SILICON PLATEAU
Silicon Plateau is an art project and publishing series that explores the intersection of technology, culture and society in the Indian IT city of Bangalore. Each volume of Silicon Plateau is a themed repository for research, artworks, essays, interviews and stories that observe the ways technology permeates the urban environment and the lives of its inhabitants.
Bangalore, with its history and traditions that now mingle with start-up and tech culture, offers fertile terrain for artistic research. Once the Garden City of India, Bangalore has grown into the Silicon Valley of India in less than three decades to become a demographically diverse metropolis, with tech parks that function as micro-cities and co-working spaces appearing on every corner.
As co-editors, we are interested in how new technologies and their infrastructures shape our everyday, while also being tools that morph according to the social spaces they inhabit. We built the project as a collaborative, interdisciplinary process, bringing together artists, designers, researchers, writers and social scientists to contribute to each volume.
Silicon Plateau is edited by curator Marialaura Ghidini and artist Tara Kelton. For more information and collaborations please contact siliconplateaux@gmail.com
VOLUME 3 — Index
6. Introduction by Marialaura Ghidini
16. how to startle the unbelieving by Himali Singh Soin
26. Untitled by Ragini Bhow
48. Many Lives Calendar by Ginevra Petrozzi
80. The Log Book by Sumeet Banerji
92. A Man Walks into a Tent to Get His Laptop Fixed by Anand Shenoy
106. The Mythic and the Magical: Women Workers in Prema Murthy's Mythic Hybrid by Charu Maithani
124. womb-bot by Afrah Shafiq
132. Moon Sighting by Chinar Shah and Kaamna Patel
154. Liquid Crystal Delight: User Illusion and the Spell of Skeuomorphism by Anisha Baid
166. Pet Telepathy in a Platform Economy by Aileen Blaney and C. Yamini Krishna
180. Diagrams as agents of digital enchantment by Manuel Beltrán and Nayantara Ranganathan
194. (Dis)Enchanted Technologies: Techno-Religio Imaginations in Bangalore by Renny Thomas
208. Devotion, formatted by Sonia Cherian
230. Spirit Leaving the Body by Tara Kelton
276. Material Mysticism by Mara Oscar Cassiani
How are ritual and symbolic systems reactivated through digital environments? Where does knowing settle when authority is distributed across code and platforms? Volume 3 traces how ritual and enchantment mutate through computation.
Across essays, artworks, comics and stories, contributors move from colonial-era clairvoyants to microelectronics factory workers, from pet psychics on instagram to counterfeit brands as talismans. The book is as much about Bangalore as about the networked world it mirrors and magnifies, showing that magic was never separate from technology, only displaced by modernity's claims to rationalism. Knowing, these works suggest, doesn't settle; it moves through labour, ritual, power and desire.
Designed in a revived typeface once thrown into the river Thames, Silicon Plateau Volume 3 is a meditation on loss, recovery and the afterlives of things.
Published by Krisis Publishing, 2026
ISBN 979-12-82345-09-5
Buy the book in India: ₹1900, email siliconplateaux@gmail.com to order
Outside India: Available from Krisis Publishing
VOLUME 2 — Index
6. Introduction by Marialaura Ghidini
12. Wish We Were Here! by Mariam Suhail
34. Amina by Saudha Kasim
46. Black Box by Tara Kelton
53. How to Do Things with Bits and Bytes by Mathangi Krishnamurthy
66. On the Illegibility of a City by Deepa Bhasthi
72. Thursday by Clay Kelton
100. Terms of Service by Sruthi Krishnan
112. Stories from the Gridlock: Ghosts in the Machine by Vandana Menon
142. Reviews by Furqan Jawed
148. How Farmizen Is Helping People of Bengaluru Reconnect with Farming by Carla Duffett
155. Interview with Vir Kashyap by Marialaura Ghidini
166. Aadhaar Cards of Great Leaders by Yashas Shetty
170. Environmental Apptivism: WhatsApp and the Digital Public Spheres in Bangalore by Nicole Rigillo
186. The Weight of Cloud Kitchens by Sunil Abraham and Aasavri Rai
190. Let’s talk about the future, baby/ Let’s talk about you and me/ by Qusai Kathawala
208. The Truth by Yogesh Barve
220. The People Who Share by Lucy Pawlak
234. Apps Index
Volume 2 explores the ecosystem of mobile apps and their on-demand services: What does it mean to be an app user today—as a worker, a client, or simply an observer? The second volume looks at how apps and their infrastructure are impacting our relationship with the urban environment; the way we relate and communicate with each other; and the way labour is changing.The result is a collection of stories about contemporary life in Bangalore; of conversations and deliberations on how we behave, what we sense, and what we might think about when we use the services that are offered to us when we tap on our mobile devices.
