The image of the earth today is shaped by planetary-scale sensory networks. Technological infrastructures mediate what can—and cannot—be seen, felt, and perceived. Predefined connections within and between networks influence the way people relate to one another, to territories and the natural environment. Is it possible for other links to be established and different narratives to be told? Two projects, Geocinema and Networks of Trust, engage with these questions through their artistic practices and research methods. Their respective cinematic investigations—beginning with China’s digital Belt and Road initiative—and speculative scenarios—inspired by the prehistoric networks of the Aegean Archipelago—underline the need to queer hegemonic geopolitical imaginations. Different temporalities, layers of perception, and lived experience are embraced in a quest for multiple readings of the earth and its networks.

The New Networked Normal will explore art, technology and citizenship in the age of the Internet, a partnership project by Abandon Normal Devices (uk), Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB) (es), The Influencers (es), transmediale (de) and STRP (nl). It is co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union.