Próximos Encuentros Teóricos
MIE, 07 JUL 2010 - MIE, 30 JUN 2010
On-line summer courses UOC-LABoral Centro de Arte y Creación Industrial
Introducción
SEMINAR PLAGUES, MONSTER, AND CHIMERAS: ART, BIOLOGY AND TECHNOLOGY
Lecturers: Jens Hauser, Monica Bello, Pau Alsina, Raquel Renno
Marta de Menezes. Decon
This course examines the relationship between art and life sciences through the fantasies associated with the dreams of transforming or modifying nature and the living, specifically through the fear of plagues, the fascination with the creation of monsters or the endeavour to conjure up chimeras.
If the history of humankind is dotted with references to plagues, monsters and chimeras in the popular imaginary, at the current moment in time we find a growing number of artists using plants, cells, genes and other biological materials in and for their creations. Practitioners creating eco-installations in the environment and alterations in the landscape to remind us of the importance of our surrounding environment. From a humanist approach, they all contribute to the key issues of recent decades, such as how we construct ourselves as subjects in our techno-scientific society.
Art has always played a hinge role in the change of perception of our environment. Art’s relationship with science leads to practices looking to impinge on the social, ethical and epistemological domains of contemporaneity. Nowadays, divesting life sciences of their practical function and recontextualising them in aesthetic forms, we are exploring the frontiers between nature and art.
Jens Hauser is a Paris based art curator, writer, cultural journalist and video maker who’s work focuses on the interactions between art and technology, trans-genre and contextual aesthetics. He is currently a Research Associate at the Institute for Media Studies at Ruhr University, Bochum, and has been a guest lecturer at various international institutions. Hauser has organized L’Art Biotech (2003), a show on biotechnological art at the National Arts and Culture Centre Le Lieu Unique in Nantes, Still, Living (2007) at the Biennale of Electronic Arts in Perth, sk-interfaces (2008) at FACT, as part of the programme of Liverpool's year as the European Capital of Culture, and co-curated the Article Biennale in Stavanger (also European Capital of Culture 2008). In 2005 Hauser received the Fund for Arts Research Grant from the American Center Foundation. Hauser is also a director of creative radio pieces, sound environments and documentary films. In 1992 he was a founding collaborator of the European cultural television channel ARTE and regularly contributes to its programmes.
Mónica Bello is Head of Education of LABoral Centro de Arte since 2008. Before she participated in different curatorial projects mainly on the art, science and technology field. She is co-founder of CAPSULA, a curatorial and research project which iniciated bioart related activities in Spain as the Bioart seminar, Tissue Culture and Art workshop of SymbioticA and VivoArts by Adam Zaretsky at CASM, Barcelona. She co-organized seminars and courses on technoscientific culture inviting reknowed artists and thinkers as Eugene Thacker, Natalie Jeremijenko, Critical Art Ensemble, and many others. She curated the web project Res-qualia, art, science and evolution of conciousness. She curates Biorama, a biannual event, in collaboration with DRU (Digital Research Unit) of University of Huddersfield, Yorkshire, UK. Since 2006 she is member of the board of VIDA, the art and artificial life competition, organized by Fundación Telefónica, Madrid.
Raquel Rennó is a doctor in Communication and Semiotics from the Pontifícia Universidade Católica, Sao Paulo. A postdoctoral researcher at the Dept of Electrical Engineering at Universidade Mackenzie/CAPES, researcher at ICA (Institut Català D´Antropologia) and a member of International Center for Info Ethics (ICIE, ZKM, Karlsruhe) and also of the scientific committee of FILE (Festival de Linguagem Eletrônica, Brazil).
Pau Alsina is a Doctor in Aesthetics and Philosophy of Culture from the University of Barcelona, professor of Arts and Humanities at UOC and Director of Artnodes (art, science and technology magazine). Researcher in the GRECS group into culture, technology and society, as well as of R&D project “Art, Aesthetics and New Media” at the Internet Interdisciplinary Institute – IN3. He has recently curated, in collaboration with Josep Perelló and Irma Vila, the ongoing exhibition “Culturas del cambio; átomos sociales y vidas electrónicas” at Arts Santa Mónica (Barcelona).
SEMINAR CURATING AND PRESERVATION OF DIGITAL ART
Lecturers: Benjamin Weil, Gustavo Valera, Pau Alsina, Pau Waelder
Feedback. General view
This course casts a critical gaze on the changes and transformations that have taken place in the practices of curating, presentation and preservation of art projects using information and communication technologies. It does so within an interdisciplinary context while connecting it with the great debates taking place internationally in the realms of the arts, humanities, communication and social sciences.
Throughout its duration, the course will supply theoretical, practical and methodological tools which will help examine the processes of presentation, documentation and conservation of digital artworks, focussing on current trends while at once emplacing them in a wider historical perspective.
To this end, we will be taking four complementary and interrelated approaches: firstly, examining seminal exhibitions that have taken place in this sphere; secondly, exploring the role played by festivals and institutions in the promotion of digital art; thirdly, analysing new models of curating; and finally, focussing on current research with a view to determining the most appropriate ways of documenting and preserving expressions of art predicated on new technologies.
Benjamin Weil is chielf curator of LABoral Centro de Arte. In the past he was Director of new media at Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) from London. He was Media art curator ofSan Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMoMA) and Eyebeam Art + Technology Center in New York.
Gustavo Valera is Techinical manager of LABoral Centro de Arte. He is systems engineer and expert on Process control by University of Andes, Venezuela. Until 2008 he was part of the team of Intermediae and technical director of the programme of art and technology of Medialab-Prado Madrid.
Pau Waelder is an art critic, curator and researcher. With a degree in History of Art from the University of Barcelona, he is currently preparing his doctoral thesis on digital art and culture. He has curated various contemporary art and media art exhibitions, and has coordinated conferences and given postgraduate courses on digital art and culture. At present, he is the editor of the media art section of the contemporary art journal art.es.
http://www.uoc.edu/uvv
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