Ars Electronica Festival 2016: Alchemists of our Time Exhibition [curation & framing]
2016年のフェスも無事終了。
フェスでは、Alchemists of our Time Exhibitionの企画、キュレーション、ディレクションを担当。
The Alchemists of Our Time
Hideaki Ogawa (AT/JP)
“Alchemy is a kind of philosophy: a kind of thinking that leads to a way of understanding.” Marcel Duchamp
The digital revolution has reconfigured our world in binary code and made it easier to integrate different elements beyond the boundaries of conventional concepts. Robotic cars, the Internet of Things, these are just two visible examples of radical changes we are going to experience. Digital computing is about to reach the quantum world, and from genetic engineering to synthetic biology, technologies are enhancing our ability to manipulate the fundamen- tal laws of nature. Delusion, desires, dreams, or the hopes of humankind—now people have the means to experiment even with speculative ideas, and can create extraordinary moments that we have never experienced before. If we follow Duchamp’s defi- nition, it is alchemy, a philosophy that leads to a way of understanding, that is most called for in this era. Alchemy used to be a practice derived from a mixture of art and science. The practical alchemists, where are they now?
In Ars Electronica 2016 we will set up a lab in the POSTCITY to introduce what contemporary alche- mists are actually doing. Artists, designers, scien- tists, engineers, activists and entrepreneurs, we will showcase their works and try to reveal their empirical approaches to developing our future through unique and unorthodox methods.
How do we confront the new concept of life in the era of genetic engineering? How is AI going to be externalized in our physical world? When we think of the advance of robotics and biotechnology, how can we redefine the notion of the Homunculus, the creation of artificial life? What kind of rituals and spiritualities do we need to prepare ourselves for the transition? How will biological information alter forms of communication? What happens if science enables us to perceive with a sixth sense by augmenting body’s sensory awareness? What does immortality mean to us in the 21st century, and what if we already have the technologies that could become the elixir? Are we going to merge our physical existence with artificial technologies such as cybernetics? What is the future of food as human sustenance?
The emergence of 3D printers has extended our abil- ity to fabricate things. How far will that allow our creativity to flourish? What will the new objects or furniture look like? How do creators explore their own technique in the process, and how will their unique ideas bring us a magical experience? How will the new means of fabrication revolutionize the fashion industry? When smart textiles give us interactive clothing, how will it change the role of fashion? How do we treat them as our second skin? And what kinds of collaboration are going on in this field of art and industry?
The basic infrastructure to sustain daily lives in the new generation will have to be fundamentally remodeled. What is a better energy system in the future? How can we satisfy both sustainability and resilience? What will the role of public space be? How will technologies change the definition of architecture when it comes to be programmable, sensible, and even transformable buildings? What is the style of community in a world of pervasive connectivity? What should be governed and con- trolled in that society, and what should not be? And, when all of these remarkable technologies are readily available, what will it eventually mean for the whole society?
Humans developed various forms of ‘codes’ when they created artifacts. ‘Coding’ is an activity to create a medium that can convey ideas and func- tionalities. Long before the invention of computers, humans crafted analog code, such as ‘modeling’ out of clay, ‘carving’ out of wood, or ‘building’ architec- ture. The emergence of computers introduced us a new code for computers: digital coding. And code is now expanding its limits to coding for matter: cod- ing for ‘growing’ biological cells, ‘catalyzing’ specific chemical reactions, or ‘animating’ living organisms. In 2003, our theme for the Festival Ars Electron- ica was CODE—The Language of Our Time, which now gives us very insightful contrast to this year’s theme: RADICAL ATOMS and the alchemists of our time. We can see a semantic transition from ‘language’ to ‘alchemy’, which suggests that in 2016 code is not just a language to control some- thing behind black screens, but a series of dynamic transitional activities to be undertaken by artists and innovators. These are the living alchemists, who keep seeking artistic/scientific discoveries in an unknown world, forging creative relationships across the various disciplines, and trying to hammer out a better future.
Along with the accelerated development of tech- nology, humans must undertake certain risks and uncertainties. The work of the living alchemists will blaze a pathway to understanding the future.
