June 18, 2021, 7 pm ET
Free or suggested donation
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Access information: The artist talk will take place with automated open captions and ASL interpretation. The Q&A will take place over a shared Google Doc. If you encounter any issues, please send us a text message at 716-427-4125.

On the occasion of the opening of Dark Matters at Squeaky Wheel, join us for an artist talk with Johann Diedrick. Dark Matters exposes the absence of Black speech in the datasets used to train voice interface systems in consumer artificial intelligence products such as Alexa and Siri. Utilizing 3D modeling, sound, and storytelling, the project challenges our communities to grapple with racism and inequity through speech and the spoken word, and how AI systems underserve Black communities. More information about the exhibition, online project, and public programs can be seen here.

Johann Diedrick is a Caribbean-American artist, engineer, and musician who makes installations, performances, and sculptures for encountering our world through your ears. He surfaces vibratory histories of past interactions inscribed in material and embedded in space, peeling back sonic layers to reveal hidden memories and untold stories. He shares his tools and techniques through listening tours, workshops, and open-source hardware/software. He is the founder of A Quiet Life, a sonic engineering and research studio that designs and builds audio-related software and hardware products for delightfully encountering our environment and each other. He is a 2021 Mozilla Creative Media Award recipient, a member of NEW INC, and an adjunct professor at NYU’s ITP program. His work has been featured in Wire Magazine, Musicworks Magazine, and presented at MoMA PS1 (Queens, NY), Somerset House (London, UK), Social Kitchen (Kyoto, Japan), Common Ground (Berlin, Germany), Recess (Brooklyn, NY), Knockdown Center (Queens, NY), and Pioneer Works (Brooklyn, NY).

This event is presented with support from and as part of Just Buffalo Literary Center’s Civil Writes Project.