[...] algorithmic technologies; and cultural trope remixing in performance and media art. Particularly welcome are investigations of how marginalized artists rework technological presets to circulate new meaning and expose latent power structures.

We invite papers that address presets in any medium. Topics could include: the politics of AI-generated imagery; race, gender and accessibility in default design; musical or sonic sampling; exploitation of aesthetic defaults in photography and screen-based art; [...]

We are asking: what kinds of agency exist within pre-coded environments? Can presets be thought beyond a poverty of expression to become sites of aesthetic and political experimentation?

Beyond technological settings, presets encompass cultural defaults including gender normativity and Western privilege. These often invisible norms shape artistic production within today's technological networks, establishing constraints that artists variously adopt, modify, or subvert.

Originally technical features "set or adjusted beforehand to facilitate use" (OED), presets have evolved from photography & music production shortcuts into pervasive aesthetic & ideological defaults across media: from synthesizer patches and Instagram filters to narrative tropes and user interfaces.

Session Description: This panel explores presets—default configurations embedded in tools, platforms, and cultural forms—that shape contemporary art while raising critical questions about labor, originality, and automation.

What a brilliant idea! I would love that (what a flavor combo too)

Alyx! This is the first time my name has been made into a pun, surprisingly. I love it, and thank you so much for your support and encouragement, as always!

Thank you so much, SIG community, Arzu and Seth, and of course Landon, for serving the SIG so brilliantly! As a side note too, @landonpalmer.bsky.social was my assigned mentor while on the job market a few years ago and was absolutely incredible. I learned so much from his mentorship and leadership!

Thinking of you and sending all of the speedy healing and good food and safety and care. Let me know if there’s anything I can do.

Thank you so much--yes, will do! Great to be in touch and all the best for this amazing project!

You're so welcome, Sherri! I love the idea--I'm a popular music + audiovisual media scholar (Yoko Ono got me into it all)--and will be following news of this project!

A former student, Lola de la Mata, is a composer/installation artist probing sonic and visual representations of tinnitus; brief gloss of work here: www.loladelamata.com/pcst-tinnitu.... The super smart multimedia operas of www.loladelamata.com/pcst-tinnitu.... The animator Jodie Mack's soundtracks.

Thanks so much, Andy! That's so kind--I really appreciate you taking the time to listen. And yes, hooray for keeping media interfaces as weird as possible!