CICADA GAMES – Hybrid Book Presentation by czirp czirp

A buzzing clatter fills the air. Sitting among the branches of the trees, they murmur of the past, present, and future. The cicadas of this audio play are gossipers and voyeurs. They observe the world and speculate about the nature of things. They use ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) to beguile and relax us, reminding us that there are realities beyond the human one. They promote awareness of our environment, our human and non-human companions, and ourselves. Claire Tolan’s post-digital artistic practice addresses consumer cultures, as well as the (dis)belief in technologies such as artificial intelligence or cryptocurrencies, thereby illuminating hacker culture and digital occultism. Claire is developer of the AI ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) voice companion, SOOTHER.

This publication is the materialisation of the digital art project CICADA GAMES (2021–2023), which was developed and programmed as an augmented reality app for public spaces by artist Claire Tolan. The 20-minute immersive buzz takes up the cicada trope metaphorically, mythologically and biologically. The poetry and sound of CICADA GAMES have now been compiled by czirp czirp as a self-published hybrid volume. czirp czirp acts through nomadic and ephemeral cultural events and presents artistic approaches that echo current developments in digital technologies and critically reflect upon the use of new media, computer code and algorithmic processes.