February 24, 2022. In the midst of a global pandemic, Russia invaded Ukraine. Until today this war in Europe continues. This also poses questions for the media as well as the general public: What is truth, what is the role of journalism, and how can art and journalism contribute in a meaningful way in the midst of seemingly endless crisis? Dataspace is a project that proposes a form of “newspaper of the future,” born from a collaboration between the Innovation Lab of the global financial media company Nikkei and the Ars Electronica Futurelab.
Global impacts of the Russian war on Ukraine
The etymology of the word “newspaper” in Japanese means “to hear” something new. If the “newspaper” as a new metaphor becomes a medium that allows people to experience “something new,” what kind of new social awareness and opportunities can it provide? In this age of visual information inundated with text, images, and other visual information, what new ways are there for people to listen carefully to facts and issues and think deeply and slowly, rather than simply consuming and reacting to information and news?
The first theme of Dataspace will focus on the profound impact of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, inviting participants into a sort of Zen garden of information, created solely by data. Using the Deep Space 8K infrastructure permanently installed at the Ars Electronica Center, participants will wear 3D glasses and experience the various impacts of this conflict.
Dataspace: Global impacts of the Russian war on Ukraine Photo: Ars Electronica Futurelab / Raphael Schaumburg-Lippe
Dataspace: Global impacts of the Russian war on Ukraine Photo: Ars Electronica Futurelab / Raphael Schaumburg-Lippe
Dataspace: Global impacts of the Russian war on Ukraine Photo: Ars Electronica Futurelab / Raphael Schaumburg-Lippe
Dataspace: Global impacts of the Russian war on Ukraine Photo: Ars Electronica Futurelab / Raphael Schaumburg-Lippe
Dataspace: Global impacts of the Russian war on Ukraine Photo: Ars Electronica Futurelab / Raphael Schaumburg-Lippe
Faced with a sharp rise in oil prices, can we build an economic model without oil? Now that gas supplies are scarce, what is the cost of our dependency? Now that wheat is in short supply worldwide, can we avoid hunger? And what kind of new turmoil might this impact create? If you were to be displaced by war, what would be your home? What will the nation budget for and where could the world go in the wake of this war? And what will the future of democracy probably look like?
Participants will be immersed in a fact-based data space on these topics and then given the opportunity to discuss these questions. We call this act of creating social dialogue through artistic expression, research, exploration, and action “Artistic Journalism”. This new journalism would revolutionize the way we look at current events.
Read more about Dataspace on the Ars Electronica Blog.
Credits
Nikkei Innovation Lab: Hiroyuki Watanabe, Nobuyuki Oishi, Takeshi Yamada, Akihito Takei, Masami Fujita
Ars Electronica Futurelab: Arno Deutschbauer, Manuel Dobusch, Nicolas Naveau, Hideaki Ogawa, Raphael Schaumburg-Lippe, Julian Zauner