happy to share it with you
///
EARTH LAB: co-production by the Polytechnic Museum and Ars Electronica Center
The Polytechnic Museum in Moscow, Russia, and Ars Electronica Center with the
participation of SilaSveta studio, present the project EARTH LAB—an exhibition
of science, art, and technology experiments addressing the key issues of the
modern life on our planet. Visitors are welcome to act as researchers and
travelers on a journey of discovery along a parcours consisting of infographic
sequences and experimental arrays, many of them interactive. The exhibition
will run from June 22 - September 25, 2016 at the former Red October chocolate
factory in Moscow.
EARTH LAB, a laboratory of a somewhat different
Actually, a laboratory isn’t usually open to the public. It’s a site where the
specialized knowledge is produced and experiments run. These experiments aren’t
always successful, and the motives and interests behind such trials are
tremendously diverse. Nevertheless, all such research activities have one thing
in common: their objective is engendering new insights.
EARTH LAB conceives of Planet Earth itself as a laboratory in which every
available square meter is dedicated to research on a broad spectrum of topics.
What sort of noise does the Earth make, how does its “pulse” sound, and why is
it revolving slower and slower? Might artificial leaves counteract the
increasing pollution of our air, and could flies be the garbage-busters of the
future? And speaking of flies: Why aren’t we snacking on insect bars now that
nutritional as well as environmental considerations suggest that this is the
way to go. And in light of the fact that the number of cells that make up the
human body is only a tenth of the number of bacteria in and on it, than is it
perhaps the case that microorganisms are what ultimately govern the human
species? There are so many questions to answer as we go about advancing our
basic understanding of processes at work on the Blue Planet.
Indispensable for such understanding are unconventional new (thought)
experiments. And who could be better suited to taking leave of well-trodden
paths than artists, who work on concrete solutions to problems but also call
the R&D enterprise itself into question and thereby shed light on why we know
so much about some things and so very little—or even virtually nothing—about
others.
Participating artists are ART SAT (JP), ::vtol:: (RU), Búi Bj. Aðalsteinsson
(IS), Sonja Bäumel (AT), Massoud Hassani (AF/NL), Cornelia Hesse-Honegger (CH),
Dmitry Bulatov and Alexey Chebykin (RU), Julian P. Melchiorri (IT/UK), Kono
Michinari / Takayuki Hoshi / Yasuaki Kakehi (JP), Yulia Glukhova (RU), Ursula
Neugebauer (DE), Leo Peschta (AT), Finnbogi Pétursson (IS), Vadim Kolosov (RU),
Shinseungback Kimyonghun (HK) and Marek Straszak (PL). The exhibits also
include projects created under the auspices of the European Space Agency (ESA)
and Ars Electronica Linz (AEC).
Curators of the exhibition— Manuela Naveau (Ars Electronica Center, AU) and
Natalia Fuchs (Polytechnic Museum, RU), will introduce a wide range of issues
engaging interest of contemporary artists, as well as scientists, and
technology developers. An additional section of the exhibition will be
dedicated to Russian artists – participants, winners and nominees of Prix Ars
Electronica of various years.
Natalia Fuchs on the collaboration with Ars Electronica: “We have come a long
way to begin this partnership with the Ars Electronica Center, and I am very
glad that it was the Polytechnic Museum that succeeded in reaching strategic
agreement. We are knit together by the ideas of public education, science and
technology communication, as well as the purpose of creating a platform for
free thought and experimentation not only for professionals, but for all
people, visitors of our exhibitions, lectures, and special events. In the
context of the EARTH LAB project, I feel deeply attached to its idea of
rethinking our planet as a laboratory in a creative way, and also to the
artists whose works were selected for the exhibition”.
Manuela Naveau, curator of the exhibition on the part of Ars Electronica, also
recognizes the significance of the partnership with the Polytechnic Museum:
“The Polytechnic Museum has teamed up with the Ars Electronica Center in the
project EARTH LAB in order to closely investigate the phenomenon of
technological culture and the impact of the alliance between art and technology
on the future of our planet. What are the challenges we meet in our lives and
in the interaction between the modern man and the resources of the Earth? How
much do we really know about our planet? Nowadays, the artists are almost
permanent actors of innovations along with scientists and technologists. We
suggest our audience to become involved with this process and create their own
experience of scientific, technological, and art experimentation, and its
purpose for the modern society”.
The exhibition is to be complemented with an intensive parallel programme
co-curated by Alexey Shcherbina (MIGZ Festival of Modern Music and Media Art)
packed with lectures, workshops, meet-the-artist sessions, performances,
concerts, video screenings featuring international winners of Prix Ars
Electronica represented in the exhibition’s main section, as well as Russian
artists. Alexey says: “In recent years, the Polytechnic Museum has created a
new community of creative intellectuals, scientists, engineers, software
developers, and other technology professionals. Collaboration of these
outstanding characters builds up the Russian section of the project between the
Polytechnic Museum and the Ars Electronica Center in Moscow, and the project
itself is certainly a major step towards integration into the global community”.
Exhibition dates: June 22–September 25
Venue: Red October, 2 Bersenevsky lane, bldg. 1
See details: http://export.aec.at/earthlab/
--
My warmest regards from Moscow,
Natalia Fuchs / Наталья Фукс
Interdisciplinary Projects Curator / Куратор
Polytechnic Museum, Moscow, Russia
Cell: +79104320152
Email: [email protected]; [email protected]
Web: http://www.polymus.ru
_______________________________________________
NetBehaviour mailing list
[email protected]
http://www.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netbehaviour
