Aug 28 2024 32 mins
Darknet markets, identity shielding, bots and cryptocurrencies have revolutionised commerce and society, each in its own way. What happens when you bring all these disrupting ingredients together? Doma Smoljo and Carmen Weisskopf from !Mediengruppe Bitnik created a piece of software that randomly buys goods and services on the darknet and then gets them shipped to an art gallery. Alongside the passport scan and the odd pair of fake designer sneakers, the artists gained insights into who or what is legally responsible when a bot buys illicit goods, the emergence of new grey zones and the quality of the services provided by sellers on darkmarkets.
Additional content
!Mediengruppe Bitnik
https://wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.bitnik.org
Random Darknet Shopper
https://wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.bitnik.org/r
What Happens When a Software Bot Goes on a Darknet Shopping Spree?
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/dec/05/software-bot-darknet-shopping-spree-random-shopper
ISSA – Island School of Social Autonomy
https://issa-school.org
COLOPHON
Host: Régine Debatty
Guest: !Mediengruppe Bitnik
Recording: Régine Debatty
Music, editing and audio mix: Gašper Torkar
The Future Behind Us podcast series
Curated by: Régine Debatty
Coordinated by: Janez Fakin Janša
Produced by: Marcela Okretič
Production:
Aksioma | Institute for Contemporary Art Ljubljana, 2024
Part of:
PXXP•XXV: Speculation and Decay
Conceived and co-organised by:
Aksioma
For:
Pixxelpoint – 25th International Festival of Contemporary Art Practices
Produced and co-organised by:
Nova Gorica Arts Centre
In the framework of:
GO! 2025 – European Capital of Culture, Nova Gorica 2025
Supported by:
the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia and the Municipality of Nova Gorica
The post The Future Behind Us | Ep. #7: Solidarity, Perils and Ethics on Darknet Markets [w/ !Mediengruppe Bitnik] appeared first on Aksioma.