According to Sezgin Boynik, bibliography – the historical materialist study of printed matter – is an inherently democratic and egalitarian way of presenting knowledge. Against contemporary art’s neoliberal notion of subjectivity understood as individualization, Boynik argues in this essay that the orthodox field of bibliography offers us powerful tools to connect different political struggles and collectivize knowledge – through bibliographies with attitude.

What role can publishing play in organizing critique today? This series looks at historical and contemporary practices that approach publishing as an infrastructure for political organization, collective knowledge production, and the formation of counter-publics.

We join a small gathering of friends on a balcony: Fran to your left, Sid and Moon to your right. It’s an early summer evening; the air is filled with birdsong and the sound piece Fuengu (2021) by Hong-Kai Wang. For this project, the artist explored the musical heritage of the family of Tsou Taiwanese composer Uong e Yatauyungana, using listening as a way to get to know the Psoseongana landscape. How can we listen in a non-extractive way? Can I hear without interest? Listen without taking anything away? And is there a way of hearing that is better – or worse? Who decides?

This essay reframes algorithmic bias through the lens of archival theory. Rather than a focus on mitigation, we propose ‘absence' as a concept for understanding the root causes of algorithmic harm and imagining more capacious, joyful futures. We frame absence as power and presence, and as productive force, one that can intervene into technical as well as social and political struggles.