Themes
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.
SUPER DOMMUNE tuned by au5G Presents “TOKYO REAL”
Naohiro Ukawa (JP), Seiichi Saito (JP), Ei Wada (JP), Yamakawa Fuyuki (JP), ZVIZMO / Tentenko(JP), Atsuhiro Ito, (JP)
Created by artist Ukawa, DOMMUNE has been running for over 10 years and has been fusing academia, music, entertainment and art together in a live setting. This experimentation, methodology and way of creating online shows has influenced many people around the world and has been a big influence in the various online developments at Covid-19.
Yasuaki Kakehi Laboratory, The University of Tokyo
Yasuaki Kakehi (JP)
Under what kind of environment do they continue to create works which are part of University lab’s research? What equipment do you use? What kind of process do students carry out? We take a deep dive into the Lab from different perspectives, including how Ars Electronica is positioned for education.
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.
el violador eres tú
LASTESIS collective
el violador eres tú is a small-format staging that, using the collage technique, links performance, sound and visual experimentation, with the aim of generating a graphic, visual and scenic assessment of theoretical essays that address gender issues from a feminist perspective. el violador eres tú is based on The Elementary Structures of Violence by Rita Segato (2003).
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.
Within a Latent Space
LOREM (IT)
Entirely realized though AI systems, "Within a Latent Space" is an AV performance about exploring past, present and future as it relates to our constant journey between our transpersonal psyches and non-human unconscious. A Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) was trained on an original plot based on a dataset composed by multiple transcriptions of dreams. AI-generated images and sound interpret than those words, disclosing an eerie, uncanny journey into our common deepest.
Econtinuum
Kathy Steppe (BE), Thijs Biersteker (NL). Moderation: Bogomir Doringer (RS/NL)
We do not acknowledge that collaboration with plants is paramount to our existence. Econtinuum is a new installation by ecological artist Thijs Biersteker, in partnership with different scientists and commissioned by Nxt Museum. It visualises the latest pioneering research into plant-to-plant communication. In discussion with the artist and bio-engineer in environmental technology, we will uncover how trees work together, how to learn from each other, warn each other and share nutrients, but also how we can learn from it to improve our own communication and relationships. We can again connect with nature by using the latest technology.
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.
MEME MANIFESTO
Clusterduck (IT/DE/FR)
Based on the aesthetics of online conspiracy theorists, ancient grimoires, and cutting edge contemporary digital design, MEME MANIFESTO strives to be a manual for memetic production, a highly refined documentation of the contemporary memetic landscape and an art book about the hidden sides of the Internet. The project seeks to describe the personal experience of someone who is approaching meme culture, affirm the importance and power of memes, and give everyone the tools to harness this power.
Zero Footprint
Douglas Rushkoff
In the 2020 festival “Zero Footprint”, subtitled “Living and Connecting on a Damaged Earth”, IMPAKT will focus on the climate crisis through the eyes of artists and radical thinkers. How can we create structural change that can serve the many instead of the few?
Influencer
oneseconds (NL)
A 20 minute online interactive performance where the audience decides the faith of the protagonist. Influencer questions the autonomy of the human being in modern times. How far are we influenced by the majority?
Future Focus – Fragile Worlds I
Invisible Flock, Kasia Molga, Dr. Joanne Tippett, Irini Papadimitriou
This session takes viewers on a virtual studio tour and conversation with artists sharing work, and engaging with and responding to environmental change, and an exploration of how stories of a changing landscape are communicated through nature and other species.
Abducting Europa - Live artist talks
Simon Denny (NZ/DE), Andy King (UK), Szabolcs KissPál (HU), Annika Larsson (SE/DE), Liliana Piskorska (PL), Jonas Staal (NL/GR)
Artists from the “Abducting Europa” exhibition will discuss their work in a series of artists talks, live and pre-recorded. Political fantasy, from myths of national rebirth to the esoteric dimensions of deep web conspiracy theories, these talks will discuss the use and abuse of history, the lure of a Golden Age, and alternative visions on Europe.
Role of Media Art
Etsuko Ichihara (JP), Nao Tokui (JP), Natsumi Wada (JP), Shiho Fukuhara (JP), Asako Tomura (JP), Minoru Hatanaka (JP)
Japan Media Arts Festival, which was founded in Japan, focuses on the field of art, entertainment, manga and anime, and is becoming more and more centripetal in its inclusion of various fields. What is the role of media arts in this context? This session the panelist will be discussing the future of media art along with the unique setting of this year’s Ars Electronica to be held online.
EUPHRATES
Masahiko Sato (JP), Masashi Sato (JP)
The process and how EUPHRATES create their work remains unknown. Under what kind of environment EUPHRATES continues to create numbers of works with variety in the choice of media, including educational television programs, picture books, and the video work that won the award at the 23rd Japan Media Arts Festival, which expresses a different point of view from the usual.
