Lauren Lee McCarthy

How does the performativity of algorithms relate to that of bodies? And how may performative artistic practices contribute to a rethinking of the interrelations between bodies and the discourses, histories, technologies, practices, and networks they are actualized within and entangled with?1 Through the notion of “algorithm,” which titles this publication, we wish to explore further the complex interconnections of algorithmic information processing, technical infrastructures, the performativity of bodies and bacteria as well as cultural scripts, or codes. At the center of the book are the contributions by artists Lauren Lee McCarthy, Jenna Sutela, Anna Lundh, Tabita Rezaire, and Linda Hilfling Ritasdatter exploring performativity and algorithmic culture from different perspectives. Via the artists’ works we move in and out of these different perspectives in five chapters, from smart