フェスでは、Alchemists of our Time Exhibitionの企画、キュレーション、ディレクションを担当。
The Alchemists of Our Time
Hideaki Ogawa (AT/JP)
“Alchemy is a kind of philosophy: a kind of thinking that leads to a way of understanding.” Marcel Duchamp
The digital revolution has reconfigured our world in binary code and made it easier to integrate different elements beyond the boundaries of conventional concepts. Robotic cars, the Internet of Things, these are just two visible examples of radical changes we are going to experience. Digital computing is about to reach the quantum world, and from genetic engineering to synthetic biology, technologies are enhancing our ability to manipulate the fundamen- tal laws of nature. Delusion, desires, dreams, or the hopes of humankind—now people have the means to experiment even with speculative ideas, and can create extraordinary moments that we have never experienced before. If we follow Duchamp’s defi- nition, it is alchemy, a philosophy that leads to a way of understanding, that is most called for in this era. Alchemy used to be a practice derived from a mixture of art and science. The practical alchemists, where are they now?
In Ars Electronica 2016 we will set up a lab in the POSTCITY to introduce what contemporary alche- mists are actually doing. Artists, designers, scien- tists, engineers, activists and entrepreneurs, we will showcase their works and try to reveal their empirical approaches to developing our future through unique and unorthodox methods.
How do we confront the new concept of life in the era of genetic engineering? How is AI going to be externalized in our physical world? When we think of the advance of robotics and biotechnology, how can we redefine the notion of the Homunculus, the creation of artificial life? What kind of rituals and spiritualities do we need to prepare ourselves for the transition? How will biological information alter forms of communication? What happens if science enables us to perceive with a sixth sense by augmenting body’s sensory awareness? What does immortality mean to us in the 21st century, and what if we already have the technologies that could become the elixir? Are we going to merge our physical existence with artificial technologies such as cybernetics? What is the future of food as human sustenance?
The emergence of 3D printers has extended our abil- ity to fabricate things. How far will that allow our creativity to flourish? What will the new objects or furniture look like? How do creators explore their own technique in the process, and how will their unique ideas bring us a magical experience? How will the new means of fabrication revolutionize the fashion industry? When smart textiles give us interactive clothing, how will it change the role of fashion? How do we treat them as our second skin? And what kinds of collaboration are going on in this field of art and industry?
The basic infrastructure to sustain daily lives in the new generation will have to be fundamentally remodeled. What is a better energy system in the future? How can we satisfy both sustainability and resilience? What will the role of public space be? How will technologies change the definition of architecture when it comes to be programmable, sensible, and even transformable buildings? What is the style of community in a world of pervasive connectivity? What should be governed and con- trolled in that society, and what should not be? And, when all of these remarkable technologies are readily available, what will it eventually mean for the whole society?
Humans developed various forms of ‘codes’ when they created artifacts. ‘Coding’ is an activity to create a medium that can convey ideas and func- tionalities. Long before the invention of computers, humans crafted analog code, such as ‘modeling’ out of clay, ‘carving’ out of wood, or ‘building’ architec- ture. The emergence of computers introduced us a new code for computers: digital coding. And code is now expanding its limits to coding for matter: cod- ing for ‘growing’ biological cells, ‘catalyzing’ specific chemical reactions, or ‘animating’ living organisms. In 2003, our theme for the Festival Ars Electron- ica was CODE—The Language of Our Time, which now gives us very insightful contrast to this year’s theme: RADICAL ATOMS and the alchemists of our time. We can see a semantic transition from ‘language’ to ‘alchemy’, which suggests that in 2016 code is not just a language to control some- thing behind black screens, but a series of dynamic transitional activities to be undertaken by artists and innovators. These are the living alchemists, who keep seeking artistic/scientific discoveries in an unknown world, forging creative relationships across the various disciplines, and trying to hammer out a better future.
Along with the accelerated development of tech- nology, humans must undertake certain risks and uncertainties. The work of the living alchemists will blaze a pathway to understanding the future.
