With the right eyes, there are two things that are nearly ubiquitous in our urban lives: Art and technology.
More than ever, the two are coming together as artists use new methods for both creating and sharing art, as well as providing an often unspoken critique about tech's ever-growing role in our lives.
South by Southwest on Wednesday revealed a new set of experiential and innovative art showcases that will be available during the conference March 8-16. Though we haven't seen them in-person yet, the descriptions SXSW provided foreshadow some work that is both challenging and awe-inspiring.
It will include large format photographs frozen in huge ice blocks, an "ever-evolving light and sound installation" that looks at AI from a humanistic point of view and urban data poetry.
SXSW also announced a series of art-focused panel discussions, covering art and technology, the role of women in the arts and humanizing innovation.
Now, here's a look at the installations with a brief description of each taken from SXSW's latest announcement.
Artist Lisa Park is a Korean-American artist who uses biometric sensors, such as heart rate and brainwave sensors, to create intimate environments that excavate hidden emotional states such as vulnerability, intimacy and confrontation. Here, we see "Blooming," which highlights the importance of presence and physical connection in our lives. The installation, which takes the form of a life-size cherry blossom tree, responds to physical contact between two to four participants. When participants stand before the tree and hold hands or embrace, the tree will flourish; when they release, it will wither into its pre-bloomed state.
John-Paul Marin, Matt Smith, Patrick Abboud, Tea Uglow and Kirstin Sillitoe collaborated on "Belongings." It shares stories and experiences of people who left their homeland and almost everything they own, in search of a new life in Australia. The experience brings together diverse personal experiences through a single common thread: treasured possessions, with participants sharing their stories behind objects from the country of their birth that continue to hold meaning.
"EVERY THING EVERY TIME," by Naho Matsuda, transforms urban data into poetry presented on a mesmerizing, large-scale mechanical screen. It will draw on data streams generated by the many events that happen each day in Austin. Passersby can watch as poetry is written in real time and revealed on a split-flap display. The artwork investigates concepts of the “smart city”, questioning notions of privacy, use and the role data has in our lives.
"hash2ash," by panGenerator, Krzysztof Cybulski, Krzysztof Goliński and Jakub Koźniewski touches on the themes of selfie culture, and the fear of permanently losing the digital records of our lives due to technical failures, impermanence of data storage or simply because of the obsolescence of the old digital file formats. Even with such compulsive overproduction of the images of ourselves, we might end up with nothing but the blank memories of our past. Even the data on ourselves will eventually fade away...
"Apparatum," by panGenerator, which includes Krzysztof Cybulski, Krzysztof Goliński, Jakub Koźniewski, has been inspired by the heritage of the Polish Radio Experimental Studio – one of the first studios in the world producing electro-acoustic music. This installation uses analog sound generators, based on magnetic tape and optical components controlled via a graphic score composed with digital interface.
Created by Circuit Circus, "Semeion" is an ever-evolving light and sound installation exploring artificial intelligence from an aesthetic and humanistic point of view. While AI is already an integrated part of our lives, it often exists as intangible systems working behind screens. In Semeion, the AI manifests itself in several large minimalist structures that individually and collectively respond to human presence. In its abstract form it evokes the human relation through its behavior. The viewer is invited to suspend their predispositions about AI, and engage with it in an explorative, curious way.
"Arctic Passage," by Louie Palu, an award-winning photographer, will install a series of large format photographs frozen in large ice blocks on the plaza of the Harry Ransom Center at The University of Texas at Austin on Tuesday, March 12 at 10 a.m. The photographs were created in the Arctic over the course of three years while Palu was on assignment for National Geographic. The project explores the evolving situation related to the geopolitics of the Arctic, its history and climate change.
