AUTOMATA - SING THE BODY ELECTRIC was the theme of the 4th International Biennial of Digital Art. It refers to the 1985 poem by Walt Whitman I Sing the Body Electric. The exhibition takes a gentle, critical, curious look at our involvement with and responsibility for technology and its consequences. It considers our place as human beings, from our corporeality to our decisions about innovations pushed to their limits, in a society that embraces the idea of "ever further, ever stronger".
Whispers (2018) by Light SocietyELEKTRA
WHISPERS is part of Light Society's ongoing Tools for Transformation series (2016 to present), which imagines new therapeutic modalities for possible human futures. This immersive installation employs light, wind and sound to both playful and therapeutic effects.
Whispers (2018) by Light SocietyELEKTRA
Whispers (2018) by Light SocietyELEKTRA
Whispers (2018) by Light SocietyELEKTRA
Wooden Mirror by Daniel Rozin is, exactly as its name suggests, a mirror made of wood, composed of multiple pixel like facets, which change position creating a play of light and shadow. As in a real mirror, the viewer is reflected in real-time.
Wooden Mirror (2014) by Daniel RozinELEKTRA
Wooden Mirror (2014) by Daniel RozinELEKTRA
All Weʼd Ever Need is One Another (2018) by Adam BasantaELEKTRA
All Weʼd Ever Need is One Another (2018) by Adam BasantaELEKTRA
All We'd Ever Need is One Another by Adam Basanta is a mixed-media installation that creates images autonomously by self-generating scanning techniques. An art-factory that operates independently of human input.
Substances of Human Origin (2015) by Aleksandra DomanovićELEKTRA
Substances of Human Origin (2015) by Aleksandra Domanović is inspired by the hand of Belgrade, the first artificial hand invented by one of Yugoslavia's internet pioneers, Rajko Tomović.
Like ships in the night (2018) by Caroline MonnetELEKTRA
Like Ships in the Night by Caroline Monnet is a video projection and installation based on a twenty-two-day journey across the Atlantic Ocean. The artist here critiques the colonial, industrial and economic interchange between Canada and Europe.
Synchronicity (2015) by Robin MeierELEKTRA
Synchronicity by Robin Meier explores the natural phenomena of fireflies that flash bioluminescent light in unison, and crickets that chorus together in a single regulated pulse. The machine in this installation looks at the coexistence of the living and the artificial.
PORTRAIT ON THE FLY (2015) by Christa Sommerer & Laurent MignonneauELEKTRA
Portrait on the Fly (2015) by Christa Sommerer and Laurent Mignonneau is an interactive installation that recreates the portrait of the person in front of the screen, where a swarm of flies build up their contour. It is a commentary on the impermanence of Selfie-Culture.
Over the air (2018) by TeamVOID and Youngkak ChoELEKTRA
The robotic installation Over the Air (2018) by TeamVoid and Youngkak Cho reads data about the air quality in different locations and draws a visualization and generates sound based on this data.
Robot (série Résistance) (2013) by Ali KazmaELEKTRA
Robot (from Resistance series) by Ali Kazma refer to processes of fabrication by exploring the conception, mastery, and displacing of human forms.
Optimization of Parenting, Part 2 (2012) by Addie WagenknechtELEKTRA
Screens 1, 2, and 3: Brain Surgeon, Clerk and Robot (2013), by Ali Kazma. Screen 4: Optimization of Parenting, Part 2 (2012) by Addie Wagenknecht.
Optimization of Parenthood, Part 2 (2012) by Addie WagenknechtELEKTRA
Optimization of Parenting, Part 2 (2012) by Addie Wagenknecht, is a commentary on the repetitive, monotonous tasks of parenthood.
TimeTraveller™ (2012) by SkawennatiELEKTRA
TimeTraveller (2012) by Skawennati is a machinima science-fiction story of a Mohawk man who lives in the year 2121, and uses technology of his time to visit important historical events.
Promotional video (2018) by ELEKTRAELEKTRA
BIAN 2018: AUTOMATA - Sing the Body Electric
Held at Arsenal Contemporary Art (Montreal), June 26 to August 5, 2018.
Guest curator: Peter Weibel, Director of the ZKM Center for Art and Media - Karlsruhe.
Co-curator: Alain Thibault, Artistic Director of ELEKTRA - BIAN.
DooEun Choi, independent curator.
All photos and video (unless otherwise mentioned): Gridspace.
Partners:
Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec
Gouvernement du Québec
Canada Council for the Arts
Conseil des arts de Montréal
Ville de Montréal
Canadian Heritage
Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Korea
Korea Arts Management Service
Pro Helvetia - Fondation suisse pour la culture
Filaction - Fonds de développement
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