SAN FRANCISCO — Vienna-based culture/technology group monochrom will host a weekend-long Arse Elektronika conference titled "Do Androids Sleep with Electric Sheep? Critical Perspectives on Sexuality and Pornography in Science and Social Fiction" in San Francisco, to be held Sept. 25-28.

Expanding on the 2007 Arse Elektronika conference, also held in San Francisco, the group and attendees will explore themes of post modernist culture, society, technology, science fiction, philosophy, sexuality, pornography and areas where all of the topics collide to form a dynamic discussion, as well as explore futuristic themes.

The panels and discussions will include “questions of science, research and technologization [sic] are of interest, as is the complex surrounding urbanism, artificiality, and control [or the loss of control],” according to the event’s organizers.

“Depictions of the future, regardless of the form they take, always address the present as well,” the group said in a statement. “Imaginations of the fantastic and the nightmarish give rise to a thematic overlapping of the exotic, the alienating and, of course, the pornographic/sexual, as well.”

Speakers will include:

M. Christian — an acknowledged master of erotica

Daniel Fabry — researcher, lecturer and artist in the fields of media and interaction design

Richard Kadrey — novelist, freelance writer and photographer

Verena Kuni — researcher, lecturer and writer in the field of art and media cultures

Isaac Leung — artist, curator and researcher whose work focuses on art, technology and sexuality

Susan Mernit — a BlogHer contributing editor on sex and relationships

Kit O'Connell — author of science fiction and erotica

Jens Ohlig — long-time activist at the Chaos Computer Club in Germany

Carol Queen, Ph.D. — founding director of the Center for Sex and Culture

Bonni Rambatan — independent cultural researcher, theorist and blogger

Thomas Roche — a writer of more than 400 published short stories of erotic fiction, crime and speculative fiction

Bonnie Ruberg — sex and games journalist for The Village Voice and Forbes.com

Rudy Rucker — computer scientist, science fiction author and a founder of the cyberpunk literary movement

Viviane — a NYC-based librarian, sex nerd and blog mentor

On Sept. 25, the Arse Electronika Awards will be presented at an opening night event. The awards will recognize achievement in the areas of teledildonics, orgasmotrons and sex machines.

The conference will be held at CELLspace, located at 2050 Bryant Street, in San Francisco. Attendees must be 21-and-over.

Ticket prices range between $8 for attendance to the conference’s opening night event, to $20 for a single day pass and $40 for all three days. Tickets can be purchased at the Arse Elektronika website.

The Arse Electronika conference has been scheduled to coincide with Leather Pride week, as well as the Folsom Street Fair, which takes place in San Francisco on Sept. 28.