Published by the Institute of Network Cultures, Amsterdam, in collaboration with The Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore
ISBN 978-94-92302-29-8
Download PDF, ePUB
Buy the book here
VOLUME 1 — Index
3. Introduction to the Series by Marialaura Ghidini
8. Vector(D, R) by Abhishek Hazra
14. Melrose Place-D In Bangalore (2005) by Christoph Schäfer
21. Against Heritage by Achal Prabhala
29. Art After Failure: An Artistic Manifesto From The City Of Bangalore by IOCOSE
55. A Man, A Woman and Some Good Advice by Anil Menon
70. New Bangalore Interiors by Sunita Prasad
92. Electronic City by Anja Gollor And Mirko Merkel
98. Expiring Estate by Renuka Rajiv
99. Nominal Real(I)Ty by Sreshta Rit Premnath
108. Information Technology by Tara Kelton
While observing the role of the IT industry in Bangalore — its tech parks with highways built to ‘bring’ the city to them and the promises of change for the better it brought about — we explored how this industry has affected the urban landscape and the way in which its inhabitants relate to it. Silicon Plateau Volume 1 looked at how the IT industry ‘settled’ in the city, impacting the representations of urban life and the imagination of its dwellers.
Each printed copy of Silicon Plateau Volume 1 has a unique cover.
Published by The Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore
ISBN 978-81-926304-4-1
Download PDF
Buy the book here
Bangalore, with its history and traditions that now mingle with start-up and tech culture, offers fertile terrain for artistic research. Once the Garden City of India, Bangalore has grown into the Silicon Valley of India in less than three decades to become a demographically diverse metropolis, with tech parks that function as micro-cities and co-working spaces appearing on every corner.
As co-editors, we are interested in how new technologies and their infrastructures shape our everyday, while also being tools that morph according to the social spaces they inhabit. We built the project as a collaborative, interdisciplinary process, bringing together artists, designers, researchers, writers and social scientists to contribute to each volume.
Silicon Plateau is edited by curator Marialaura Ghidini and artist Tara Kelton. For more information and collaborations please contact siliconplateaux@gmail.com
VOLUME 3 — Index
6. Introduction by Marialaura Ghidini
16. how to startle the unbelieving by Himali Singh Soin
26. Untitled by Ragini Bhow
48. Many Lives Calendar by Ginevra Petrozzi
80. The Log Book by Sumeet Banerji
92. A Man Walks into a Tent to Get His Laptop Fixed by Anand Shenoy
106. The Mythic and the Magical: Women Workers in Prema Murthy's Mythic Hybrid by Charu Maithani
124. womb-bot by Afrah Shafiq
132. Moon Sighting by Chinar Shah and Kaamna Patel
154. Liquid Crystal Delight: User Illusion and the Spell of Skeuomorphism by Anisha Baid
166. Pet Telepathy in a Platform Economy by Aileen Blaney and C. Yamini Krishna
180. Diagrams as agents of digital enchantment by Manuel Beltrán and Nayantara Ranganathan
194. (Dis)Enchanted Technologies: Techno-Religio Imaginations in Bangalore by Renny Thomas
208. Devotion, formatted by Sonia Cherian
230. Spirit Leaving the Body by Tara Kelton
276. Material Mysticism by Mara Oscar Cassiani
How are ritual and symbolic systems reactivated through digital environments? Where does knowing settle when authority is distributed across code and platforms? Volume 3 traces how ritual and enchantment mutate through computation.
