ARTIST TALKS
Stelarc
CIRCULATING, FRACTAL AND PHANTOM FLESH
Online artist talk
15. 7. 2023, 15:30
Stone Bell House, Prague City Gallery, Staroměstské sq. 13,
How does the constant shifting between the offline and online worlds and new technologies change our perception of embodiment? Australian artist Stelarc, a pioneer in utilizing new technologies, will comment on the concept of embodiment presented by the digital world and explore the significance of presence and absence in the digital realm during his online Artist Talk.
Stelarc examines alternative anatomical architectures in his projects, including performances such as acting with a third hand, a sculpture of a stomach, or a robot with six legs. In the project Fractal Flesh, his body was choreographed remotely through muscle stimulation. In 2006, he constructed a ring on his hand. In the game Re-Wired / Re-Mixed (2016), for five days and six hours daily, he could only see through someone's eyes in London and hear through someone's ears in New York, but anyone, anywhere in the world, had access to his right hand and could control it remotely.
Guy Bar-Amotz & Armando Rotondi
R.U.R.
Artist talk
15. 7. 2023, 19:00
Theatre X10, Charvátová 39, Prague 1
Automatism and freedom; participation in civil society; spontaneity and social architecture - these are the concerns that artist Guy Bar-Amotz brings to a new unconventional adaptation of R.U.R. – the play (1920) that coined the term ‘robot’. Guy’s distinctive approach to art is integrated into this piece developed in collaboration with theatre maker, writer, playwright, academic and journalist from Italy Armando Rotondi and computer scientist Piers O’Hanlon through performers wearing mech-animated talking robot masks. Live motion comes into imaginative fusion with living sculpture, spatial sound, son-et-lumière stagecraft and interactive programming.
Since 1996, Israeli-born/London-based artist Guy Bar-Amotz (1967) has been experimenting with complex systems featuring intertwined computing systems, installations, performance, sculpture and sound, tackling different aspects of participation and building a dialogue between artists, performers and audiences. Ever since his early works, his intention has been the physical formation of data, ideology and concepts. His latest robot installations focus on the given and existing meanings. The robots run pre-written scripts about their own existence. They are a reflection or even repetition of humans. They have the potential of being used as replacement humans. The artist subverts the meaning and even destroys the reality of the context in which they have been made, releasing the robots from their ties. The same physical ties that restrain us, humans, in our everyday existence.
Armando Rotondi is a playwright, director and practitioner whose work is focused on immersive and interactive performances, combining game and artistic experiences. He was a member of Lacuna Lab, a Berlin-based collective of artists interested at the intersection between arts, science and technology. Currently, he is interested in micro-theatre, and transmedia and alternative storytelling.
He is Full Professor in Performance Theory and Story-Telling and Director of the MA Programme in Creative Performance Practice at the Institute of the Arts Barcelona and Liverpool John Mooes University. His works have been staged, produced and exhibited internationally in countries such as Italy, UK, Spain, Australia, Poland, Canada, and Hong Kong. He is currently based in Spain.
JATUN RISBA, DANIELE MINNS, O. PEN BE
Be-coming tree
Artist talk
23. 7. 2023, 20:00
Kampus Hybernská, Hybernská 4, Prague 1
Be-coming Tree is a groundbreaking project that merges art, technology, and ecological consciousness. It challenges hierarchical structures and promotes inclusivity, cooperation, and sustainability in art. The project began with Jatun Risba's powerful solo performance on an uprooted tree in Slovenia, symbolizing resilience and transformation. Currently, it connects artists from different countries who simultaneously engage with local trees on various continents, actively participating in the project.
Be-coming Tree is a collaborative project by three artists who believe that art and shared creativity are a force for social change, and that technology can open new non-hierarchical ways of being. The project aims to increase eco-awareness, sustainability, and global interconnectedness. They use technology in service of life to create more inclusive, cooperative, and sustainable structures for art in reciprocal relationship with the environment.
Jatun Risba is a transmedia artist who explores reciprocal relationships between species and the rights to pleasure in her work.
Daniele Minns is a multimedia artist who interprets human movement using wearable sound technology.
O.Pen Be is a dance therapist who incorporates the theme of her relational somatic work into her video creations.
