Simon Denny: Memories of the Future

Simon Denny
Memories of the Future

Futurism, defence tech, and Silicon Valley's new aesthetics

The Culture & Technology podcast 033 | June 09, 2026
Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app (search for the culture & technology podcast).

Simon Denny is an artist living and working in Berlin, known for his conceptual work examining technology, power, and contemporary culture. His practice spans diverse media including paintings, sculptures, installations, and exhibition-making, often investigating the cultural footprint of influential technology figures and companies. Denny has exhibited internationally and gained recognition for works addressing tech industry aesthetics, from early pieces about Kim Dotcom and Peter Thiel to recent explorations of defense tech and AI.

In this episode, Simon discusses his latest exhibition "Forces of the Unknown," which uses AI-generated imagery and plotter-painted canvases to draw connections between Italian Futurism and contemporary Silicon Valley ideology. The conversation explores how Marc Andreessen's "Techno-Optimist Manifesto" inspired the work, the shift from consumer tech to defense tech ("hard tech"), and Silicon Valley's evolving relationship with weapons manufacturing. Severin and Simon also examine AI as an artistic tool, the ethics of technological labor displacement, and the role of artists in capturing cultural moments without prescribing political solutions.

Artist, writer and curator Günseli Yalcinkaya discusses her concept of 'internet folklore,' which connects advanced technologies with cultural practices like folklore and mythmaking. The conversation delves into the ways internet culture influences society, the impact of AI on human interaction and creativity, and the emerging significance of quantum culture. Severin and Günseli also explore her collaborative AV performances and the intriguing parallels between AI and psychedelia.

GUEST

Simon Denny, MNZM (b. 1982 Auckland) lives and works in Berlin. He makes artworks that unpack stories about technology using painting, web-based media, installation, sculpture, print and video. He serves as a Professor of Time-Based Media since 2018 at The Hochschule für bildende Künste (HFBK), Hamburg and co-founded the artist mentoring program BPA//Berlin Program for Artists in 2016.

HOST

Severin Matusek is a writer and founder of co—matter, a research and strategy studio exploring the cultural and societal impact of new technologies.

IDEAS AND PEOPLE IN CONTEXT

Forces of the Unknown, Simon Denny exhibition, JW Marriott Hotel, Berlin

Netscape, first major commercial web browser (early 1990s)

"Software Will Eat the World", Marc Andreessen (2011)

"The Techno Optimist Manifesto", Marc Andreessen (2023)

First Futurist Manifesto, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti (1909)

"Silicon Valley's Entering Its Hard Tech Era", New York Times (July 2025)

"The Technological Republic", Alex Karp book

The Founder's Paradox, Simon Denny exhibition, Michael Lett Gallery, Auckland (2017)

Security Through Obscurity, Simon Denny exhibition, Altman Siegel, San Francisco (2020)

Extractor, Simon Denny board game / catalogue

DLD (Digital Life Design), tech conference, Munich

"What is Post AI Art", Art Review (November 2025)

CREDITS

The Vienna Business Agency supports new companies, projects and products that develop Vienna's creative industries further. Find out more at viennabusinessagency.at. Editorial & Production Team (in alphabetical order): Carina Dala, Severin Matusek, Elisabeth Noever-Ginthör, Alice Smith, Heinz Wolf

Theme Music by Hell Mutang.

S6E3 is now out and available wherever you listen to podcasts.