“The salon is intended to be a messy gathering of minds and contradicting opinions, with an alternative mission to the constant ‘professional’ presentation of self and work we’ve all become so accustomed to.”
The Operator Salon has been named as such, firstly as a conversation-focused appendage to the duo’s art house, Operator. And secondly, in order to pay homage to the queer couple Gertrude Stein and Alice B Toklas’ salons in the 1930s, which hosted the likes of Picasso and Hemingway. The salon merges their expertise in art and technology with their love for conversation, culture and critical thinking. It is an evolving space to experience interesting, influential, creative minds flow together with a starting point and no desired end point.
Alice Toklas (left) and Gertrude Stein (right) in the Atelier at 27 Rue de Fleurus. Photograph by Man Ray in 1923.
Naturally Ania and Dejha’s ‘2.0 version’ has a slight departure from the original salons of the 1930s, due to the fact its first iteration took place digitally, as well as its topical focus on technology. Through curated conversations, the duo explores technology’s both obvious and nuanced effects on culture, art, design, love, sex, politics, and life. The first iteration included conversations on Digital Fashion, AI Art, as well as Art Infrastructures for Advanced Technologies.
Ania Catherine (left) and Dejha Ti (right). Mexico City. Photograph by Amanda Demme in 2021.
vol.I
CADAF Paris
The first installment of the Operator Salon debuted at the Crypto and Digital Art Fair in Paris 17-23 June 2021.
ON DIGITAL FASHION
Guest list
Leanne Elliott-Young CEO & Co-Founder, Institute of Digital Fashion
Cattytay Creative Director & Co-Founder, Institute of Digital Fashion
Damara Inglês Director of extended reality and digital fashion experiences
Kerry Murphy Founder & CEO, The Fabricant
Scarlett Yang 3D Fashion Artist and Creative Technologist
Olga Chernysheva Chief Sustainability Officer, DressX
Ilana Magar Representation of Gary James McQueen and Digital Fashion Show Producer
ON ART INFRASTRUCTURES FOR ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES
Guest list
Raina Mehler Director of Media Arts, Superblue
Todd Eckert CEO, Tin Drum
Anne-Laure Pingreoun Curator and Founder, Alter-Projects
Irini Papadimitriou Creative Director, FutureEverything
ON AI TOOLS: QUESTIONS AND DILEMMAS FOR DIGITAL ART
Guest list
Dr. Kate Crawford Artificial Intelligence Scholar & Author of Atlas of AI