CABINET OF COGNITION

Derek Curry & Jennifer Gradecki

 

FILE SÃO PAULO 2026: Inter-creativity – Art and Technology – VIDEO ART SHORT
Electronic Language International Festival

 

Cabinet of Cognition – United States

Cabinet of Cognition is an AI-generated short film tracing the evolution of cognitive labor from the 18th-century Mechanical Turk to today’s global gig economy. The film explores how the “invisible workforce of AI” is hidden from view through a fictional narrative in the style of Jorge Luis Borges that is entirely AI-generated. The film challenges who truly “thinks” in the age of AI, and what it means to be a worker in a system that hides its human cost.

BIO

Derek Curry and Jennifer Gradecki are media artists who critique dominant technological powers by hacking technologies to reveal underlying assumptions and effects. They use methods from media theory and STS for critical engagement, often reproducing technologies used for social control or that have a significant social impact, including surveillance systems, financial technologies, and AI.