Summer Sessions at Ars Electronica 2022

Electrons on the threshold

Oana Clitan (RO)

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Electrons on the threshold is a single channel video installation exploring the social consequences of the rise of surveillance in public and virtual space.

The project is set in a future Rotterdam, which has been rebuilt after a mysterious disaster. It follows a fictional narrative inspired by the reconstruction politics of Rotterdam after the bombing of the Second World War, reimagined in today’s context of constant urban renewal, displacement of socio-economic groups and the development of surveillance technology.
Themes of nostalgia and estrangement are intertwined with issues of privacy and censorship. By exploring how catastrophes are used as clean slates for creating “new and improved” urban and virtual spaces, the project dives into how this can also be used as an opportunity for new ways of governmental or corporate control to be inserted.

The installation includes a video, a series of collage panels and a fictional magazine.

Biographies

Oana Clitan is a multidisciplinary artist and designer. Born in Romania, she is currently based in Rotterdam. Her work has been exhibited in Het Nieuwe Instituut (NL), Rijksmuseum Twenthe (NL), V2_ Lab for Unstable Media (NL), Technische Sammlungen Dresden (DE), Visual Kontakt gallery (RO), White Cuib (RO), among other places. Her works have been acquired for the collection of the Dutch Government.

Florian Weigl (1985) is curator at V2_, Lab for the Unstable Media. As curator and researcher, he is interested in art and contemporary technology reflecting on society, in collaboration with artists in the development of critical dialogue, artistic reflection and practice-oriented research. He joined the curatorial team in 2015 working on both presenting and co-producing works and research.