Academy

The exhibition A.rtificial I.ntrospection (A.I.O.) addresses the current relevance of the spread of artificial intelligence and therefore not only examines the origins of cybernetics but also explores the relationships between human thought, perception, and subjectivity within this context. The starting point is the work of the seminal Austrian artist, cyberneticist, and theorist of thought: Oswald Wiener, who engaged with these themes in a critical and interdisciplinary manner as early as the 1960s and was active not only as an artist and writer but also as a mathematician and computer scientist. At the center of his thinking is the assumption that human consciousness is not entirely structured by language and therefore cannot be adequately simulated with current technological means.

A central concept in Wiener’s work is introspection as a method for examining one’s own thinking. He developed this concept further both in his writing and in his theoretical work, particularly in his novel die verbesserung von mitteleuropa, novel, in which he engaged with Alan Turing’s theory of automata and Ludwig Wittgenstein’s critique of language, and formulated a fundamental critique of the classical understanding of the autonomous subject: Rather, he describes humans as a kind of ​“automaton” that is closely intertwined with its environment. In doing so, he uses the so-called Turing Test, developed by Alan Turing, as an important point of reference, which tests whether machines can be distinguished from humans through linguistic behavior. However, Wiener criticizes that this test (like behaviorism) takes into account only observable behavior and ignores subjective aspects such as consciousness, emotions, or perception.

The exhibition links Wiener’s theoretical positions with contemporary artistic practices that view introspection and cybernetic processes as forms of information processing and transformation. Against the backdrop of current algorithmic decision-making structures and AI-powered language systems, his reflections take on new relevance. The figure of the dandy and dandyism, which Wiener took up in the 1960s, also reflects an attitude that combines a distancing from the mechanical with radical self-observation. This appears here not only as an aesthetic but also as a political and epistemic practice that critically reflects on the relationship between human beings, the body, language, and technology. Overall, the exhibition does not focus on technological progress, but rather explores how human subjectivity can be understood and preserved under conditions of increasing technologization.

For A.I.O. as well, we are once again offering thematic tours that can serve as a useful starting point.

Oswald Wiener & Introspection

Oswald Wiener is one of the defining figures of the German-speaking neo-avant-garde, and his multifaceted life spanned literature, philosophy, cybernetics, and computer science. After his early years in the Vienna Group and a period as a writer and artist, he increasingly turned his attention to scientific questions. His work is marked by numerous new beginnings that took him from Vienna to Berlin and on to Canada. Of particular importance was his attempt to understand human thought in an interdisciplinary manner and to bridge the gap between the humanities and the natural sciences. A central turning point in Wiener’s thinking was his departure from art as the primary means of knowledge. While he initially assumed that art could provide deeper insights into consciousness, he later recognized the limitations of this approach and arrived at the theory that language structures our thinking, but does not form its foundation. Instead, Wiener emphasized the importance of self-observation and subjective experience for understanding consciousness. In this tour, we would like to focus on self-observation, how Wiener understands it, and how, based on Wiener’s reflections, it also becomes relevant in other and more recent artistic positions within the exhibition.

Thinking, Language and Technical Systems

Through his engagement with approaches from the philosophy of language and the natural sciences, Wiener came to the conclusion that while language organizes thought, it does not ground it. Instead, he focused on self-observation as the essential foundation for understanding consciousness. It was against this backdrop that his primary theoretical interest in the connection between thought, language, and technical systems emerged. In his work verbesserung von mitteleuropa, roman (1969) as well as in later writings, he explored how language, perception, and reality are interconnected. Concepts such as the ​“bio-adapter” or functional equivalence demonstrate that Wiener anticipated questions early on that are discussed today in the context of virtual reality and artificial intelligence. In doing so, he understood meaning not as fixed, but as processual and dependent on internal cognitive structures. In this tour, we will explore these questions and examine how they are also addressed by other artists in the exhibition.

Dandyism

Wiener’s fascination with the figure of the dandy can also be explained by his interpretation of it: he does not see the dandy as a fashion figure, but as a mental attitude. For the dandy rejects the notion that human beings can be fully explained by science or fixed rules — an attitude that recurs time and again in Wiener’s thinking about technology, devices, and machines. The dandy sees himself as a loner who consciously distances himself from fixed systems of thought: instead, he thinks in spontaneous, often brief flashes of insight (aphorisms) — this, too, is reflected in Wiener’s transdisciplinary thinking, which often appears incoherent yet can repeatedly be viewed within an overarching context. Nevertheless, by constantly observing himself closely, the dandy realizes that many of his thoughts and feelings are not free but follow inner patterns, leading to a kind of inner conflict and the question of who he actually is. For Wiener, however, this precisely implies constantly resisting the idea of being fully explainable and persisting in continually questioning himself. This tour will explore the figure of the dandy and address the exhibition’s theme of how humanity can be preserved amidst the pervasive technological transformation driven by AI.