An exhibition on the fine art of hacking has opened in Madrid, Spain.

“Hackers: The Art of Abstraction explores the connections between hackers, artists and anyone engaged in any kind of creative work, an idea that the curators of the show say was inspired by McKenzie Wark’s The Hacker Manifesto. “

The musuem’s management is pretty ethusive about the exhibition’s subjects:

“I very much like Wark’s idea that everyone who creates anything is a hacker — programmers, artists, musicians, writers, engineers, chemists and so on are all hackers and, no matter how culturally diverse we may be, as creators we have convergent interests,” said Berta Sichel, director of the department of audiovisuals at the Spanish museum.

“I believe that hackers are the great intellectual adventurers of our time, but in mainstream culture hacking often has negative connotations,” Sichel added. “With this show we hope to refute the negatives and make people aware that in an age of increased surveillance, hacking can be a vital countermeasure and a commendable act of self-defense.”