Peter Bill
7 SURVIVORS - HIBAKUJUMOKU
Artist talk
23. 7. 2023, 19:00
Kampus Hybernská, Hybernská 4, Prague 1
At Re-connect Art 2023 Peter Bill is presenting short documentary time-lapse video 7 Survivors- Hibakujumoku ( 2016-18).
7 Survivors- Hibakujumoku is a video meditation with 7 survivor trees from the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in August 6th, 1945. These trees were burnt, but not destroyed. The artist has been visiting Japan for 4 years and was amazed, how in the denuded metropolis, the Hibakujumoku brought out new growth in the following years and survive today. These trees are witnesses of critical episodes of our history. By basking in the glow of the light as it processes through the time-lapse we can gain resilience as we see the strength and endurance of the trees. We can also receive some humility thinking of the time-scale that some of these trees have lived.The author calls to remember these historical facts in order to prevent future use of technology for destruction. Especially in the time of rapid evolution of the AI and consequently transhuman future we need to take responsibility and keep the technology from being used with harmful consequences. Risks which we are facing as a global civilization are to be carefully considered.The trees are witness to the speed with which humankind may destroy. Sit down beside these trees and feel their destruction and revival.
While the trees survive, they bear the scars of the A-Bomb, in their growth patterns and their damaged DNA.
Peter Bill is an Artist, Activist and Educator. He believes that Art must be realized on the streets, as an agent of change and progress. He has been involved with large scale video projections, documentary films, animations, guerrilla art actions, and community building since the 90s. His practice emerges from painting, which since learning the Photoshop, he has transcended into digital media with intention of connecting under-represented communities with digital tools to amplify their voices.
Peter's animations and short films attempt to critique the bathetic apocalyptic culture we live in: the false utopia of the California landscape, the contested landscape of New Mexico, and documenting torn Bosnia in the post-war state, among other subjects.
His mural and documentary film work he has balanced a certain transcendentalism with a didactic and activistic approach involving the local community in the conception and realization of his projects.
Peter's award winning paint and video landscapes have shown in such diverse venues as The Kitchen(NYC), the Henry Art Gallery(Seattle), FILE Festival(São Paulo, Brazil), and other international venues. He envisioned and realized the first time-lapse film festival in North America, the Gila Timelapse Film Festival and has curated and directed shows on three continents.
By intervening the public space Peter wants on one hand to inspire and provoke. On the other hand, through his art he tends to create a moment of quietude, contemplation and mediate opinion-changing insight so necessary to make today's complicated, granular world a better place.
Artibiom
IF YOU HXD ANIMAL SKIN
Artist talk
23. 7. 2023, 19:30
Kampus Hybernská, Hybernská 4, Prague 1
The video "If You Hxd Animal Skin" was originally created for the exhibition "Symbiosis," curated by the Artbiom association (Tereza Pinkasová, Tomáš Samek, Tereza Vydrová, with Tereza Nováková as the main curator) at the Gallery of Critics, from June 6 to June 25, 2023. Through generated materials (text and video) and voice recordings, we explored the question of the forms of symbiosis between humans and superhuman artificial intelligence.
In the first part of the video, a conversation takes place between humans and artificial intelligence, delving into the relationship between machines and humans, as well as the position of artificial intelligence in the broader ecology of relationships. In the second part, we worked with the generated curatorial concept for an ecologically oriented exhibition. We aimed to critically reflect on communication with the superhuman through a flexible network of speculative thinking about the various forms the relationship between humans and the superhuman can take.
.png)
The artwork was created by several members of the Artbiom association, which primarily focuses on the database of environmental art, artbiom.cz, aiming to connect female artists, male artists, initiatives, and others to create a space for inspiration, education, and collaboration across disciplines. Those who collaborated symbiotically on the artwork include: Tomáš Samek (a student of new media at FF UK, who writes philosophical texts and is inspired by posthumanism, philosophy of monstrosity, queer theories, and feminisms), Tereza Pinkasová (who studied aesthetics and is particularly interested in visual art and contemporary design), Jakub Vaněk (a student of literary comparativistics, focusing on poetry, theater, and sound), and Tereza Vydrová (a cultural journalist and essayist).
DEBATES
Y. Golshani, S. Sanaeinezhad and M. Khademi
INVISIBLE TIES
Public discussion
14. 7. 2023, 20:00
Dungeon (A)VOID Gallery, Rašín embankment, Prague 2
Iranian artists are scattered around the world, often without the possibility of returning to their homeland. The physical place and the destiny of their own nation have become the main themes of their artistic creation. Since the rise of last year's wave of resistance under the slogan "Woman, Life, Freedom," they are interconnected through the electronic fabric of social networks more than ever before.
