DEAF2012 - The Power of Things
DEAF2012 Dutch Electronic Art Festival - The Power of Things!
DEAF2012 logo
The Dutch Electronic Art Festival (DEAF) is an international and interdisciplinary biennial that focuses on art, technology and society. DEAF presents a wide range of program segments, including a large exhibition of interactive artworks and installations in the former Post Office at the Coolsingel, Rotterdam. There will be concerts, performances, seminars, workshops and an academic symposium. The festival is characterized by a thematic approach. Its aim is to bring current developments and themes around art in our technological culture to a diverse audience.
DEAF2012 Theme
In our daily lives, nonliving matter plays a crucial role in nearly everything we do, often beyond our immediate control. For example, the food we eat influences our mood and behavior; the technologies we use shape our social interactions; and climate impacts on our daily rhythms. On a more global level, modern material science, recent natural disasters and the current state of the global environment also indicate that the causal power of nonliving matter can no longer be denied. Acknowledging this ‘power of things’ not only provides new insights into many phenomena, but also changes the way we relate to the world, as we step away from our contemporary, arguably hazardous, human centered worldview. With The Power of Things as its theme, this edition of the Dutch Electronic Art Festival explores a radically different worldview: one that breaks down the categorical distinction between the living and the nonliving and attributes a vital force to both.
The theory that there is a vital force within nonliving matter has appeared at various points in history, but the idea that matter has causality and agency seems to be becoming more widespread than ever at present. “Vitalist” philosophies and materialist approaches are flourishing in philosophy and science. But art is the field where material causality exerts its strongest force. As every artist knows, the outcome of an artistic process is largely determined by the materials used. While scientific experimentation predominantly aims for a better understanding of what matter is, art explores what matter does. Knowing what matter does contributes to a greater knowledge of how things – whether foodstuffs, commodities or something else – act and what their particular propensities or tendencies are. Recognizing the power of things could even reveal how seemingly passive things have crucial impacts on social issues, political affairs and environmental problems. By embodying it in tangible works, art helps us to acknowledge this power.
Press
The clean, digital world of bits has become inextricably tied to dirty, messy old atoms … – Daniel Nye Griffiths, Forbes
Deze editie van DEAF dwingt de bezoeker stil te staan bij het feit dat ons leven is opgebouwd uit dingen. Zelfs het digitale is uiteindelijk slechts materie, (…) Daar ligt de kracht van de tentoonstelling, in het gebruik van schoonheid om mensen te verleiden beter naar dingen te kijken. – Pim Verlaek, Metropolis M
Deze intrigerende expositie onthult dat het verschil tussen levende organismen en materie minder groot is dan we vaak denken... – Jeroen Junte, de Volkskrant
DEAF 2012 is produced in collaboration with V2_, Rotterdamse Schouwburg, REWIRE, WORM, De Gouvernestraat, Virtueel Platform, Todays Art, CBK.
Festival Photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/deaf2012/
More information about this event…
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The newest ePublication launched by V2_, with editors Chris Salter and Harry Smoak, during DEAF2012.
Panel Discussion and Beyond Data Book Presentation, during DEAF2012.
Win an artist-in-residence at V2_! Pitch your project! During DEAF2012.
DEAF2014 Dutch Electronic Art Festival - The Progress Trap.
A panel focusing on a crisis that deeply affects the production of art, during DEAF2012.
Palm Top Theater will be launched on the global market late this summer and on this special occasion we would like to show you the prototype and explain how you can become part of the producer community. You are invited by Alex Adriaansens, Tom ...
A book presentation with editors Boris Debackere and Robrecht Vanderbeeken, during DEAF2012.
Get to know media labs from the Netherlands, hosted by Virtueel Platform, during DEAF2012.
Planet M is a brand-new mobile infrastructure and laboratory for media art and digital culture, which hosts installations, workshops and presentations, during DEAF2012.
A performance music night with Lower Dens and TokTek, Carter Tanton and Afrobot.
DEAF & REWIRE present a night full of cutting-edge club music and experimental beats at DEAF 2012. The program is built around experimental rhythms and bass driven dance music. Kuedo Ital Tek, Kangding Ray and Torus, amongst others, will perform ...
V2_'s 30 year birthday party during DEAF2012 with Jimmy Edgar and a line-up of fantastic performers.
SymbioticA is an Australian research laboratory, enabling artists and researchers to engage in wet biology practices in a biological science department.
The People Speak is a London-based studio that creates tools to help the world to take itself over. Its projects all have one thing in common: they get people to talk, participate and engage creatively. It took place during DEAF2012.
A bundle of events will focus on the integration of protocell chemistry into the next generation of Philip Beesley’s "Hylozoic Ground Series." It took place during DEAF2012.
V2_ presents: "Vital Beauty," an international symposium and publication as part of the Dutch Electronic Art Festival 2012.
A conversation with curators of festivals and major events, giving an insight into the brightest spots on the cultural agenda relevant to media arts and innovation, part of DEAF2012.
During DEAF2012, with Alex Schaub, Kristi Kuusk, Mili Tharakan, and Melissa Coleman.
During DEAF2012, with Moritz Waldemeyer, Anouk Wipprecht, Bernard Foing, Mika Satomi, Francesca Rosella, and moderator Syuzi Pakhchyan.
A two day workshop where weaving and 3D printing are combined, during DEAF2012.
Discussions around utopian visions anticipated for Augmented Reality’s future, during DEAF2012.
An open meeting with the makers & players of AR, with AR Lab & TU Delft and Layar, during DEAF2012.
A two-day workshop exploring visions for the future of Augmented Reality, during DEAF2012.
In an effort to get a better grip on the notion of 'thing power,' this debate will call attention to the work of several artists and designers with the aim of discerning the power of things in action. During DEAF2012.
During DEAF2012, with Arjen Bangma, Koert van Mensvoort, Simone de Waart, and Sam Nemeth.
A workshop by Jae Rhim Lee, introducing to corpse decompiculture by learning to grow edible mushrooms on one's own discarded body tissue using simple, DIY materials at home; during DEAF2012.
With members of the Belgian collective CREW on immersive experiences and transitional spaces, during DEAF2012.
Watch That Sound is a new sound design software, designed by Jacques van de Veerdonk and V2_Lab. During DEAF2012, several composers and musicians used the tool live and presented the results.
Presented by director Wilhelm Hein, "Rohfilm" (1968) and "Materialfilm" (1976) during DEAF2012.
DEAF2012 presents a new live art project by CREW, which combines a theatrical performance and a visual experience into an immersive adventure.
The DEAF2012 PERFORMANCE kick-off on the 16th of May is all about displaying diverse and extraordinary artists.
The Power of Things: action and reaction. In this workshop, students produce a 1 minute short film using the theme of the exhibition, part of the Education program during DEAF2012.
The workshops VIBROBOTS and Electronic Jewelry are part of the education program of DEAF2012, in collaboration with NIMk and Kristina Andersen.
The DEAF2012 Exhibition Tour is designed for students (school and university), and provide an insight into the technical and artistic aspects of the works in the exhibition; part of the Education program.
Interview (Dutch) with Michel van Dartel for the DEAF2012 blog, by John de Weerd.
"Vital Beauty: Reclaiming Aesthetics in the Tangle of Technology and Nature" focuses on the question of how the age-old notion of beauty can have a meaning fit for the 21st century.
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