Open science has received a lot of attention over the last decade. But what about open artistic research?

From a starting point of collaboration between people of diverse backgrounds, the STUDIOTOPIA Palaeoplasticene project hosted by Studio  Austen  is developing a platform to facilitate transdisciplinary artistic research by non-artists into the long-term existence of microplastic. Designed to be adaptable to multiple artistic research contexts and to be re-deployable by other researchers, this platform development highlights the unique challenges, and rigour, of artistic research. During the launch of the platform, artist Kat  Austen, scientists Indrė Žliobaite and Laurence Gill will join Ars Electronica’s Andrew Newman to discuss transdisciplinary collaboration and open research. Web development is undertaken by Andreas Baudisch.

The session “Art-led participatory platform for transdisciplinary open research” will take place on September 10th at 1 p.m at Ars Electronica website.

INTER/her is an intimate VR immersive exploration of the inner world of middle-aged women’s bodies and the post-reproductive diseases they suffer, such as endometriosis, fibroids, polyps, Ovarian and other cysts, cervical, ovarian, uterine and endometrial cancers – with a focus on female health as personal exploration, conversation starter, and community building. Kat composed the sonic environment and music for the project, which will be presented by Camille Baker and Maf’j Alvarez.

This demo will be in place of in-person experience – so Camille Baker will do a short artist introduction and then show a video of her putting on the haptic corset a person, explain the controls and guiding them into the physical experience inside the actual tent and then afterward followed by a live screen-casting of the actual VR experience for alive audience and then followed by some pre-recorded video of visitors experiences inside the tent and VR experience. Followed by any Q&A from the audience.

Join on September 10th at 5 p.m. through Ars Electronica’s website.

The Werkleitz Festival 2021 move to… sociosphere, ecosphere, bodydatasphere is a correspondence location of the 2021 Ars Electronica. In the past 4 years the artists and collectives at 11 institutions of the European Media Art Platform have been researching the most urgent challenges of our age. Kat Austen will take part in the programme with her work ‘Stranger to the Trees‘ at the livestream EMAP Garden: move to… ecosphere and online exhibition.

The contributions of the ecosphere shed light on the consequences of the digitalisation of our ecosystem, knowledge generated by a shift in perspective away from humans and towards other life forms, and the opportunities for “peaceful co-existence” and cooperation between species.

The livestream of the programme EMAP Garden: move to… ecosphere in the context of Ars Electronica 2021 can be seen on Werkleitz and Ars Electronica website on 10th September at 8 p. m.

The virtual closing exhibition will feature 44 works that have been produced with the support of Creative Europe. It will open on Werkleitz website from 8th until 12th September.

Kat recently spoke to Wissenschaft im dialog about how art can help to transform narratives about sustainability in the future and the ongoing debate on the relationship between art and science. In their article, “We need depth of knowledge but at the same time we need its context” you can read Kat’s perspective on why art must be part of the solution to living sustainably.

Forum Wissenschaftskommunikation is the largest conference for science communication in the German-speaking area. The conference is organised annually by Wissenschaft im Dialog (WiD), the joint organisation of the German science for science communication. Kat will be part of a panel convened by the IASS Potsdam’s Alexandra Host, along with Futurium’s Stefanie Holzheu and Cecilia Oliveira of the IASS Potsdam to discuss “Communicating sustainability – Art as a means to transform narratives in society?”.

Forum Wissenschaftskommunikation will take place 4 – 6 October 2021 as a digital conference. Further information can be found here.

We cordially invite you to “open-art-Lausitz” art festival in the courtyard of the Wendish Museum, where Kat will premiere the This Land is not Mine | Performance.

Kat will perform music composed using sounds collected during the “This Land is not Mine” research. The compositions consist of field recordings made in Lusatia by both Austen and the locals. Crowd-sourced recordings were gathered using the Laustizklang platform. For the performance, she uses water that comes from the immediate surroundings of Cottbus and Lower Lusatia.

