aqua_forensic - Underwater Interception of Biotweaking in Aquatocene
Robertina Šebjanič (SI), Gjino Šutić (HR)

aqua_forensic illuminates the invisible anthropogenic pharmaceutical pollutants—residues of human consumption. The project combines art/science/citizen science in a “hunt for a monster” and opens the discussion about our solidarity and empathy with waters beyond human perception.

Hybrid Living Materials
The Mediated Matter Group (INT)

Hybrid Living Materials (HLMs) point to an exciting future for designers at the intersection of biology and technology—the grown and the made—to deliver products that are customized to a particular shape, as well as a specific material, chemical, and even genetic make-up.

Topographie Digitale
DataPaulette (FR)

Topographie Digitale is an interactive installation. This landscape uses electrically functionalized and pleated textiles as sensitive surfaces reacting to touch to interact with a video-projected digital clone of this scenery.

Sneak Peak into DDTlab (360° video view)
RUK – DDTlab (SI), AFormX (SI), Arctur (SI), Yaskawa (SI), STPŠ (SI)

In DDTlab we developed several projects where we linked the human brain and output devices. The NeuroFly project involves flying an airplane using only brain waves, while NeuroRobo will have you manipulating the movements of robots with thoughts.

Vertigo Bird 2020 - Climb onto the highest chimney in Europe (360° view)

Climb onto the highest point of our past to see the future. The 360-metre structure is part of the Trbovlje Power Station.

Addressing Ethics, Bias and Colonial Legacies in Emerging Media 
Courtney D. Cogburn (US),  Moderator: Jesse Damiani (US) 

In this talk, we will examine the relationship that emerging technologies have with the past, ranging from biased algorithms to the unequal degree of access that has been granted to different communities—and by extension how they have been respectively represented in media and technology. As art created with these technologies increasingly enters the public discourse, how can artists thoughtfully engage these media as tools to subvert the legacies of colonialism rather than unwittingly reinforce them? 

Digital Drag 
Jeremy Bailey (US) 

Face filters are widely used. In the last months we have been online in front of the camera more than ever. The question is what face-filter to wear. Choose fabulous looks using the latest tools tips and tricks to augment reality Transgress and queer your identity, become a digital drag unicorn or whatever Nxt you can imagine. Famous New Media Artist Jeremy Bailey will fly you through step by step to create and perfect your own AR look, so you can stand out from the crowd at your upcoming zoom party or corporate webinar. Let’s all become famous new media artists! 

Habitat 
Heleen Blanken (NL)

The environmental crisis and the destruction of habitats forces us to imagine a future in which nature can be remembered in digital form. Natural history museums seek to preserve nature physically by fixing it in time and space. How might the archiving of nature evolve in a digital context? Could it bring us even closer to nature?  Habitat is a data-driven installation that uses 3D scans of organic artefacts such as stones, corals and fossils from Leiden’s Naturalis Biodiversity Center and transforms them into a game-like, meditative environment. You are invited to reconnect with the wonder of nature as you navigate through a series of ever-evolving digital worlds, each accompanied by its own soundscape. Original installation is on display at Nxt Museum. 

Autonomy & AI: Who is using Who?
Sari Depreeuw (BE), Francesco D’Abbraccio aka LOREM (IT)

Creative Artificial Intelligence and Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) are by now daily used in the production of images, videos and art. This creative relationship is exciting yet not very clear. Largest part of production feeds into popular deep fakes and face swapping tendencies. We do feel a layer of suspense and concern when it comes to ownership of AI produced artworks. For this reason, we are meeting an expert in digital law, AI media artist, to discuss the role of AI in society today and tomorrow.

Sociality
Paolo Cirio (IT)

This artwork documented over twenty-thousand patents of socially manipulative information technology. In Sociality, Cirio collected and rated Internet inventions submitted to the U.S. patent office. Subsequently, he invited the public to share, flag, and ban the technologies designed to monitor and manipulate social behaviors.

plasticpreneur
doing circular (AT)

The Austrian social & environmental start-up plasticpreneur by doing circular develops, produces and sells simple mobile plastics recycling machines and teaches social entrepreneurship skills that can be used to transform plastic waste into new products.

