A feedback loop is a perpetually self-reinforcing cycle of auto-reference. While it may appear as a flawless hermetic system, it can easily become a trap: A system of beliefs gains stability through self-referential loops, but an infinitely looping algorithm makes computers crash. Enter the black box, a blank space of inaccessibility between input and output. It serves as a lever of power, shielding off the feedback loop from being exposed or from occurring in the first place, but only if remaining perfectly sealed at all times. Any breach – in either direction – poses a danger: Be it a leak that lets information ooze out, be it the occult seeping into its perfect inner illusion.
This publication, a combination of two texts (a performative lecture by Till Wittwer and a text by Jacob Lindgren), examines breaches and their effects on both human and machine vision, instruction cycles, simulations, labor, and the factual. - Platform Editions