FESTIVAL SUTRA/TOMORROW WORKSHOPS
November – December 2014
SUTRA/TOMORROW (Blend of Art, Technology, Diversity and Authenticity) in year 2014 presented, in the course of three days, artists, concepts and projects that explore the connection between art, science and technology through artist talks, presentations and interactive workshops. At the same time SUTRA/TOMORROW is the initiative and support of the Belgrade Youth Centre to re-launching the art & science festival in Belgrade. A city with nearly two million inhabitants, a scientific and artistic centre such as Belgrade, definitely has a need for a festival like this. Artist and projects presented were: Saša Spačal and Anil Podgornik, Mycophone Unison; Isidora Todorović, Can You Feel the Spill & DIY Games; Sanja Kojić Mladenov, Cargo East; Uroš Krčadinac, Story Maps – Cartography and Storytelling; Hrvoje Hiršl, Sphere – Euclidian Space; Incredible Bob and WoO, Peoplemeter; Vukašin Stančević, PressCyclage & Pure Data Workshop; Daina Silina, Biotricity and Fields, RIXC (Riga, Latvia); Jasna Jovićević and The Sound of Birds; Group O, Crocheting Math Group; Ana Rodić, My Digital ME.
As an accompanying program of the Festival and at the same time its extension, during November and December Dom omladine Beograda organized Soft Control workshops, with the intention to explore a hybrid connection of art and science, and to present scientific approaches to the artists and vice versa artistic experiments to the young scients.
WORKSHOPS:
Create your own mini mycophone,
workshop by Sasa Spacal and Anal Podgornik
Create your own MiniMycophone! Make a connection for communication through the underground world network! In their everyday functioning, social networks define identity and expand communication biotope in unimaginable directions. Do you want to connect with much larger networks, get past the human race, go into the real underground and go where the human ear has not yet been? Do you want to isolate the sound of mushrooms and connect with the larger organisms in the world, learn how mushrooms can replace plastics, cure people and save the world? All the secrets of our planetary underground on the importance of mushrooms in the ecosystem and their cultivation will be revealed at the workshop. You’ll be able to find your relationship with mushrooms creating your own bio hacked music box – MiniMycophone. The chance to create their own MiniMycophone got 15 participants during the last day of the Festival
Pure Data Workshop:
Presscyclage by Vukasin Stancevic
PRESSCYCLAGE uses printed media during its work to convert their content into an acoustic image and a paper roll. The production process involves a visitor as an active participant, the one who puts the selected parts of the printed media on a belt conveyed by electric engines. On its way, the belt passes underneath a webcam, which sends the picture of the current situation to a screen. At the end of the road, re-recorded images received from the web cameras, are divided into four parts, and processed again (PureData software). Each part reads the colour, which then the software classifies into three basic colours, according to the RGB scale. Some parts are used to start the rhythm, while the colours trigger different instruments. The sound pitch depends on the obtained colour saturation. After passing the last stop and the corresponding sound “score”, the paper is rolled and the rolls are pinned to the wall. PRESSCYCLAGE production line, in which a visitor affects the change of signal/information, indicates our position in relation to the information released by the mass media. The recycling process, media noise replaced by the music, hereby transfers our illusion that we have a choice of or control over information. The workshop included the introduction of Pure Data software, as well as research of printed media in Serbia among the participants.
This workshop was held on 25th and 26th of December among 20 previously selected participants.
Crocheting Math:
Fibonacci Spiral by Group O Crocheting Math
Crocheting Math Workshop explores the art of creation of the Fibonacci sequence through crocheting. Their workshops develop crocheting algorithms of geometric models inspired by Fibonacci sequence. Potential participant explores offered techniques, and then chooses whether to only draw, play with magnets, make animations or applications (open source in Processing Programming Language), develop an algorithm for a particular form of crochet or crochet on the basis of a given algorithm. The aim is to reach a clear idea of the model, calculate the value of certain functions (circumference of a series of circles/squares), and draw the model and experiment through crocheting. The Crocheting Math group decided to have some sort of “open learning” workshop where people can choose what do they want to do – make an algorithm, or crochet some that already exist, or just crochet.
Group O
The Group O was founded in 2013 as a platform for dialogue and discussion about education and an incubator for independent initiatives in the field of education. The goal of the founders was to create a space for education – to exchange ideas and experiences, to get to know each other and all those who are in some way involved with education (or are interested to get involved), and work together on the actualization of these ideas. Group O has no formal membership, but is open to all who are interested to join. Group O are Milena Životić Ilić, Ivana Djokić and Lilian Wieser. The Group is engaged in finding mathematical laws and experimenting with surface and space in the field of handicrafts – coding and decoding crochet patterns. Combining mathematical concepts, algorithms and handicrafts, their wish is to unite the area of intellectual and manual labour, not forgetting the aesthetics and values of traditional folk art creation.
These workshops were held on 6th, 13th and 14th of December and had in total around 70 participants.
Uroš Krčadinac:
Data Visualisation Workshop – How to make a story of numbers
Maps, visualization, algorithms and non-linear interfaces are not only tools, but also whole new languages. Science and technology are a new language of today that we, as J. G. Ballard said, will either learn or remain silent. The workshop deals with mapping the text into the visual, either through computer technology, or manually, or with the help of physical objects. Using the example of Synesketch, his software library for text visualization, as well as other projects involving the intertwining of literature, visual languages and modern technology, he will show some possible synesthetic directions for text visualization. In the second part of the workshop, participants will personally use these technologies, languages, and approaches, or some entirely new, that they invent or create, to visualize the texts, from poetry to the railway timetable. Uroš Krčadinac’s workshop will be conducted in December as part of the Soft Control project.
Uroš Krčadinac is an award-winning researcher in the field of new media and research assistant in the GOOD OLD AI laboratories at the Faculty of Organizational Sciences in Belgrade, Department of Software Engineering. His fields of interest include: information visualization, storytelling using data, physical visualization, emotional programming, information aesthetics, spoken languages processing, and new media art. His work examines the connections between humans and technology through a variety of media: interactive and linear, visual and textual, generative and hand-drawn. He is the author of Synesketch, the first open-source library for recognition and visualization of emotions in the text, which was presented at conferences and festivals in Europe, Canada and China. He co-authored an interactive documentary about the life of Bosnian Roma, as well as the visualization of the travel expenses of the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia. He also deals with generative identities and draws with his GPS device. His academic work, software projects and short animated films have earned him numerous awards.
These workshops were held on 13th and 14th of December for 15 chosen participants.