ARS ELECTRONICA in the KNOWLEDGE CAPITAL Vol.06 [curation & framing]
詳細情報：https://kc-i.jp/activity/arselectronica/vol06/
(Ars Electronica in the Knowledge Capital Program オフィシャルホームページより)
Ars Electronica Parade@うめきたフェスティバル [curation & framing]
大阪グランフロントのフェスティバル、うめきたフェスティバルの企画で、アルスエレクトロニカパレードを行います。クワクボリョウタさん、ノガミカツキさん、Eric Siuさん、Ars Electronica Futurelabの組み合わせのミニ展示、パレード・パフォーマンスでグランフロントを刺激します。
（うめきた未来ラボオフィシャルページより）
（うめきた未来ラボオフィシャルページより）
POST CITY @ Shibuya 「もし、渋谷のスクランブル交差点が「広場」になったら？」 [curation & framing]
ポップアップ アルスエレクトロニカ
POST CITY @ Shibuya
「もし、渋谷のスクランブル交差点が「広場」になったら？」
開催日時 2016年3月19日（土）
第一部 9:30～13:15、第二部 15:00～21:00
開催場所
第一部 Wired TOKYO 1999
第二部 FabCafe TOKYO
詳細情報はこちら（第一部は事前登録が必要です）
http://www.future-catalysts.com/specials/001/
POST CITY @ Shibuya
「もし、渋谷のスクランブル交差点が「広場」になったら？」
開催日時 2016年3月19日（土）
第一部 9:30～13:15、第二部 15:00～21:00
開催場所
第一部 Wired TOKYO 1999
第二部 FabCafe TOKYO
詳細情報はこちら（第一部は事前登録が必要です）
http://www.future-catalysts.com/specials/001/
FREE SOUND 解き放たれるオト展 (Ars Electronica in the Knowledge Capital vol.5) [curation & framing]
詳細情報：https://kc-i.jp/arsinkc/vol5/
(Ars Electronica in the Knowledge Capital Program オフィシャルホームページより)
Prix Ars Electronica Selection (Takamatsu Media Art Festival) [curation & framing]
Prix Ars Electronicaの新しい外部展示シリーズ、プリ・アルスエレクトロニカ・セレクション。歴代受賞者たちを、あるテーマをもとに繋ぐその第一弾を高松メディアアートフェスティバルで実施しました。アート、テクノロジー、社会の探求をテーマに、STELARC(Hybrid Art 2010)、ALEX VERHAEST(Computer Animation 2015)、赤松音呂（Sound Art 2015）の３名を招聘し、高松、玉藻公園／披雲閣という日本の伝統的な建築環境に作品を展開しました。
Ars Electronica Festival 2015 Post City [curation & framing]
フェスティバル無事終了！ご協力頂いた全ての皆さまに感謝致します。
今年は「Post Cityを創る」が仕事。
使われなくなった郵便の集積センターに架空の街「Post City」を生み出して、未来のモビリティ、仕事、市民、レジリエンスを中心テーマに様々な未来のアイデア、ストラテジー、プロトタイプ、ツールをキュレーションしました。
シリアからの難民がオーストリアにも毎日押し寄せる中、Post Cityの会場を赤十字社に引き渡すことが決定。Post City自体が、アートプロジェクトとして大きな投げかけになるとともに、現実への解決策となったことも感慨深く感じます。
近年の最大規模となったフェスティバル全体の雰囲気は、こちらからどうぞ。
http://www.aec.at/feature/en/festival2015/
今年は「Post Cityを創る」が仕事。
使われなくなった郵便の集積センターに架空の街「Post City」を生み出して、未来のモビリティ、仕事、市民、レジリエンスを中心テーマに様々な未来のアイデア、ストラテジー、プロトタイプ、ツールをキュレーションしました。
シリアからの難民がオーストリアにも毎日押し寄せる中、Post Cityの会場を赤十字社に引き渡すことが決定。Post City自体が、アートプロジェクトとして大きな投げかけになるとともに、現実への解決策となったことも感慨深く感じます。
近年の最大規模となったフェスティバル全体の雰囲気は、こちらからどうぞ。
http://www.aec.at/feature/en/festival2015/
ROBOTINITY ロボットらしさとはなんだろう展 (Ars Electronica in the Knowledge Capital vol.4) [curation & framing]
詳細情報：http://kc-i.jp/arsinkc/robotinity2015/
(Ars Electronica in the Knowledge Capital Program オフィシャルホームページより)
Future Innovators Summit 2015 Open Call [curation & framing]
今年もやります、FIS (Future Innovators Summit)。
今年のテーマは: Post City Kit。
これからの街に向けた、アイデア、戦略、ツール、プロトタイプをフェスティバル期間中に生み出します。Post City Kitにご興味ある方は是非挑戦してみてください。
オープンコール詳細情報はこちら
http://www.aec.at/postcity/en/postcitykit/
