Digital Communities

GARDEN HONG KONG

On-site exhibition

GARDEN HONG KONG at Osage Gallery is a one-week finissage art show of Ars Electronica 2021 Garden Hong Kong. Introducing Artificial Intentionalities, the Garden statement reads “Ars Electronica Garden Hong Kong’s curatorial inquiry explores various paths to better understand the entanglements that surface in the tectonic interplay of divergent worlds, where robots challenge social models, artworks try to understand each other, and the faraway meets the nearby."

Porto Porto

Alex Tibbitts (CA/US), Quan (CA/VN), Samito (CA/MZ), Boogieman (CA), Milo Johnson (CA/US)

Porto Porto is on a mission to bring music that collectively raises our human vibrations. The stresses of isolation melt away in hearing dreamy delays of the harp mixed with an up-tempo bass and beat line. Grounded by Milo Johnson's bass lines, and reinforced melodically with his horn and string accompaniments, the team -featuring Alex Tibbitts, Quan, Samito and Boogieman- promises to transport the listener from rain forests and remote island villages to busy urban underground.

[ˈdaːzaɪn]

Sective – Arno Deutschbauer (AT) and Micha Elias Pichlkastner (AT/CA)

The AV performance [ˈdaːzaɪn] conceptually revolves around the detachment of communication and interaction from the human body into a virtual and digital space and the consequences this can have for us as physical and mental beings. A phenomenon that has obviously also been accelerated by the effects of the Covid19 pandemic.

Hypogeios

Roberto Pugliese (IT), Daniel Bacalov (IT), Gilda Buttà (IT), Costanza Savarese (IT) , Alberto Popolla (IT), Gianfranco Tedeschi (IT), Alessandra Cristiani (IT), Eleonora Chiocchini (IT)

Hipogeios is an electro-acoustic project where elements from different artistic backgrounds perfectly melt together, creating a multifaceted dialogue and a klangfarben counterpoint.

In the mix: O-Wells

O-Wells (DE)

What ties O-Wells‘ career together is a certain emotionality that gently addresses the listener from the side. This approach to music-making is naturally continued in his style of djing: Incorporating his personal history of producing ambient, breakbeat and house to fast-paced Detroit-influenced techno under his second moniker Frankfurt Bass, Lennard Poschmann draws from this rich pool to create his own musical language.

Pheek/Iregui present “INVERSION”

Pheek (CA) & Daniel Iregui (CA)

In the age of Instagram, polished profiles and overly-sanitized cleanliness, INVERSION instead attempts to show the levels of spontaneity, uncertainty and questioning underlying musical creation. Daniel Iregui’s enormous black mirror, placed behind Pheek and fitted with a device allowing it to vibrate to sound, allows spectators to experience the artists’ various states of mind during an unpredictable yet intuitive journey, where everything will become crystal-clear to those with the patience to wait.

Desert Bloom presents “on the tendencies of trauma & resilience”

Desert Bloom (CA) & Austin Tufts (CA)

Long-form arrangement from composer Desert Bloom consisting of three movements, “on the tendencies of trauma and resilience” blends classical form and experimental electronic instrumentation alongside drummer Austin Tufts’ live drum improvisations. Conceptually, this piece delves into reactions to traumas experienced by women of color, the lack of a societal discourse on the subject and the concept of resilience, widely used as a scapegoat to avoid providing further support or to genuinely confront our own biases and toxic behaviors.

Journey to Pristina

Anibar (XK), Lapsi360 (XK), University of Prishtina (XK) Bournemouth University (UK)

This program explores the power of the 360 video in representation of the past as tools in educating the new generations and giving a wider perspective on different narratives to wider audiences.

Those Who Drown Cling to Foam

Urtina Hoxha (XK)

Through stark, intricate animation, Those Who Drown Cling to Foam illustrates the devastating personal account of a family forced to flee their home during the 1999 NATO bombings of Kosovo.

Mardhë

Flaka Kokolli (XK)

Beti, a woman in her late forties, together with her family, is deported by Serbian security forces from her home in the capital of Kosovo to the border village of Bllacë. With war breaking out in 1999, her story of survival is stitched together as the world she knew disintegrates. The seemingly endless cycle of cruelty Beti endures on her journey to a safe haven becomes a collective story of survival.