Data Art & Science Project 2024: Memories for Futures @ Futurelab Night 2024; photo: Bettina Gangl

Memories for Futures

Memories for Futures is a multi-modal media arts installation designed to foster care and discussion about rural life’s future. Local stories, places and impressions from the village of Azusakawachi in the Japanese prefecture of Shiga are linked here to provide insights into the lives of the inhabitants and their very personal history. The initiative is part of the Data Art & Science Project, a collaborative endeavour between Toyota Coniq Alpha and the Ars Electronica Futurelab.

Among the works that were developed in 2024 is Memories for Futures by the Ars Electronica Futurelab. Data for the project was collected in a two-day workshop in Azusakawachi where participants created 3D models of significant objects and places, using a novel technique called Gaussian Splatting. In addition, their individual stories were gathered through qualitative interviews. 

Interweaving personal stories with the 3D representations of belongings and locations, Memories for Futures presents as an artwork driven by Azusakawachi residents. The work aims to give back to the region and inspire local action, to strengthen the social fabric by cultivating relationships. 

Shiga Prefecture is located east of Kyoto and Osaka, bordering Biwako Lake, the largest freshwater lake in Japan. Known for its natural beauty, historical sites and cultural heritage, Shiga has faced challenges like depopulation, an aging society, vacant housing, flood risks and landslides. Different outcomes were presented at the Ars Electronica Festival 2024 as an outlook at a planned Data Art & Science Center in Shiga. 

At the start of the Data Art & Science Project in 2023, the Futurelab collaborated with artists and data scientists to explore the relationship between data and the individual as well as society and the planet. In 2024, the project focused on developing Data Art & Science (DAS) as a methodology to study local revitalization in the Shiga prefecture. 

This project was part of the Open Futurelab at the Ars Electronica Festival 2024.

More about the 2024
Data Art & Science Project

Credits

Ars Electronica Futurelab: Kyoko Kunoh, Nicolas Naveau, Hideaki Ogawa, Maria Pfeifer, Johannes Pöll, Raphael Schaumburg-Lippe, Cyntha Wieringa
Arno Deutschbauer (Sound design)
PARTNER: Toyota Coniq Alpha (JP), Shiga University (JP), Azusa Kawachi Workshop participants