S+T+ARTS Day

Repairing the Present

S+T+ARTS is an initiative of the European Commission that fosters synergies between Science+ Technology+Arts. Guided by the belief that artistic perspectives can contribute to innovation beyond the arts and culture realm, the initiative strives to give artists a leading role in research and innovation activities with an impact on industry and society. This year’s S+T+ARTS Day gathers artists, industry and research leaders under the banner of Repairing the Present. Through a series of talks, discussions, and networking events the conference addresses the ways in which innovation through art-driven interdisciplinary collaborations can contribute to mapping responsibilities as well as solutions for challenges posed in both the digital and the analogue world, making powerful contributions to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals as well as aiding in the aims of the European Green Deal. The discursive formats of S+T+ARTS Day also address the importance of environmental awareness in the context of our fast-changing ecosphere and the ways in which research results can be presented in false contexts and with different meaning. Speakers share insights on how to tackle misinformation in digital media as well as shed light on new ways to reinvent notions of intellectual property and identity in the context of machine generated artistic content.

The joint mission of twelve Regional S+T+ARTS Centers from across Europe, Repairing the Present has been the overarching focus of 21 S+T+ARTS Residencies and numerous S+T+ARTS Academy events over the past year. The S+T+ARTS Day is the chance for actors from different disciplines to come together, reflect on past and future collaborations, weigh their impact, and map out ways forward.

Moderation:
Geraldine de Bastion (GB/DE)

Timetable

Program

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.

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.

Residency. But How?

Christian Rauch (DE), Aimee Van Wynsberghe (CA), Irakli Sabekia (GE), Marjan Žitnik (HR), Robertina Šebjanič (SI)

Residency programs offer an opportunity for Artists or Scientists to swap their respective point of view – from working in an atelier to testing their skills in a laboratory context and vice versa – thus encouraging the exchange of ideas and building of new conceptiual models for problem solving.

Spotlight by Holly Herndon & Mathew Dryhurst

Holly Herndon (UM), Mathew Dryhurst (US), José Luis de Vicente (ES)

Holly Herndon is an American multidisciplinary artist based in Berlin. In her work, she develops new technologies to experiment with her voice and its image, supported by critical research in artificial intelligence and decentralized infrastructure.

Spotlight by Forensic Architecture

Forensic Architecture

What roles does current technology play in the manipulation and misinformation of citizens? In a spotlight talk, Shourideh C. Molvi highlights the threats that possibilities of global communication at a mousclick brings with it.

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.

Visionary Pioneers Lecture by Laurie Anderson with Laudatio by Charles Amirkhanian

Laurie Anderson (US), Charles Amirkhanian (US), Gerfried Stocker (AT)

Ars Electronica honors internationally renowned artist Laurie Anderson (US) as the 2022 “Visionary Pioneer of Media Art”.

Welcome by European Commission

Ralph Dum (AT)

Ralph Dum, Senior Expert at the European Commission, Physicist, Initiator of S+T+ARTS, welcomes the participants of the conference.

Biography

Geraldine de Bastion (GB/DE) is a British/German political scientist with over 18 years of experience working with net activists, governments, startups and non-governmental organisations around the world. Her research and work focuses on digitalisation, innovation, and human rights. She is a co-founder and CEO of the consulting firm Konnektiv (2013). Konnektiv advises a wide variety of clients on digital transformation, including the German Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (BMAS), the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), and the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ).Geraldine is also the founder of the Global Innovation Gathering (GIG), a global network of grassroots innovators, social enterprises, makerspaces and innovation forges. In 2018, she scripted and hosted the Arte documentary “Digital Africa,” which captures many of the innovators activities in the GIG network. Since 2012, she has been part of the curatorial team for the re:publica, Europe’s largest conference on the topic of the internet and society, and regularly organizes and curates events in the field of politics and digitization. In 2018 she organized the first re:publica in Accra, Ghana with over 2000 participants and over 260 speakers from across Africa. Geraldine has been a member of the BMBF Zukunftskreis since 2019. Furthermore, she has been named by the City of Berlin as a member of the City Lab Advisory Board and a member of the Smart City Strategy Advisory Board. Since 2021, Geraldine is also a part of the Development Service and Humanitarian Aid Committee for Brot für die Welt.

S+T+ARTS Day is supported by the European Project Repairing the Present which has received funding from the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology under grant agreement LC01641664.

Repairing the Present is a European project which has received funding from the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology under grant agreement LC01641664.