Please register in advance: Tel. 0355/794930 or info@wendisches-museum.de

Please mind the Corona restrictions. Admission only with the negative test, proof of vaccination, or proof of recovery.

Sunday, August 29th, 2021 at 8 pm

Wendisches Museum
Mühlenstraße 12
03046 Cottbus

This Land is Not Mine is realised with the support of IASS Potsdam.

User Manual for Digital Humanists is a new series hosted by Veronika Liebl, Director of European Cooperation, and Kristina Maurer, Head of European Projects at Ars Electronica’s Festival/Prix/Exhibitions department. The second chapter focused on projects and artists tackling some of the biggest challenges we are facing today: How can we collectively work towards a more sustainable future? How can we foster a responsible approach to technological development that considers long-term impacts on our environment and living spaces? Kat Austen joined the hosts to share her approach to these topics with the audience.

Watch the second chapter of User Manual for Digital Humanists through the following link.

How can a design and creative approach help us re-discover and re-imagine the places we live in?

It has been just over a year since in 2020 Rio Neiva – Environmental NGO implemented a citizen science pilot project titled “In My Backyard”, supported by the European Union Horizon 2020 ACTION project.

In this exciting discussion, organised by Rio Neiva, Kat Austen was joined by the project team, Xavier Troussard, Head of Unit New European Bauhaus, and Heitor Alvelos, Professor of Design and New Media at the University of Porto, to discuss the importance of transdisciplinarity, democratised knowledge making, creativity and understanding power and politics in working towards a more sustainable future. 

Wonderful news that INTER/her has made the long list for the Lumen Prize!

INTER/her is a fully immersive audio/visual journey, conceived and led by Camille Baker. It was wonderful to compose the soundscapes for this virtual environment and the stories shared by women about their experiences. And fantastic to collaborate with Camille, Maf’j Alvarez, Bushra Burge and Sarah Büttner.

The project portrays painful aspects of womanhood – most especially the experiences of post-reproductive bodies – from the inside out, including the sensory and the emotional.

For each participant, the journey begins as they are seated within in a physical dome tent space, called the Sitting Womb.

The dome has a frontal opening alluding to the vulva. Within, up to three participants will be seated upon dark red/dusty rose bean bag chairs, each wearing a wireless Oculus Quest 2 VR Headset.

Each participant wears a Haptic Corset. This bespoke garment generates sensations on the lower abdomen which relate to, and are triggered by, the stories/voices being experienced with the 360° audiovisual experience.

The photos here show the installation of the project presented at The Brewery Tap UCA Project Space.

Stay up to date with upcoming shows at www.inter-her.art

We’re delighted to publish Network Defekts as an album – with a difference! To get to your audio you need a key to start your journey through encrypted messages. The keys are beautiful prints of stunning artwork, with a series of codes on the reverse side. Order the Network Defekts album or individual images as merch, and we will post these beautiful artworks out to you. Follow the white rabbit into a world of encryption.

Network Defekts available on Bandcamp.

Network Defekts is produced in collaboration with the excellent Ena Dahl and Jay S. Laffat.

“Außenraum. Eine ephemere Momentaufnahme” is a collaboration between Kat Austen and Inna Perkas. The multimedia installation, consisting of audio, video and drawings, captures a brief encounter during a stormy winter afternoon in front of the IKMZ in Cottbus, Brandenburg. The work is presented in the exhibition NEW HORIZONS II at Galerie M.

Exhibition is part of the project Werkstatt: Kunst in Brandenburg (Part 2)
July 30 – September 11, 2021

Finissage: Saturday, September 11, 2021, 2 p.m. – 4 p.m.
Opening hours: Wed – Fri 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sat 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Location and contact:
Produzentengalerie M, Charlottenstraße 122, 14467
info@bbk-brandenburg.de
www.bbk-brandenburg.de