Festival for Digital Ecologists

Art will neither avert nor mitigate climate change. But it is short-sighted to underestimate its potential contribution. For so far, we are not failing in climate protection because of the helplessness of science or technological inability – we are failing because of ourselves. We know quite well what the problem is and what we have to do about it, we are simply not ready (yet?). And this is exactly where art can make a difference. It can help us to look at things differently and to develop a different consciousness. It can help us to anchor new values and find new ways.

Artist Journey with Tega Brain und Sam Lavigne

Tega Brain (AU), Sam Lavigne (US)

Artists Tega Brain (AU) and Sam Lavigne (US) explore climate change as a cultural and epistemological challenge. Their projects Synthetic Messenger (2019) and Perfect Sleep (2021) showcased at Ars Electronica Festival use a blend of installation and sound art, performance, creative coding and app design in order to trigger new imaginaries which can stir us into action.

A parallel (r)evolution — Digital Art in Latin America

CIFO & Ars Electronica

CIFO, the Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation based in Miami, has been promoting Latin American modern art for some 20 years and sees itself as a platform for artists, both emerging and established. Together with Ars Electronica, CIFO is preparing a prize to mark its 20th anniversary.

Curator Journey in STUDIO(dys)TOPIA

Martin Honzik (AT), Christl Baur (DE/AT)

What new economic and ecological values should we embrace and how do we make them an integral part of our cultural identity?

The Stories We Tell Ourselves: Misinformation and Climate Change

Gianni Riotta (IT), Bernd Hezel (DE), Marta Handenawer (ES), Mark Farid (GB)

In order to ‘land’ on planet B, as Bruno Latour would formulate, people need to be aware of the actual mechanisms implied in climate change, in every aspect: economic, social, geological… The story we tell ourselves and narratives we share with like-minded people are key to new perception and action.

Network Ecologies: Commitment to Change as a Way out of Crisis

Francesca Bria (IT), Giulia Foscari (IT), Eva Franch I Gilabert (ES/CAT/US), Carlo Barbante (IT)

The extreme conditions found in the Southernmost continent of planet Earth are the result of an underlying climatic cycle which is prone to human interference. This panel looks at why Antarctica has been called the ultimate continental laboratory and how the data obtained by research teams will enhances the prediction of future climate scenarios and the development of proper mitigation strategies.

Our Earths VR Preview

Sebastian Postl (AT), Claudia Puck (AT), Sebastian Pichelhofer (AT), Katharina Keiblinger (AT), Jelena Obradovic (AT), Roberto Schaefer, ASC, AIC (AT), Johann Steinegger (AT)

Looking back in a few hundred years, how will humanity have prevented the collapse by climate crisis, resource scarcity, species extinction and exponential growth? This project creates a science-based utopia – the success story of mankind – and fuses animation and real film elements into an immersive 3D experience with an atmospheric soundtrack in a virtual reality experience.

Taking the pulse of our planet from space

Simonetta Cheli (IT) , Robert Meisner (DE)

The view of the Earth from space is the only perspective that allows us to observe changes on our planet. To demonstrate the relevance and value of Earth observation in terms of environmental and socio-economic benefits, the journey takes us to current issues around climate change with a virtual presentation.

Repairing the Present :REWORLD :REWILD and :RETOOL

Manuel Cirauqui (ES), Mariana Pestana (PT)

As a kickoff event to the S+T+ARTS exhibition series Repairing the Present :REWORLD :REWILD and :RETOOL, to be held respectively at MEET (Milan), MAXXI (Rome), and ZKM (Karlsruhe) throughout the fall 2022, series curator Manuel Cirauqui speaks with renowned curator and researcher Mariana Pestana about design futurity, the current state of climate emergency, the post-pandemic condition, and the performativity of creative processes on a collective level, as key factors in a time of accelerating eco-systemic transformation.

Spotlight by Giulia Foscari

Francesca Bria (IT) , Giulia Foscari (IT)

The architect, researcher, activist and S+T+ARTS Prize winner Giulia Foscari gives insight into her artistic work that moves in the field of tension between art, technology and science: Antarctic Resolution was conceived by Giulia Foscari / UNLESS to catalyse global attention to one of the world’s few Global Commons and create a constituency for the only continent without an indigenous population, with the ambition of contributing to the protection of the Antarctic, and in turn, of the human species.

Spotlight by Selina Neirok Leem

Selina Neirok Leem (MH)

Communities like those of the the low-lying Majōl (Republic of Marshall Islands), a sprawling chain of islands and islets in the Pacific Ocean, are at the frontlines of climate change. They are at risk of losing everything including their very way of life – to a crisis they did not create. By ways of a stirring poem and talk, Seline Neirok Leem explains why she refuses to give up the fight against climate injustice.

STUDIO(dys)TOPIA – At the Peak of Humankind

Theme Exhibition

The themed exhibition “STUDIO(dys)TOPIA” explores how humanity can put sustainable practices into action and serves as a metaphor for our present, where the concepts of dystopias and utopias find themselves in a changed reality.

The Festival University 2022

Ars Electronica (AT), JKU (AT)

200 Students — Faculty of Experts, Lecturers, Mentors, Inspirers. Global challenges of tomorrow require a new approach – one based on creativity and co-creation. The Festival University, a joint initiative between Ars Electronica and Johannes Kepler University Linz (JKU), invites students from around the world to jointly develop planetary strategies for change and transformation.

Tools for Warming Planet

Garden Barcelona: Sara Dean (US), Beth Ferguson (US), Marina Monsonís (ES)

We live on a planet in flux–warming waters and land, chaotic weather, and unknown futures. Our adaptability is crucial to our survival. In response to this condition, this workshop will explore new tools for sensing, mapping, engaging, eating and responding to our changing environment. Participants will learn about the Tools for a Warming Planet crowd-sourced collection on exhibition and will collaborate on new prototype ideas moving forward. This workshop is part of the exhibition Collaborative Ecosystems for a Sustainable World, presented by the Institut Ramon Llull in collaboration with the .NewArt { foundation;} and Hac Te.

Urgent Crises, Slow Solutions: A Conversation about the Open Movement, Craft Technologies and a Sustainable Internet

Babitha George (IN), Camila Nobrega (BR/DE), Luis Felipe Rosado Murillo (BR), Shannon Dosemagen (US), Persephone Lewis (US)

What potentials do open practices, craft, and community knowledge have, to imagine different climate futures? How can the open movement with its values, communities and action support the creation of these futures? And how do we actively build a sustainable and just Internet for all? Though the current crises are urgent, we acknowledge the solutions may be slow.