Open Codes at ZKM Center for Art and Media

Open Codes, described by Georg Bak to Le Random in our Twitter Spaces Launch as “the exhibition of our times,” was curated by the legendary Peter Weibel with Lívia Nolasco-Rózsás, Yasemin Keskintepe and Blanca Giménez. The exhibition highlighted the importance of code in our increasingly data-driven lives. Weibel argues that in order to understand our new world, we must explore code and its various impacts artistically. The exhibition featured around 200 artistic and scientific works, encouraging visitors to engage physically and interactively with the displays. The free exhibition’s message extended beyond the purely visual, aiming to highlight the shift from a work-based society to a knowledge-based society, advocating for free civic education. Visitors experienced a blend of laboratory, lounge and co-working space, demonstrating a vision to foster creativity and communal learning. Along with MoMA’s Thinking Machines from the same year, the exhibition carries on the tradition of exhibits from decades past, like Software at the Jewish Museum (1970).