Artist talks RIXC, Riga, Latvia 2013
SET 1
Bacteria Battery / Biotricity – exhibition & performances
Dates: September 7 – September 8, 2013
Bacteria Battery / Biotricity is an innovative art and science collaboration project by Rasa Smite, Raitis Smits/ RIXC and Martins Ratniks together with sound artist and composer Voldemars Johansons and young biologists from University of Latvia. The project experiments with new generation “green energy” technologies and sonifies the process of generating electricity from bacteria living in water. The installation consists of a cell network altogether creating a ‘bacteria battery’. The performance of „bacteria battery” not only discovers the great possibilities of the collaboration of science and art, but also increases the awareness of importance of sustainable living.
The Bacteria Battery performance programme and exhibition took place in a special spherical tent, constructed particularly for the event. The geometric planes of the tent were later used as a platform for extraordinary media visualisations. The evening programme included five different audiovisual performances, among them – „bacteria battery” in action interpreted in sounds (by sound artists Voldemārs Johansons and Mārtiņš Roķis) and visualisations (by media artist Rihards Vītols.)
All together the exhibition, performances and workshop Bacteria Battery / Biotricity were attended by 3000 local people of different age groups (starting from families with kids during the day in the framework of workshop programme till students and elderly people in the evening performance programme.
Location: Spikeri Creative Quarter, Riga
Links:
http://www.rixc.org
http://renewable.rixc.lv/?s=bacteria+battery
https://www.facebook.com/rixcriga
SET 2
Composting the city | Composting the net. Performance
By Shu Lea Cheang (FR) & Martin Howse (UK) at the opening programme of Save As exhibition.
Dates: October 8, 2013
Composting the City | Composting the Net examines the parallel degenerative process of fermentation and fragmentation of our daily food scraps and shared digital commons. While Composting the City investigates urban food waste management systems, Composting the Net sources net cultures’ accumulated data. Food scraps dumped onto a compost heap are layered and turned until all traces of labeling are erased. On the net, the abundance of info-data sinks into a deep “reservoir” with tags attached.
Location: Spikeri Creative Quarter, Riga
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/rixcriga
http://festival.rixc.lv/13
LECTURES RIXC, RIGA, LATVIA 2013
Dates: 07/09/2013 – 12/10/2013
SET 1
Bacteria Battery/ Biotricity – public workshop & lecture
Dates: September 7 – September 8, 2013
The public workshops & lectures introduced wider public with the technology of the installation “Bacteria Battery” – a unique technology in creating alternative translated into sounds, both, discovering the great possibilities of the collaboration of art and science and promoting the awareness of importance of sustainable living, giving a special attention to the many possible alternative energy sources and technologies.
Location: Riga, Latvia
SET 2
Techno-ecologies Panel B lead by chair Shu Lea Cheang in the framework of the 5th International Conference on the Histories of Media Art, Science and Technology RENEW
Dates: October 11, 2013
Techo-ecologies panel thematically approached resillient networks and emerging ‘techno-ecological’ art practicies.
Panel speakers:
Helene von OLDENBURG, Claudia REICHE. THE MARS PATENT – a living fossil
Kuai Shen AUSON. 0h!m1gas: biomimetic stridulation environment
Takis ZOURNTOS, Marjan VERSTAPPEN, Caroline LANGILL, Dot TUER. Speculative Realist Media Art Technologies: Probing into the Nature of Things
Conor McGARRIGLE. Locative Histories: exploring the continued influence of early Locative Media art
Claudia ROSELLI. Resilient networks through art practices. Old Delhi – New Media. The 5th International Conference on the Histories of Media Art, Science and Technology – RENEW, was hosted by RIXC Centre for New Media Culture in Riga in partnership with the Art Academy of Latvia, Stockholm School of Economics in Riga and Danube University’s Center for Image Science. RENEW hosted three days of keynotes, panels and poster sessions on the histories of networked digital, electronic and technological media arts.
Venue: Stockholm School of Economics in Riga
Link: http://renew.rixc.lv/days/october11.php
SET 3
Techno-ecologies Participatory Session 1 – Playing Fields lead by Armin Medosch in the framework of the 5th International Conference on the Histories of Media Art, Science and Technology RENEW
Dates: October 10, 2013
Techo-ecologies panel thematically approached resillient networks and emerging ‘techno-ecological’ art practicies. Main themes of the Playing Fields session was: Collaborative mapping, curating and tagging as a social game: which expanded fields of artistic practices offer the greatest potential for desirable social change? Playing Fields Session particularly was organised as pre-event of the huge international Fields exhibition held from May 15 to August 3, 2014.
Artistic committee:
Rasa Smite, Raitis Smits, and other invited participants.
Study visit, networking, collaboration, dissemination, presentations, 2013 the public event – installation / performance as well as workshop “Bacteria Battery / Biotricity”
On January 28 – February 3, RIXC representatives Rasa Smite and Raitis Smits as curators went to ZKM Center for Art and Media in Karlsruhe, Germany, to do a research and choose art works that could potentially be included in the exposition of the most grandiose initiative of this project for RIXC – the international media art exhibition “FIELDS” which will take place in Riga, 15.05.2014 – 03.08.2014 as one of most noticeable events of the Riga 2014 (Riga – European Capital of Culture 2014) special programme.
In framework of this study visit RIXC representatives Rasa Smite, Raitis Smits and Daina Silina also went to the annual international festival for art & digital culture “transmediale” in Berlin, where they met with co-curator of the extensive exhibition “FIELDS” – media artist, writer and curator from Austria Armin Medosch. Together they elaborated the first call for the potential participants of the exhibition which was sent out to international mailing lists, newsletters, diverse virtual platforms etc.
On September 2013 RIXC representative Raitis Smits, Rasa Smite and sound artists and sound artist Voldemars Johansons went in a Study Visit to the internationals “ARS ELECTRONICA” festival in Linz. It was also artistic visit for set up the installation “Bioticity” in Ars Electronica Center, which will be hosted there until September 2014.
Photo Gallery