ABSTRACT
This part introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters. The part argues that contemporary artistic practices not only contribute to a conceptual framework for understanding connectivity and complexity, but also “take a critical stance and pursue creative interventions into contemporary networked processes.” It examines the contemporary discourse surrounding the “smart city,” in which technology is represented as saving the city from collapse because of the size and complexity of the information economy. The part also examines the issue of complexity and information overload, in terms not of the city as a whole, but of the individual subject. The vision of ubiquitous computing as well as the term itself came from Mark Weiser, who worked as a chief scientist at Xerox Palo Alto Research Center in the 1980s and 1990s. He proposed that computers would be integrated into our daily lives as controls for all sorts of everyday devices, such as refrigerators and thermostats.
