Mihai Băcăran
I am an independent researcher focussing on intersections of art and technology. My research proposes a speculative understanding of art spectatorship grounded in theories of individuation (Simondon, Deleuze, Stiegler, Hui) modulated with phenomenological accounts inspired by the works of Sara Ahmed and Vivian Sobchack among others. I am particularly interested in engaging with processes of spectatorship that act as vectors of (dis)orientation, challenging, deconstructing, and remodeling the embodied experience of living in cultures permeated by digital technologies. My current research project addresses the labour of audio transcription for AI (one of the basic data entry jobs that ground the current AI boom) as a performative process of spectatorship. I base my theoretical account on my personal experience of working as a transcriber.
Besides my academic activity, I am also a founding member of the independent art project dalpofzs (www.dalpofzs.com) which focuses on small-scale projects that combine art practice and conceptual enquiry.
Interests
Art and Technology, Philosophy of Individuation (Simondon, Deleuze, Stiegler, Hui), Net Art, Specta(c)torship, Art Theory, Audio Transcription for AI
Publications and Exhibitions
Băcăran, Mihai. “Reading and Living the (Im)Material Movement of Sense: Jonathan Basile’s The Library of Babel and Xin Liu’s A Book of Mine” in Ex-Position Journal, Issue 52, 2024. Open access at: https://ex-position.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/05.-Mihai-Băcăran.pdf
Băcăran, Mihai. “The Mark of the Brief Night: Imminent Loss and Responsibility” in Transformations: Journal of Media, Culture & Technology, Issue 37, 2024. Available open access at: http://www.transformationsjournal.org/2024-issue-no-37-idealism-and-contemporary-film-theory/
dalpofzs (Mihai Băcăran, Darie Nemeș Bota, Bogdan Dumitrescu, Alexandra Dumitrescu). “Dynamics of Sensemaking” in Tecmerin. Journal of Audiovisual Essays, Vol. 13, No.1, 2024. Available open access at: https://tecmerin.uc3m.es/project/dynamics-of-sensemaking-2/?lang=en
Băcăran, Mihai. “(Dis)Orientation in Net Art: Disrupting the Feedback Loop of Cybernetic Subjectivities” in NECSUS_European Journal of Media Studies, Vol. 12, No. 2, 2023. Open access at: https://necsus-ejms.org/disorientation-in-net-art-disrupting-the-feedback-loop-of-cybernetic-subjectivities/
Băcăran, Mihai. “The Problematic of Embodiment in Online Specta(c)torship” in In Medias Res: International Scientific Journal for the Philosophy of Media, Vol. 12, No. 22, 2023, pp. 3609-3625. Open access at: http://www.centar-fm.org/inmediasres_eng/index.php/mihai-bacaran-the-problematic-of-embodiment-in-online-specta-c-torship
Băcăran, Mihai. “Revisiting 'Genesis': living as misspelling” in Revista humanidades, Vol. 13, No. 1, 2023. Open access at: https://revistas.ucr.ac.cr/index.php/humanidades/article/view/52598