Projects arising from the collaboration with TAICCA and other Taiwanese partners bring AI reflection and artistic innovation to the Ars Electronica Festival.
Taiwan – an island nation at the center of geopolitical tensions and technological progress. Surrounded by the challenges of its complex geopolitical relationship in east Asia and the pursuit of international recognition, Taiwan has developed a strong cultural identity. This is reflected in its diverse creative scene, which combines traditional roots with modern innovation. A future model that transcends borders? In this context, the Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA) plays a decisive role by promoting Taiwan’s creative industry and networking it internationally. The collaboration between Ars Electronica and TAICCA thus leads to intercultural exchange.
This collaboration gave rise to various formats – from mentoring to workshop sessions organized in Taiwan. From this dynamic and interactive process, Taiwanese artists will bring exciting projects and socio-critical questions to the Ars Electronica Festival in 2024.
How can we raise awareness of prejudices about AI? How can AI become more inclusive and fairer? The artist collective Dimension Plus offers an answer to these questions. Their project “AI Bias Unmasked” was realized as part of the TAICCA x Ars Electronica Art Thinking Program. AI, digital humanism, sustainability, transparency, global justice and inclusion – the project submitted by Dimension Plus was selected from numerous submissions and subsequently developed in various workshops. The immersive installation deals with the complexity of the perception and categorization of objects by AI. The exciting starting point is the Taiwanese delicacy “pig blood cake” – an example of how AI misrepresents cultural artifacts.
Anyone interested in learning more about this interdisciplinary project and delving deeper into a conversation about the connection between technology and culture should not miss the panel discussion “Rise Up, Data Peasants: Opportunities for International Co-production and Corporate Synergy”. On Saturday, September 7, starting at 4 p.m., TAICCA invites you to join personalities from technology, business and creation on the Lecture Stage at POSTCITY to explore how Taiwan’s art scene interacts with technology and business towards a future of sustainability and prosperity. This discussion aims to encourage us to rethink our role in a technological-feudal society and foster synergies that support sustainable and human-centered progress.
Also dealing with AI, but with a focus on interactive exhibits and visitor experiences, is the project Exploration and Exploitation—AI Interactive Video created by the artist collective “Simple Noodle Art” following a commission from NTMoFA, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts and Ars Electronica. The installation, consisting of an interactive video system that can tailor narrative perspectives to the audience’s emotions, explores AI-driven narratives and personalized content for social media. The focus is on the question of whether AI exacerbates societal segregation.
The presence at the festival gives Taiwanese artists from the media art scene international visibility, while at the same time promoting intercultural exchange. New perspectives that help to use artistic thinking to develop creative solutions for a better society in the future. The artworks by Taiwanese artists also play their part in finding a joint answer to the question posed by the festival theme “HOPE – who will turn the tide”.
If you want to delve even deeper into the Taiwanese art scene, you should not miss the other programs from Taiwan that will be presented at the festival in addition to the projects presented above:
Taiwanese choreographers and media artists from Linz have choreographed a three-part dance evening at Deep Space 8K under the title “WHAT IS REMAINING”. The dancers’ bodies are continued here in the media artists’ forms of expression.
The Ars Electronica Features – a close collaboration with partners from all over the world – also include Taiwanese representation with TAIPEI: Metaverse Alliance. “Resonance of Hope: Exploring Love, Technology, and Peace in Turbulent Times” addresses these interconnected themes and uses art and technology to tackle global challenges. Exhibited works such as “Future Morphoid: A Cozy Afternoon in Taipei” and “Heartbreak Funeral Service” convey immersive experiences that capture the contrasts of Taiwanese life and invite individuals to engage in critical discourse and collaborative introspection to promote empathy and global harmony.
The campus exhibition also features a Taiwanese perspective by National Tsing Hua University and Taipei National University of the Arts. With its projects entitled “Anthropogenic Encroachment”, the former aims to inspire reflection on the role of humans as intruders and collaborators in post-natural ecosystems and uses art to examine technologization and its effects on behaviour, perception and understanding. The exhibition “Observer Pattern” at Taipei National University of the Arts explores the role of machines as tools and assistants in media art from the perspective of Taiwan’s evolving cultural and technological landscape and the interplay of human intuition and interaction with machines.
The collaboration between Ars Electronica, TAICCA and NTMoFA demonstrates the importance of intercultural exchange and artistic collaboration in tackling global challenges. The projects exhibited during the Ars Electronica Festival contribute to actively creating and addressing hope instead of passive waiting – through their stories, innovative ideas and fresh perspectives.
The projects can be seen as part of the Ars Electronica Festival 2024 from September 4 to 8 at POSTCITY and in Deep Space 8K at the Ars Electronica Center. Tickets for the Ars Electronica Festival are available here.
The panel “Rise Up, Data Peasants: Opportunities for International Co-production and Corporate Synergy” is presented by the Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA), supported by the Ministry of Culture, Taiwan. The winning project of “TAICCA x Ars Electronica Art Thinking Program” also received Technology Innovation Award from Quanta Research Institute.