P. Pětiletá, M. Slussareff and Š. Homfray
moderated by V. Svoboda
EVOLUTION OF MATERNITY
Public discussion
16. 7. 2023, 18:30
Piazzetta and the operating building of the National theatre, Václav Havel sq., Prague 1
Parenting and raising children represent a tremendous burden that, in our society, usually falls primarily on women. Technology helps us in various ways in this regard – it can educate, entertain, and even monitor children. However, it also brings along numerous other challenges, such as diminishing the ability to concentrate, reducing empathy, and many more. What is the potential of technology in facilitating parenting and gender equality, and what pitfalls should we be cautious of?
Guest
Petra Pětiletá is an artist and educator. Her work responds to various social issues, primarily through the medium of visual art. She studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague under Jiří David and later Veronika Bromová after his departure. She is currently completing her doctoral studies at the Faculty of Education, Charles University in Prague, specializing in Art Education. Some of the results of her research will be presented prior to the discussion as part of the performative lecture "The Sreeners." More about her work can be found here.
Michaela Slussareff is a researcher who studies the effects of technology on child development and family dynamics. She conducts national and international studies on how digital media use impacts school-age and preschool children. She is a co-founder of Hrajemesichytre.cz, a platform that offers parents curated educational gaming applications and research updates. Currently, she teaches at Charles University, specializing in technology in education, cultural institutions, and interaction design in the field of New Media Studies. She is also the founder of the Slow Tech Institute.
Šárka Homfray is a lawyer, labor rights advocate, feminist, and author of the book "Why Are We So Angry?". In her work, she addresses issues of unequal treatment, discrimination, gender aspects of law and the world of work. She also focuses on the future of work and its transformations, particularly in relation to digitalization and cyber security. She is interested in stereotypes, generalizations, and their impact on our lives. She regularly publishes in labor and professional journals as well as in Journal Referendum.
D. Malečková, M. Kučerák and B. Trnková
moderated by P. Koubský
AI AND THE FUTURE OF CREATIVITY
Public discussion
20. 7. 2023, 20:00
Theatre X10, Charvátová 39, Prague 1
Artificial intelligence is capable of writing poetry or creating artwork on our behalf, thus significantly changing the creative industry. How will artificial intelligence influence not only artistic creation but also our understanding of creativity and inventiveness, which propel humanity forward?
Guest
Dita Malečková, Mgr., Ph.D., is a philosopher and information scientist who has lectured on contemporary philosophy, visual culture, art, and new media. She has collaborated with Mgr. Jan Tyl on projects involving neural networks, including the award-winning Digital Philosopher project (AI Awards 2019) and the Digital Writer project for Czech Radio. Her interests lie in media theory, the relationship between natural and artificial, ethics of artificial intelligence, and imagination in the context of technological development.
Michal Kučerák is a curator, researcher, and lecturer. He works with TBA21-Academy and the Center for Contemporary Art DOX (Prague). He is a doctoral student at the Faculty of Fine Arts at Brno University of Technology and the author of the #DATAMAZE project (DOX, Prague, 2018-2022), an augmented exhibition concept that aims to enhance digital and data literacy through contemporary art and design projects. He is also involved in the UROBOROS festival, which focuses on socially engaged design and art.
Barbora Trnková is an artist, photographer, curator and a postgraduate student at the Faculty of Fine Arts at Brno University of Technology. In her work she focuses on formulating a shift in photography from taking photos by camera to creating cameras instead. Her dissertation examines aspects of human-inhuman communication both in the development of technology and as an accompanying phenomenon of the very process of working on a work of art in any medium. She is co-founder ScreenSaverGallery, and part of the art duo &.
H. Svatošová and J. Lenz
moderated by M. Hrehorová
BODY IS A DATA FILE
Public discussion
28. 7. 2023, 19:00
Stone Bell House, Prague City Gallery, Staroměstské sq. 13, Prague 1
How will the data about our bodies that we voluntarily collect through smartwatches, sensors, or mobile devices impact healthcare and insurance? Should we resist the collection of such sensitive data, or can it significantly benefit not only individuals but also our entire society?