The whole world experienced the struggles of life in confinement and how it boosted our relationship with the digital world. This collective experience marked a watershed in the way we experience life. Technology entered our lives as a working tool and now we have become a technology culture. This year’s edition of Ars Electronica is an invitation to reflect on the close relationship we have developed with the digital world and how we deal with it while questioning its benefits and shortfalls. It is an invitation to think about our faculty, to take action and claim our right to participate in shaping the world we want to inhabit. This year the Art and Technology Studies (ATS) department of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) presents the work of its community through a series of online and in-person events. The ATS garden seeks to engage in a multidisciplinary dialogue and become a physical and virtual space where the SAIC and the Chicago communities can reflect on our roles in this digital world and rethink ways to engage with these digital systems. With roots in innovation and experimentation, SAIC’s Art & Technology Studies department focuses on the use of technology as an art medium. Started in 1969, the program has been at the forefront of the intersection of art, science, and technology of one of the world’s most influential art and design schools.

Video

Art & Technology Studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Credits: Courtesy of the Art & Technology Studies of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago  

Art & Technology Studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Credits: Courtesy of the Art & Technology Studies of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago  

Art & Technology Studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Credits: Courtesy of the Art & Technology Studies of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago  

WhereWeEmerge@SydneyGush

WhereWeEmerge@KellyXi

WhereWeEmerge@JungwooLee

WhereWeEmerge@JunghoPark

ZurückWeiter

Credits

Curated and coordinated by Mariana Mejía García. Organized by Art & Technology Studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Project presentation: Start a Reaction

Robert Pierce (US), Elise Butterfield (US), Taylor Shuck (US), Maysam Al-Ani (US)

This presentation by artists and curators Robert Pierce, Elise Butterfield, Taylor Shuck, and Maysam Al-Ani will feature documentation of the performance and AR works made as part of the Start a Reaction project, an anti-nukes art and technology campaign. Additionally, an overview of the project’s intentions, significance, and history of the threat of nuclear weapons.

My Shoes, Your Walk

Jonas Sun

This video depicts a revisit of a soundwalk that provided me countless inspiration and solace during the past year. Recorded with contact microphones chiseled and wired in the soles of my shoes, the soundtrack brings us back to last autumn, whereas my camera dangles in the summer heat, and my mind wanders across time.

experiments in free-drumming I

Sal Moreno

experiments in free-drumming I is a performance of improvisational drumming motivated by digital sounds and visuals which are generated in real-time via a motion-capture suit. The performance engages the body as a sonic mediator between the physical and virtual spaces. The performer engages digital sound through hand motions and gestures, amplifying and softening frequencies while experimenting with various rhythmic sequences.

Where we emerge – Pop-up and online exhibition

Sarah Conway Brophy, Sydney Gush, Jung Ho Park, Charlie Dean, Jungwoo Lee, Justine Nalus Guzman, Kelly Yue Xi

The whole world experienced the struggles of life in confinement and how it boosted our relationship with the digital world. This collective experience marked a watershed in the way we experience life. WHERE WE EMERGE is a pop-up exhibition in which students of the Art & Technology Studies department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago reflect on this change in our society.