Exhibition Introduction

• Exhibition Introduction

• Andreas Broeckmann
• Stefan Riekeles

Category:

• Introductory & Welcoming Notes

• The freezing of water is translated into sound, the decomposition process of leaves is made audible, human hairs are used as a sound source, and there are apparently bizarre Twitter discussions about art.

  ISEA2010 RUHR Exhibition presents outstanding contemporary works of international media art and the current positions of artistic entanglements with science and technology. It offers an overview of the most pressing issues and topics in media art. More than thirty international artists and artist groups urge visitors to the exhibition into new perspectives on environmental issues, questions of identity and discussions about the ever-present social-media.

  In a great response to the ISEA2010 RUHR open call, we received over a thousand entries in September 2009, from which an international jury selected the works for presentation in the exhibition. Divided between the cities of Dortmund, Duisburg and Essen, there are 29 works from 37 artists representing 16 countries in total. Most of these works will be presented in the Dortmund Museum for Art and Cultural History. The works engage with topical themes such as climate change, deconstruct identity concepts, and revel in alchemical experiments.

  A particular focus will be put on new productions from Brazil, presented as part of the ISEA2010 RUHR Latin American Forum jointly with the Sergio Motta Institute. The Sergio Motta Institute is a centre for projects and discussion on the creative use of technology and the dissemination of innovation based in Sao Paulo. Since 2000, the Sergio Motta Art and Technology Award has been recognising and encouraging Brazilian art and media works. The three Brazilian artists presented here were selected by the institute’s artistic director Giselle Beiguelman.

  The Japan Media Arts Festival and Coded Cultures festival present four works in an international cooperative project called Exchange Emergences in the Dortmunder Kunstverein. The cooperation was established during the Japan-Austria Year 2009 and focused on project cultures and their creative codes at the intersection of art, science, technology and design. The Japan Media Arts Festival is a hybrid festival focusing not only on media art, but also on current expressions in animation, manga and games. The Coded Cultures Festival, founded by 5uper.net in Vienna, is based on multinational exchange contexts and explores new artistic practices in media cultures.

  Full text (PDF) p. 7-8