I'm That Angel
book launch
21.01–23.01.2015
LOCATION
Villa Toronto Reading Room
at Union Station
55 Front Street W
Toronto
Tyler Coburn’s publication, I’m that angel, explores the conditions of how we work on and against the computer, narrated from the perspective of a “content farmer”: an online journalist contracted to generate articles based on words peaking in Google Trends.
Periodically, Coburn holds readings and tours at data centres worldwide, including Google New York, Google Zurich and the infamous “Wikileaks Bunker”of Bahnhof Stockholm. These events expose the sites where “the cloud” is kept—where we encounter the material doubles of our virtual selves as data stored in server form.
Rather than concede to the seeming intractability of cognitive capitalism, I’m that angel potentiates new critical operations through shared access, listening and discussion. Across its parts, the project argues for a renewed consideration of the immanent horizons of subjectivity, sociability and creativity.
As part of Villa Toronto, Kunstverein Toronto hosts Coburn for two readings of I’m that angel, held
at a local office centre on January 22-23 at 2:45pm. All reading guests will be invited on a tour of a downtown data centre later this winter.
Prior to the readings, on January 21, Coburn will give an artist’s talk titled “Postscript on I’m that angel”. Coburn will share images and stories from his tour of the project; discuss the industrialization of online writing; and describe the role of data centres in the ever-expanding physical Internet. The talk will be held at the Villa Toronto Reading Room at Union Station at 5pm.
Tyler Coburn is an artist and writer based in New York. Coburn’s writing has appeared in Frieze, e-flux journal, Mousse, BOMB, Art-Agenda and Rhizome. His performances, sound works and installations have been presented at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; South London Gallery; Kunstverein Munich; CCA Glasgow; Objectif Exhibitions, Antwerp; Archive Kabinett, Berlin; and others.This is Coburn’s first project in Canada.
View book launch documentation