ABSTRACT
In 2012, on a panel at the popular music and technology festival South By Southwest (SXSW), British artist and writer James Bridle introduced his project, 'New Aesthetic', to the broader art and tech worlds. Entitled 'The New Aesthetic: Seeing Like Digital Devices', the panel focused on the ways that digital technology is increasingly shaping our perceivable world. In general, the concept postdigital refers to a period after the digital revolution, when algorithms are everywhere and the line between digital and physical is nearly unperceivable. Identifying a postdigital moment for architecture calls into question linear narratives of technological progress, an example of which can be found in Hina Jamelle and Ali Rahim's 2007 guest-edited issue of Architectural Design entitled 'Elegance'. Glitch art is often political, aimed at disturbing the broader power structures underwriting computational infrastructures. While postdigital aesthetics similarly aspire to reveal broader systems, they do not operate solely through disruption.
