ADM XI.

If you think that the world – and the markets – are driven and operated by humans, you might soon be proven wrong. Today, technology is turning into an acting subject in its own right. Actions and decisions that have traditionally been a prerogative of man – i.e., the subject – are increasingly devolved to networked machines and programming. Man as an autonomous actor has given way to ubiquitous technologies performing as quasi-subjects. And while users (of technology) continue to view themselves as acting subjects, it becomes increasingly difficult to determine who is actually in control. Driverless cars are looming on the horizon while newspaper articles are compiled by algorithms. By 2006, already a third of all European Union and United States stock trades were driven by automatic programs, or algorithms. We can only guess today’s percentage.

Algo(rithmic) trading
Algo trading encompasses trading systems that are heavily reliant on complex mathematical formulas and high-speed computer programs to determine trading strategies, which are then executed on electronic trading platforms. Many types of algorithmic or automated trading activities can be described as high-frequency trading (HFT). Algo trading has resulted in a dramatic change of the market microstructure, and has been the subject of much public debate since an algorithmic trade triggered a wave of selling that led to the 2010 Flash Crash. The May 6, 2010, Flash Crash¹ also known as The Crash of 2:45, was a trillion-dollar stock market crash, which started at 2:32 and lasted for approximately 36 minutes. Allegedly, Navinder Singh Sarao, a London-based 36-year-old small-time trader was responsible for sparking it by using a commercially available trading software whose code he ‘pimped’, « so he could rapidly place and cancel orders automatically. »²

ADM XI
ADM XI is an online collection of heretic, irrational and experimental trading algorithms, developed by artists and other non-professionals of finance. These algorithms (influenced, e.g., by living organisms, esoteric mathematical formulas or supernatural phenomena) are released to compete with each other, on a marketplace provided by RYBN.ORG. Within ADM XI the market is no longer regulated by the price indices (algorithms governed by optimization and profit maximization, speed and aggression – like the one ‘pimped’ by Sarao), but it is activated by living organisms – soil, plants, bacteria – and is organized according environmental, astronomical, numerological, cryptographic, aesthetic, or esoteric rules. All trading algorithms thus follow their own (non mercantile) logic: some attempt to boost a total and irreversible chaos, others try to influence the market price to make it look like an aesthetic geometrical shape.
The website takes the form of a gallery of comparative algorithmic anatomy, or of a Bestiaire Monstrueux of trading algorithms, while using Louis Bec’s and Vilém Flusser’s Zoosystèmatique approach. Each algorithm is documented in a way that resembles 19th century botanists’ drawings, containing operational patterns, logical diagrams, classification options, textual descriptions and other potentially useful documentation. Like in a zoo, the behavior of each algorithm is also visible thanks to a monitoring system. It allows for a real-time observation of the crucible of contemporary algorithmic engineering, seen here from the perspective of a future algorithmic governmentality.³
ADM XI is part of the Antidatamining series, initiated in 2006. It is the third – and final – part of RYBN’s trilogy on algorithmic finance initiated with ADM 8 (2011) and continued with ADM X: The Algorithmic Trading Freakshow (2013).

Since its launch on our online creative space, ADM XI will present the first six algorithms. New algorithms will be added regularly to the project.

Inke Arns

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Flash_Crash (retrieved September 12, 2015)
2. Brush, Silla; Schoenberg, Tom; Ring, Suzi (April 22, 2015), « Mystery Trader Armed With Algorithms Rewrites Flash Crash », Bloomberg News (retrieved September 12, 2015). However, Sarao’ responsability remains highly controversial. Eric Scott Hunsader has suggested that it is most probable that Sarao was used as a scapegoat by the finance industry which is massively using quote stuffing: „This chart exonerates Sarao for causing the flash crash (did he contribute? MAYBE. Cause it? NO)“, Eric Scott Hunsader (@nanexllc), https://twitter.com/nanexllc/status/591648730501156865, April 24, 2015 (retrieved September 14, 2015)
3. Antoinette Rouvroy has coined the term „gouvernementalité algorithmique“, see: http://works.bepress.com/antoinette_rouvroy/ (retrieved September 14, 2015)

Extradisciplinary art collective and research group, founded in 2000, based in Paris. RYBN specializes in the production of installations, performances and interfaces referring to codified systems of the artistic representation – painting, architecture, contrecultures – as well as to human and physical phenomena (geopolitics, socioeconomics, sensory perception, cognitive systems)

Their work has been shown in numerous contemporary art exhibitions and festivals, such as Centre Pompidou, Paris; La Gaîté Lyrique, Paris; Nemo, Paris; ZKM, Karlsruhe; LABoral, Gijon; le HMKV, Dortmund; Ars Electronica, Linz; Pixelache, Helsinki; HEK, Basel; Kunsthalle, Kiel; Transmediale, Berlin; ISEA, San José; Elektra, Montréal; Cellsbutton, Jogjakarta; etc. Some of their works have been acquired by national collections, in addition to having received awards in international competitions.