Perception iO
Karen Palmer (GB)

Perception iO (Input Output) is the future of Law Enforcement. An Artificial Intelligence data set emotionally responsive to the participant and potentially their bias.

c o m p u t e r 1. 0
Julian Goldman (US), Victoria Manganiello (US) aka SOFT MONITOR

Full or empty; color or clear; zero or one; under or over – c o m p u t e r 1.0 imagines a display for the future, by looking at displays from our past. Artists Julian Goldman and Victoria Manganiello create a large-scale textile woven by hand using hollow polymer tubing and natural fiber thread. A patterned series of colored liquid/oil/air pixels will be pumped into the tubes in a sequence dictated by data from adjacent motion sensors and a series of computer-controlled valves, air compressors, and pumps. This textile will function as a lo-fi computer display, made with ancient natural materials and techniques juxtaposed with contemporary digital technologies.

Observing the Microscopic Gardens
Saša Spačal (SI), Toby Kiers (NL/US), Esmee Geerken (NL), De Onkruidenier (NL), Spela Petric (SI), Nicola Triscott (UK)

The nocturnal roundtable “Observing the Microscopic Gardens” features three events: 1. Artist Saša Spačal and microbiologist professor Toby Kiers discuss microbial trade agreements 2. Artist/chemist Esmee Geerken and De Onkruideniers present their microscopic garden houses 3. Artist Spela Petric and curator Nicola Triscott discuss what opinions plants and animals might have about human activity on their/our planet.

Observing the Macroscopic Gardens
Christiaan Zwanikken (NL), Raoul Frese (NL), Angelo Vermeulen (BE), Remco Daalder (NL)

The nocturnal roundtable “Observing the Macroscopic Gardens” features two talks: 1. Artist Christaan Zwanikken will talk about city-dwelling plant robots with astrophysicist Raoul Frese 2. Artist-biologist Angelo Vermeulen will talk about socializing Mars-gardens with Remco Daalder, municipal ecologist of Amsterdam

EDEN – Ethics - Durability - Ecology - Nature
Olga Kisseleva (RU)

The project EDEN Ethics - Durability - Ecology – Nature touches on a range of issues, including the protection of endangered plant species and interspecific communication between living subjects that are placed in the “inhuman”category.

Design by Decay, Decay by Design
Andrea Ling (CA)

Design by Decay, Decay by Design is a series of artifacts that exhibit designed decay. They were done for the 2019 Ginkgo Bioworks Creative Residency on how to design a world without waste. As an architect and artist, I recognize that most of what I create goes to landfill. If that is the case, let me design waste that I can live with, garbage that retains some desirability as it degrades in sight and on site. Let me design waste as nature designs it, not only as the product of breakdown and destruction but also as input for renewal and construction.

Air on Air
Yasuaki Kakehi (JP), Daisuke Akatsuka (JP), Juri Fujii (JP), Yoshimori Yoshikawa(JP), Joung Min Han (KR)

This work is an installation that connects distant places online. Bubble machines at the installation site then creates soap bubbles based on the breath data of online participants in real time. Through a web browser, they can see the bubbles floating in the air as if they are blowing in person at the venue. This work allows participants to feel the air in a remote location. And it also gives them a way to communicate to the remote location ”physically” in these times of restricted mobility.

The Art of Doubt
Matteo Lonardi, Velasco Vitali, Michel Reilhac, Marco Faini

Doubt has played a critical role in both society and art, since the time of the renaissance, when it first entered the public sphere as a distinct concept. Ca’ Foscari University of Venice researcher Marco Faini will explain the concept of doubt, while Matteo Lonardi, Francesco Lonardi, and Velasco Vitali will speak about the role of doubt in the artistic process from Leonardi Da Vinci to contemporary artists.

Earth Water Sky Artist Residency
Haseeb Ahmed (US)

2020 Earth Water Sky artist in residence Haseeb Ahmed (Sky) will present his film “The Wind Egg” and discuss his body of work, notably on particulates and the particular narratives carried by the wind, which is also the subject of his residency at Science Gallery Venice. The presentation will be followed by a question and answer session open to the public, moderated by residency producer/curator Ariane Koek.