Across essays, artworks, comics and stories, contributors move from colonial-era clairvoyants to microelectronics factory workers, from pet psychics on instagram to counterfeit brands as talismans. The book is as much about Bangalore as about the networked world it mirrors and magnifies, showing that magic was never separate from technology, only displaced by modernity's claims to rationalism. Knowing, these works suggest, doesn't settle; it moves through labour, ritual, power and desire.
Designed in a revived typeface once thrown into the river Thames, Silicon Plateau Volume 3 is a meditation on loss, recovery and the afterlives of things.
Published by Krisis Publishing, 2026
ISBN 979-12-82345-09-5
Buy the book in India: ₹1900, email siliconplateaux@gmail.com to order
Outside India: Available from Krisis Publishing
VOLUME 2 — Index
6. Introduction by Marialaura Ghidini
12. Wish We Were Here! by Mariam Suhail
34. Amina by Saudha Kasim
46. Black Box by Tara Kelton
53. How to Do Things with Bits and Bytes by Mathangi Krishnamurthy
66. On the Illegibility of a City by Deepa Bhasthi
72. Thursday by Clay Kelton
100. Terms of Service by Sruthi Krishnan
112. Stories from the Gridlock: Ghosts in the Machine by Vandana Menon
142. Reviews by Furqan Jawed
148. How Farmizen Is Helping People of Bengaluru Reconnect with Farming by Carla Duffett
155. Interview with Vir Kashyap by Marialaura Ghidini
166. Aadhaar Cards of Great Leaders by Yashas Shetty
170. Environmental Apptivism: WhatsApp and the Digital Public Spheres in Bangalore by Nicole Rigillo
186. The Weight of Cloud Kitchens by Sunil Abraham and Aasavri Rai
190. Let’s talk about the future, baby/ Let’s talk about you and me/ by Qusai Kathawala
208. The Truth by Yogesh Barve
220. The People Who Share by Lucy Pawlak
234. Apps Index
Volume 2 explores the ecosystem of mobile apps and their on-demand services: What does it mean to be an app user today—as a worker, a client, or simply an observer? The second volume looks at how apps and their infrastructure are impacting our relationship with the urban environment; the way we relate and communicate with each other; and the way labour is changing.
The result is a collection of stories about contemporary life in Bangalore; of conversations and deliberations on how we behave, what we sense, and what we might think about when we use the services that are offered to us when we tap on our mobile devices.Published by the Institute of Network Cultures, Amsterdam, in collaboration with The Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore
ISBN 978-94-92302-29-8
Download PDF, ePUB
Buy the book here
VOLUME 1 — Index
3. Introduction to the Series by Marialaura Ghidini
8. Vector(D, R) by Abhishek Hazra
14. Melrose Place-D In Bangalore (2005) by Christoph Schäfer
21. Against Heritage by Achal Prabhala
29. Art After Failure: An Artistic Manifesto From The City Of Bangalore by IOCOSE
55. A Man, A Woman and Some Good Advice by Anil Menon
70. New Bangalore Interiors by Sunita Prasad
92. Electronic City by Anja Gollor And Mirko Merkel
98. Expiring Estate by Renuka Rajiv
99. Nominal Real(I)Ty by Sreshta Rit Premnath
108. Information Technology by Tara Kelton
While observing the role of the IT industry in Bangalore — its tech parks with highways built to ‘bring’ the city to them and the promises of change for the better it brought about — we explored how this industry has affected the urban landscape and the way in which its inhabitants relate to it. Silicon Plateau Volume 1 looked at how the IT industry ‘settled’ in the city, impacting the representations of urban life and the imagination of its dwellers.
Each printed copy of Silicon Plateau Volume 1 has a unique cover.
Published by The Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore
ISBN 978-81-926304-4-1
Download PDF
Buy the book here