The art of the thinking space—a space filled with data

ABSTRACT Interactive media art is an art form that ‘transforms digital information and translates it into aesthetics of participative processes.’ In their artistic investigations, the artists and architects Fleischmann and Strauss focus on the concept of the ‘thinking space’ [Denkraum]. Following Aby Warburg's ‘space of thought’ (1929), they define the thinking space of interactive media art as a ‘space filled with data’ (Strauss, W., and M. Fleischmann. 2001. The artists’ thinking space is the artistic exploration of an architecture of interactivity that ‘evokes’ communication ‘in a culture of simulation’ (Turkle, S. 2004). by involving people in a performative way. This article presents three of their projects, all based on the metaphor of the thinking space: ‘Semantic Map’, ‘Media Flow’ and ‘Energy Passages’ illustrate strategies of interactivity using artificial intelligence to ‘reinforce human intelligence’. The question is not whether machines can think, but whether people can still think when everything is automated.