Digital Anthropology Lab – London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London
Curator: Maria Dada (UK)
In its second appearance at Ars Electronica and in response to the theme Out of the Box, the Digital Anthropology Lab presents its immersive installation Navigating without a View, a multisensorial experience that investigates the possibilities of orientation in a world without a map or a compass, a world without representation or established views or truths.
To orient ourselves, when guidance and direction become impossible, when we no longer have a blueprint to work from, we usually fall back on our senses. We rely on our sense of smell, touch, a visible landmark or the impression of a salient object in the distance. But in the digital realm our spatial embodied experiences, including our senses, are abstracted and altered. The body of the digital is a mathematical quantity, the number of heartbeats, the measure of blood pressure, the level of humidity. It’s data. What are the possible interfaces required to orient ourselves in such a world?
For the duration of the festival, the exhibition will invite the audience to encounter various experimental interfaces that can guide us through the digital.
The Digital Anthropology Lab is an emerging research center dedicated to understanding the intersection of digital technologies with fashion, textiles and the body by critically applying design and coding practices.
Project
Navigating without a View is an immersive installation that investigates the possibilities of orientation in a world without a map or a compass, a world without representation and established views or truths. When guidance and direction become impossible everything falls back on the senses. But what becomes of the senses when they are altered by the digital, quantitative and mathematical?
Biographies:
Maria Dada pursues research that is placed within the fields of design, continental philosophy and material culture. She investigates the possibilities of the digital in reconfiguring socio-political and economic structures.
Yuan Yu Chen Feng is a Venezuelan artist and designer based in London. Graduating from the Central Academy of Fine Art in Beijing, Yuan’s work combines fashion and digital materials reflecting on social issues in the post digital era.
Greta Gandossi graduated with maximum honors in architectural design from Politecnico di Milano. She is currently based in London studying for an MA in pattern and garment technology at London college of fashion.
Costas Kazantzis has a background in biomedical/computer engineering. He is interested in how the digital is able to articulate multi-sensory experiences. He is currently studying for an MA in Fashion Media Production at London College of Fashion.
Maria Bika is an architect engineer with a master’s degree in architectural theory from the National Technical University of Athens. She is currently attending the Master Course in Footwear Design and Construction at London College of Fashion.
Ragnar Hrafnkelsson is the technical coordinator at the Digital Anthropology Lab. He is also a creative coder, sound designer and director of Reactify music.
Fergus O’Connor has a special interest in digital preservation and archiving and is an expert in art installations, having worked for museums such as the Tate and now Fashion Space Gallery.
