Ciphers, Codices & Cryptos – Visually Encrypted Information
Admission: Adults CHF 6.00, Children CHF 4.00
Around the world, information is created (encoded), encrypted (ciphered), and transmitted (transferred) around the clock. Today, this data processing takes place at lightning speed, as it is mostly carried out electronically and digitally in the globally networked cyberspace.
Yet we are hardly aware of the technical complexity of these processes anymore, as they now seem completely natural to us. As long as everything works, we don’t give it a second thought. But on the horizon, the dark side of information and communication technology—which is, in itself, a blessing—is already becoming apparent: an insatiable appetite for energy that is placing an excessive strain on raw material sources and, as a result, leading to conflicts over sustainable resources.
People in the Information Age will therefore have no choice but to tackle the problem at its root. And to do that, we must thoroughly understand the nature of information, both from a technical and physical perspective and from a cognitive and communicative one.
In this regard, the new postulate in physics known as “it from bit”—which defines information as encoded energy and explores it accordingly—is helpful. Put simply, this means that in the future, we must consider not only the quantitative amount of energy required, but also the qualitative encoding of all data concepts. This applies equally to information products designed using analog methods and those processed digitally.
The exhibition “Ciphers, Codices & Cryptos – Visually Encrypted Information” explores this complex topic through a comparative, and above all unhurried, examination of both a medieval and a modern-day example:
- First, there is the historic painted ceiling in St. Martin’s Church in Zillis. Its famous numbers, signs, and symbols were not created by chance, but were designed with the deliberate intention of conveying a specific message.
- In addition, innovative artifacts from the Andeer-based panel painting manufacturer Stoffelsconception GmbH are on display. These products, technically referred to as PNFTs (=Physical Non-Fungible Tokens), incorporate sophisticated information-processing methods. Their unique selling point is that they always incorporate a measured vibration as a reference for their content. Like their classical counterparts, these newly designed panel paintings possess a rigorously encoded meaning.
Admission: Adults CHF 6.00, Children CHF 4.00
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Admission: Adults CHF 6.00, Children CHF 4.00