What is the function of art in the era of digital globalization? How can one think of art
institutions in an age defined by planetary civil war growing inequality and proprietary
digital technology? The boundaries of such institutions have grown fuzzy. They extend from a
region where the audience is pumped for tweets to a future of neurocurating in which paintings
surveil their audience via facial recognition and eye tracking to assess their popularity and
to scan for suspicious activity. In Duty Free Art filmmaker and writer Hito Steyerl wonders
how we can appreciate or even make art in the present age. What can we do when arms
manufacturers sponsor museums and some of the world's most valuable artworks are used as
currency in a global futures market detached from productive work? Can we distinguish between
information fake news and the digital white noise that bombards our everyday lives? Exploring
subjects as diverse as video games WikiLeaks files the proliferation of freeports and
political actions she exposes the paradoxes within globalization political economies visual
culture and the status of art production.
