Reclaiming art from the dominance of algorithms and reviving the human connection in the age of data
We stand in the turbulence of an era where the world has been conquered by numbers; an age in which reality is deconstructed by algorithms and “experience” has been replaced by “simulation.” We do not seek the rejection of technology, but rather to restore it to its true role. The error began when the tool claimed the authority to “think,” and we, in our negligence, handed over the helm of thought.
Today, the heavy shadow of data has spread across all realms of human existence. We believe that artificial intelligence can be a tireless and efficient “assistant,” but it is never a “thinker” or a “creator of meaning.” The true crisis of today lies not in the existence of this tool, but in our “passivity” in the face of the standardization of existence; where the human is reduced to a variable in predictable equations, and any “sensory error” -which signifies the vitality of human life and thought- is discarded.
In this landscape, art remains the sole sanctuary and the final bastion of “being.” Art is more than a tool for content production; it is a haven where the life of the soul still finds space to breathe. In this pursuit, experimental cinema and performance art stand as the vanguards of aesthetic resistance. These works, unfettered by the constraints of algorithmic storytelling, showcase the “Incomputable,” and through the use of raw forms and bold perspectives, liberate the spectator’s mind from the numbness of habit. They are the reflection of a human’s rapid pulse in a moment of sacred doubt -a moment that no digital formula is capable of grasping, experiencing, or reproducing.
The necessity of focusing on these works is more than a matter of preference; it is an obligation for the survival of authenticity and an ontological imperative. We must turn our gaze away from the mass of “processed data” and focus on works that bear the “trace of the soul.”
Therefore, ShortFilmSupport focuses on building a platform to support this “Incomputable.” We invite all creators, theorists, festivals, art markets, art institutions, universities, and supporters who believe that art is a “trace of human presence” to join us on this path of returning to authenticity. Let us gather to make visible what remains unseen, and to revive the connection that machines are fundamentally incapable of comprehending.
It is time to reclaim art from the domination of “computation,” and to return -no longer as mere “producers,” but as “humans”- to the essence of “being” in the world of art.
With respect,
Mehdi Yarmohammadi
Ph.D. in Art Research (Interdisciplinary Focus: Experimental Cinema & Performance Art)
Filmmaker & Director of ShortFilmSupport.ir
Original Publication & Discussion: https://mehdiyarmohamadi.substack.com/p/the-incomputable-a-manifesto-for?r=93b729&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23834379
