Understanding technology and data

I caught a driverless taxi and it was terrifying A first-person account of an autonomous vehicle journey through the streets of San Francisco (The Spinoff, June 2023, Anna Pendergrast)

More Zeros and Ones: Digital Technology, Maintenance and Ethics in Aotearoa New Zealand Examining the way digital tools and platforms are designed, built, and maintained to identify how we can do better for everyone (Bridget Williams Books, September 2023, edited by Kelly and Anna Pendergrast)

Can New Zealanders trust an automated government? On trust and trustworthiness in government automated decision-making. (New_ Public, June 2022, co-authored)

AI for the Environment in Aotearoa New Zealand How can AI boost Aotearoa New Zealand’s biodiversity and help in the fight against climate change? (co-authored with collaborators Wildlife.AI, AI Forum, May 2022)

Performing Automation On robots, labor, and the performance of automation (e-flux, January 2022, Kelly Pendergrast)

Imagining a future digital public service Experts opine on where the public service might be after 10 years of positive change. (Public Sector journal, December 2021, Anna Pendergrast)

Bad metaphors: Digital Footprint The digital footprint has outlived its usefulness. We propose a new metaphor in its place: the digital wake. (Real Life Mag, July 2021, co-authored with Dr Priya Kumar).

AI Maintenance as Care, Respect, and Guardianship To bring an AI system into the world is also to bring about a responsibility for its care. (co-authored, commissioned as part of the AI Now Institute’s project A New AI Lexicon, June 2021).

Digital Inclusion / Te Whakaōrite i te Urunga Tuihono What does digital inclusion look like in New Zealand, and how can we make New Zealand’s digital landscape more equitable? (co-authored chapter, published in Shouting Zeros and Ones: Digital Technology, Ethics and Policy in New Zealand, ed. Andrew Chen. BWB Books August 2020).

‘Download the app, then use it’ leaves too many of us out of contact tracing efforts Focusing only on tech solutions to New Zealand’s contact tracing challenges ignores the needs of the fifth of the population who are digitally excluded (The Spinoff, August 2020, co-authored)

Who Goes There Security questions and CAPTCHA don’t just verify our identities but subtly reshape them. (Real Life Mag, January 2020, Kelly Pendergrast).

The Next Big Cheap Calling data “the new oil” takes its exploitation for granted. (Real Life Mag, November 2019, Kelly Pendergrast).

Ill at Ease The app-enabled economy sells a fantasy of frictionlessness at a human cost (presented at Theorizing the Web 2019 and published at Real Life Mag, May 2019, Kelly Pendergrast).

Images and representation

Merchandizing the Void Khloé Kardashian’s pantry, grid aesthetics, and the logistical turn in the American kitchen imaginary (Dilettante Army, May 2023, Kelly Pendergrast)

The Too-Thick World On conspiracy theories, community genealogy, digital archives, and historical trauma (co-authored essay, published as part of Flat Earthers, a series of work and conversations from artists and writers around the globe in response to John Lake’s body of work To the Ends of the (Flat) Earth. January 2021).

Screen Memories Screenshots as much as snapshots are the vernacular photography of our lives (Real Life Mag, January 2021, Kelly Pendergrast).

Looking Down The pandemic has divided society into those who have become targets and those who can safely watch. (Real Life Mag, May 2020, Kelly Pendergrast).

Why is Wikipedia biased against women? And can it be changed? (The Spinoff, September 2018, co-authored).

Visible Invisible Man On Mark Zuckerberg, atemporality and visual boredom (The California Review of Images and Mark Zuckerberg, August 2018, co-authored).

Material culture and sustainability

White Elephant The gift that becomes a curse, and how to free yourself through labor and community. (Scope of Work, April 2024, co-authored).

The World Is Toxic. Welcome to the Metabolic Era You can’t avoid toxicity in a world driven by endless growth. To survive, it’s time to embrace radical breakdown. (Wired, July 2023, Kelly Pendergrast)

Scope of Work: the onion in the varnish Trade secrets, company lore and traditional production practices (Scope of Work, July 2023, co-authored. We are semi-regular guest contributors to this newsletter). 

On Baltic Birch Exploring the plywood with an outsized reputation, known by name and reputation by many makers, builders and architects. (The Prepared, September 2022, co-authored).

On Stretch Wrap The diaphanous material that holds together the containerized world. (The Prepared, May 2022, co-authored).

On Geofoam On the enormous polystyrene blocks supporting our civil infrastructure. (The Prepared, July 2021, co-authored).

Cozy Tech In product design, textiles replace metals and glass for a softer, gentler intrusion into our intimate space (Real Life Mag, June 2021, Kelly Pendergrast).

Unwanted Corkpull It’s hard to live with some objects, and even harder to get rid of them. (Real Life Mag, April 2021, Kelly Pendergrast).

Swap Meat High-tech meat replacements are sold as world changing, but all they do is taste better. (Real Life Mag, September 2019, co-authored).

The Revolution Starts at Home: YouTube and the World’s Largest How-to Guide (presented at Theorizing the Web 2019 and published on Antistatic’s blog, April 2019, Anna Pendergrast).

The Augmented Workforce What can exosuits teach us about building a human-centric future for New Zealand? (Idealog magazine, December 2018, co-authored).

Speculative Circularity: Artists as Material Innovators (Unmaking Waste conference presentation September 2018 — publication forthcoming, Kelly Pendergrast with Maura Dilley).