AI Remix, Reading Response 2

I think Hacktivism is actually a really cool idea. It seems like a strange concept that artists today can be hackers too. The main idea from the article was instead of just painting or sculpting, these "hacktivists" use code, websites, and data itself as their artistic material. One thing that drew my attention is the concept of a simple hack and how that brings an ingenious solution or proposition to a problem. Just as Corrina my Digital Art professor has preached in her lectures, art is a language. That said, Hacktivism isn't some crazy new idea either. some of this work links it back to classic art moves like appropriation, where artists have always taken existing objects or ideas and given them new, critical meaning.

My favorite example from the article was the cyberfeminist artist Cornelia Sollfrank, who, in 1997, straight-out hacked an art competition, sending in 289 fake female artists to expose the gender gap. Today, the focus is all on data. In opposition to surveillance and tech giants, artists push back in a collective manner, as DISNOVATION.ORG did with a project that would "profile the profilers," exposing the ethical biases within Big Tech companies. I think the whole point the article is trying to make, and why it matters so much, is that hacktivism is a valid and crucial tool of critique. These artists are not only trying to cause trouble, they are more like the watchdogs of the digital age. They expose secrets, reveal the weaknesses within power systems, (like our current government), and promote critical space for conversation and creation. It's down to them to force us to consider twice what we see and do online, and in that comes huge value in their responsibility.