Fieldwork

 
 
 
 

Overview of exhibitions

Campus: The Campus exhibit showcases work by artists that are ‘associated with an international higher-education institution whose curriculum takes an innovative approach to teaching media art and media culture’ ⁷. This year, 57 such institutions were involved ⁸ from all over the world. Some work focused on digital privacy issues, neural networks and AI.  However, of interest to this research were works that directly worked with environmental issues such as the anthropocene, and that questioned the society/nature relationship. You can read the analysis of these works by clicking on the Campus page below.

European Platform for Digital Humanism: This exhibit showcases projects from a number of European collaborations in the area of digital humanities. This platform asks questions about the ‘European way into the digital society’ ⁹. The exhibit focuses on areas of ‘data capitalism’, enquiring if ‘data humanism’ is a preferred way to be competitive. It asks ‘Couldn’t applications of digital technology oriented towards human needs and established social conventions, which respect the autonomy of users over their data, be just this competitive advantage?’. While the focus on this exhibition is not specifically environmental, there works that explored relationships between society and nature. Read more about those works on the Digital Humanism page below.

Human Limitations – Limited Humanity: The Ars Electronica catalogue describes how ‘at its core, the exhibition … revolves around the relationship between humanity and the environment, and our limitations therein’ ¹⁰. It also asks ‘what socio-ethical obligations arise from our present technologies and our ever-increasing interaction with nature?’. The exhibition in its concept  acknowledges an intensification in the interactions with nature, rather than presenting a view of nature that is remote and separate. A representative sample of works from this exhibition can be read by clicking on the Human Limitations page below.

Shared Habitats: The Shared Habitats exhibition took place in the University of Art and Design venue. Sixteen projects were exhibited at this venue, with a focus on ‘the role of organisms within their environment, the effects humans have on their living spaces, interactions between human and non-human beings, and the relationships between humans and machines’ ¹¹. This exhibit provides a showcase of effective engagement with matters of environmental concern. Several of the most salient works are discussed in the Shared Habitats page, available below. The website http://shared-habitats.eu/ also provides information about the exhibition.

U><N<>I<<T>>A: This exhibition took place in the Atelierhaus Salzamit, and showcased a body of work by artists Station Rose. The exhibition ‘shows the already existing deep interweaving of these seemingly independent levels and forms of life’ ¹²., i.e. those of the urban, natural and augmented. Therefore, it was an opportunity to view how these experienced artists (working with digital art since 1988) perceived this interrelationship. While the exhibition was not thematically concerned with environmental issues, it showcased the role of new and emerging media technologies to engage audiences. The work can be viewed by clicking on the Unita link below.

 

CAMPUS

European Platform for Digital Humanism

Human Limitations – Limited Humanity 

Shared Habitats 

U >< N<>I<<T>> A