Stefan Panhans’ “The Haul (Hello Everybody)” is part of the exhibition »PUSH – Living in the Hyper Information Age« at European Media Art Festival (EMAF), April 26 – 30, 2017.

// Push messages, status and news updates, social bots and hate comments – smartphones and screens are permanently blinking and flashing. Public spaces have always been permeated by announcements, warnings and spectacles. Today, we are experiencing an increase in input pressure – after all, every one of us is a recipient, producer and sender, all rolled into one. Public opinion is characterised by constant information and disinformation.

The result: differences between public and private spaces disappear, positions that were thought to be secure vanish, and populists find their way into government.

This accelerated, clamorous spiral of communication, the intrusive
noise of the media, and the search and craving for media attention move us on to a “post-factual” era in which even democracy must fear for its basic values. In so doing, every user is in search of their own truth within and outside filter bubbles, a truth that is influenced by the frequency of push messages.

Featuring contemporary artistic positions and accompanying talks, the 30th edition of EMAF clears the dense, apparently impenetrable information jungle through which each individual media user must find their way without knowing what the algorithms have in store for us.