JAMES WALSH is moved by an exhibition of graphic art that relates horrors that would be much less immediate in other media
ELIZABETH SHORT recommends a bracing study of energy intensive AI and the race of such technology towards war profits

Medium Hot: Images in the Age of Heat
Hito Steyerl, Verso, £17.99
IS AI fuelling cultural stagnation, and how quickly are we sacrificing the planet in the process? These are the kind of questions that surface while reading Medium Hot: Images in the Age of Heat, the latest collection of essays by artist and theorist Hito Steyerl.
The book turns its attention to the accelerating forces shaping our visual culture in the age of AI, and does so with Steyerl’s signature blend of critical theory, dry wit and sharp eye for the surreal contradictions inherent in our digital era.
One chapter opens with a statistic so absurd it almost resists comprehension: in 2023, 500 minutes of video were uploaded every second — 30,000 times the amount of time that had passed. The scale alone is disorienting, but Steyerl's concern lies deeper.

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