Robot Festival 2015 Explores Accelerationism in Music and Digital Arts

The eighth edition of Robot Festival, held from October 7 to 10 in Bologna, Italy, focused on accelerationism as its central theme. The festival, dedicated to electronic music and digital arts, included a panel discussion with journalists Valerio Mattioli (editor-in-chief of Prismo), Valerio Mannucci (co-founder of Nero magazine), and Adam Harper, whom Mattioli called "the most acute music critic around." The panel aimed to clarify the concept, which spans philosophy, politics, technology, media, art, and music. However, the festival's promotional use of accelerationist slogans on social media (e.g., "accelerate with us tonight") diluted the term's complexity. The article references the "Manifesto for an Accelerationist Politics" by Alex Williams and Nick Srnicek, which argues that the 2008 economic crisis strengthened global capitalism and that regressive leftist proposals are insufficient. Accelerationism proposes accelerating capitalist processes to cause systemic collapse. The musical side is exemplified by artists like FKA Twigs, Arca, and Italy's Primitive Art, whose fragmented, cybernetic sounds reflect digital culture. The article also notes online communities such as Felt Zine and New Aesthetic as visual art parallels.