The Unveiling of the Church of Nano Bio Info Cogno

The new G*d invites you most cordially to an unveiling of the future of religion and technology. With biblical prophecy by Ray Kurzweil and the Nanotechnology Foresight Institute, and climaxed by a shocking new ritual, this is a church service not to be missed.

8pm
Friday, April 21, 2006
Mills Concert Hall

featuring Praba Pilar as priestess, Erika Hannes and Katie Standford as altar girls and Elizabeth August as choral singer, with sound by Tara Rogers.

artist statement:
My current body work looks at the tensions between the human/ post-human, biological/cyborg/robot, macroworlds/nanobits, embodiment/computing,. I look at these questions through the lens of the convergence of nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology and cognitive neuroscience; known as Nano Bio Info Cogno (NBIC). I am interested in the messianic fervor of the language of the agents of the NBIC convergence. They are rapturous in their description of immortality brought about by information uploads; rapturous in their prophesies of the end of material want brought about by nano manufacturing; rapturous about the end of illness, brought about by nano medicine - these developments are spoken of in the tones of personal revelation - i.e. people know the singularity is near because they just know. This has nothing whatsoever to do with the actual science involved in nano bio info cogno - just the culture surrounding this convergence. It is the promised land writ large, it is the new religion.

If we can see religion as a set of beliefs concerning the sacred or divine - then we can see that the NBIC religion sees technology as divinely giving us what humans have always wanted: immortality.

bio:
Praba Pilar explores the intersections of emerging technologies, community and art through performances, installations, and street theatre. A Bay Area/Colombian multi-disciplinary artist, her collaborative and solo work has been featured at museums, universities, galleries and public streets throughout the United States, and she is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Puffin Award, the Creative Capital Award, the Association of Performing Arts Presenters Award and two nominations for a Rockefeller Award.

online:
www.prabapilar.com

Cecilia Elguero | Katie Mathis | Ava Mendoza | Mariah Robinson | Katie Standford