Anna Ehrenstein

In the shadowy corridors of El Liberador, the company Beta wields its power with an insidious technological grasp. They have substituted the fossilized state decades ago in companionship with the additional big tech giants. Mandating brain-to-computer interfaces (BCI's) for all citizens, Beta seamlessly integrates neural implants that not only connect minds to the digital realm but also serve as monitors of thought and speech. Any deviation from Beta's approved discourse triggers an automatic correction within the citizens' minds, eradicating dissenting ideas and ensuring unwavering compliance with the company's policies. Citizens who cannot afford the regular BCI updates find themselves relegated to the societal fringes, their neural implants reminiscent of outdated software in a world far beyond their reach. Like living relics of a bygone era, these individuals become the analog remnants of a society relentlessly racing towards complete digitization. Do you want the total digitization?

For her newest work cycle Cripto Sirenas, Anna Ehrenstein teams up with Austrian artist Sunny Pfalzer and the San Salvador-based artists Lucy Tomasino and Alexa Evangelista, as well as the web3 researcher Josh Davila. Cripto Sirenas is a collaborative sci-fi fable and multimedia worldbuilding venture centered around a collaborative 360° video work and extending through installation, sculptures, and mixed-media photographic works. The cycle speculates on tech-solutionism, totalitarian algorithms, and their impact on our bodies through an eco- or hydro-feminist lens, rethinking crypto-colonialist extractivism through the interconnectedness of bodies of water.