Elastic Spaces - Projected Narratives of Being and Belonging

Santiago Tavera, Anthony Head, Laura Acosta / Canada - United Kingdom Concordia University, Bath Spa University
www.santiagotavera.com
anthonyhead.co
lauramariaacosta.tumblr.com

The workshop, Projected Simulations of Being and Belonging, invites interdisciplinary artists and researchers to collaborate on a series of video projections to be displayed on the windows and facades of a building in La Universidad de Caldas and/or the city of Manizales. During this workshop, experiments with digital media will explore experiences of dislocation. Participants will combine fictional and personal narratives of belonging or displacement in order to construct digital visions of peace. Stemming from an exploration of states of dislocation and technical video/graphic experimentation, this workshop will result in the creation of outdoor projections in a public space. This workshop is about generating social collaboration between participants in order to work towards conflict resolutions between heritage surfaces and subjective narratives, past histories and illusions of the future, and finally, effects of war and visions of peace. Participants will have the opportunity to experiment with video camera setups, multiple projections on buildings, video mapping and motion graphic tools. The use of digital media presents the potential to simulate a state of disembodiment (elasticity, alteration, translation) for viewers and participants. Framing a public context with video projections allows for the simultaneous activation and archival of a cultural site.

Art + Digital Culture <-> Public Policy

Ricardo Dal Farra, Felipe Londoño, Diego Pimentel / Canada - Colombia - Argentina
Concordia University / CEIArtE-UNTREF, Universidad de Caldas, Centro Cultural San Martín
http://www.concordia.ca/finearts/music/faculty.html?fpid=ricardo-dal-farra

Art + Digital Culture <-> Public Policy" will join invited expert speakers and will be open for participation of the general public too, considering that many people attending ISEA are also experts coming from a variety of electronic arts fields. There will be test-cases and people presenting about their experience and perspective on public policies related to digital culture in general and electronic art/art & science in particular.

Hyper-listening: Praxis

Budhaditya Chattopadhyay / India
Leiden University
http://budhaditya.org/

Contemporary world is strained with intensified conflicts between nations, and within various sects and segments of peoples. The future human societies need to learn how to resolve conflict of interests, values and beliefs. Acceptance and tolerance are essential for the humanity to navigate the challenging times ahead, which is marked by scarcity of natural resources and an unprecedented human-made decay in the environments, leading to possible anthropocenic calamities. It is my assumption that the root of all conflicts is essentially embedded in a lack of ability to listen carefully to the other. As philosopher Gemma Corradi Fiumara suggests, a propensity to listen to the others, without making immediate judgments, may potentially lead to bridge the troubled water of difference. My proposal is to employ an inclusive, mindful and contemplative listening practice coined “hyper-listening” as a way to approach conflict resolution.

HAPLAB: A Sci-Fi Workshop on Horror and Possibility

Sophia Brueckner / USA
University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
http://www.sophiabrueckner.com

“A good science fiction story should be able to predict not the automobile but the traffic jam.” - Frederick Pohl

For decades, science fiction authors have explored both our wildest dreams and greatest fears for where technology might lead us. This workshop ties science fiction with speculative/critical design as a means to encourage the ethical and thoughtful design of new technologies.

Ecology and Eco-art: Seed Sculpture Lab

Adam Zaretsky and Kira Decoudres / USA
Marist College
https://kiradecoudres.bandcamp.com/album/zika

Abstract: The performative act of seed sculpting and seed balling is meant increase public awareness of politics and responsibilities surrounding anthropogenic effects on the environment. Through the creation of public installation of sculptures made of organic local edibles, exotics and import species, the computer-aided landscape design of urban architecture was disrupted by the lab’s participants.

Avatar life-review to support memory in older adults

Semi Ryu and Stefano Faralli / USA
Virginia Commonwealth University, University of Manheim
www.semiryu.net, web.informatik.uni-mannheim.de/faralli/

This workshop will introduce an innovative therapy platform designed for older adults, with interactive avatars reflecting users’ speech, gestures, and emotional states in real time. This transdisciplinary project integrates electronic arts, gaming, computer science, gerontology, storytelling, and therapy rooted in Korean shamanistic practice.

The Game of Dobble Debate: Play, Difference, and Coexistence

Lynne Heller, Nina Czegledy, Judith Doyle, Anna Lew and Martin Shook / Canada
OCAD University
http://lynneheller.com

The Game of Dobble Debate: Play, Difference, and Coexistence is a research-creation project that investigates learning through design iteration, humor and play in the form of a card game, in order to encourage discussions about difference. Differing abilities are traditionally designated as disabilities but they could also be extraordinary ability, such as synesthesia. In the last decade, the role of game as a catalyst became foregrounded in various fields particularly in education and healthcare. This workshop aims to elucidate the difference and difficulties that is elicited through using play and humor rather than traditional play strategies. The Dobble Debate concept and practice was developed at OCAD University in Toronto.