marriages\; they sealed diplomatic relationships and represented co mmunal institutions like guilds\, charitable societies\, and civic governi ng bodies. They were prizes in lotteries and shooting contests. Made of a precious metal directly tied to contemporary currency\, the silver cup emb odied monetary value that was recognizable and easily extracted by melting and minting. But\, as the product of innovating\, skilled craftsmen\, it could also hold aesthetic as well as symbolic value\, which was tied to its ability to denote people\, places\, and historical events. These enta ngled value systems were brought into high relief in wartime\, when silver plate was taken as booty\, or confiscated to fund military defense\, or r elinquished as ransom to protect life and limb. \;
\nThis talk t racks silver cups through the tumultuous decades of the Thirty Years’ Wa r (1618–1648)\, a period characterized by dispossession and displacement . It analyzes the highly ambivalent status the silver cup held as both fin ancial asset and symbolic object. Primary evidence for this analysis inclu des eyewitness accounts of confiscation\, inventories recording the person al significance of silver cups\, and surviving hoards of valuables conceal ed for protection under the threat of siege. The talk’s conclusion turns towards the present day and the competing values that still define early modern silver as both commodity and cultural artifact. \;
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Zurich:20260511T194500 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:news343@eikones.philhist.unibas.ch DTSTAMP;TZID=Europe/Zurich:20260217T132401 DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Zurich:20260517T133000 SUMMARY:Panel discussion on The First Homosexuals DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Jonathan D. Katz (curator)\, Charlotte Matter (Lauren z Assistant Professor of Contemporary Art\, University of Basel)\, Len Sch aller (assistant curator\, Kunstmuseum Basel) X-ALT-DESC:Speakers: Jonathan D. Katz (curator)\, Charlotte Matt er (Laurenz Assistant Professor of Contemporary Art\, University of Basel) \, Len Schaller (assistant curator\, Kunstmuseum Basel)
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Zurich:20260517T143000 END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR