Democracy is broken: Leopold II of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, King of the Belgians, Sovereign of the Congo Free State, could rise from the dead, rally support and win in a failed game called free and fair elections.
25 x 31 cm.
Linocut print on paper.
Limited edition of 22 incl. 6 proofs.
February 45².
project details 1
| For | Open Call – Alles is politiek/Democratie – Magrafica ’25 |
| Status | Not selected |
project details 2
| For | Open Call – Singularity (Democracy Through an Algorithmic Lens) – MSU Museum |
| Status | Submitted |
Project Description
The is a linocut print that will be hung on a wall in the exhibition. It offers a speculative future where a powerful figure from the past assumes power through democratic means and raises questions on the role of superintelligent beings to this end. It offers the possibility for conversations about the current state of intelligent machines and the discussions around them. It offers to inform of a future where uncontrolled development in intelligence can help intensify historical amnesia, et al., either naively or, worse, nefariously. This phenomenon isn’t new – history of humanity is filled with wonders and blunders. It is the superintelligent nature of machines that exponentially amplifies human nature that begs to defer to the worst. The audience is free to ponder over or ignore this plausibility.
Connection with Subthemes (Democracy Through an Algorithmic Lens)
Rhetoric is in use since antiquity. We have used this skill to unite people to a common cause; build bridges or wage wars. However, like any skill, it is not distributed equally. Some people are gifted while others work hard to train themselves in the art form. Those with this skill are able to rally support for their cause. When you amplify this with technology you get the world we have today; content generated and tailored to your specific needs to reinforce a singular worldview. This point of view need not be real for the world but is very real for the person looking out from it. This results from an unequal distribution of this skill. And now with developments in natural language processing we are teaching computers rhetorical devices.
The foundation of democracy is rhetoric: you get a vote if you persuade someone to vote for you. A future where an intelligent machine convinces a human to follow it using rhetoric is highly plausible. If Leopold II is raised from the dead, rallies for support and wins in a fair election we call it a victory for democracy. The nuance of the matter is in how people are persuaded to vote for him. It will take a sufficiently superintelligent being (not a machine!) to pull this off. This elected zombie Leopold II is the worst manifestation of the harms of singularity on our democratic systems.
Anticipated Audience Experience and Impact
At the outset, the exhibit will raise a simple question in the minds of the target audience – “Who is this person?” This is bound to be an informative lesson into the troubled history of Africa & Europe. “Why are people missing their hands?” This question will inform them of the atrocities committed in the Congo Free State. Attentive audience members will also be able to make a connection between the title of the work, the speech bubble and Shakespeare. Finally, the question “How does this fit into the theme of the exhibition at large?” will be raised. The answer to this is dependent on the level of curiosity in the audience. Student CoLaborators can help guide the audience to question the meaning and symbolism in the work. Simply put, if a man of such caliber were to run for elections, and win, how far must technology have developed to blind people from history?
The idea in submitting this work under the category of democracy is to show that the dream is broken. The world we find ourselves in today is the result of images. Images of an icon, a hero, a legend, a warrior or a saviour. These descriptions are also a careful curation of words to help reinforce the effect of the image. In my work, I’ve used the same technique to reflect its darker side. I hope the audience is able to grasp the tightrope we walk on. I hope someone will dare to change the game.
kashyap krishna 