This week, the RIXC Art and Science Festival and Exhibition: Symbiotic Sense(s) will take place in Riga and online from October 23–25, 2024! The festival will kick off with the opening of the exhibition at the National Library of Latvia on Wednesday, October 23 at 18.00, which will include a curator-led guided tour, an introduction to the artists followed by a special evening event at 19.00 – Be My Guest! performance by the artist duo Me AndOther Me– an exclusive opportunity to become one of five guests at an exclusive dinner where artificial intelligence will play the host!

The next day, Thursday, 24 October, at 18.00, the exhibitionDeep Sensing by artists Rasa Smite and Raitis Smits will open at the RIXC Gallery, Lenču iela 2. The exhibition, which has been exhibited in Milan and Taipei, returns to Riga as part of the festival, tracking the flow of cosmic particles flying from the Sun to the Earth in an immersive installation.

In addition to the exhibitions, the festival programme will also feature the international Open Fields conference from October 23–25 at the Neiburgs Hotel and online. The festival will begin with the opening keynotes on the ecological and regenerative culture and algorithmic art on October 23 by the special guests, art theorist and curator Eric Kluitenberg and artist and media researcher Rosemary Lee. On the following day, the media art researcher and writer Jens Hauser will give a lecture on holobionts - interconnected living organisms - and how this concept inspires performative art practices. The conference will conclude with the launch of RIXC’s latest book, Beyond the Hybrid, which explores hybridity in a contemporary context, from artificial intelligence and digital interfaces to bio-art manifestations.

Opening performance

Be My Guest! is a performance and collective mixed reality (XR) installation that will be on view at the festival exhibition: Symbiotic Sense(s) from October 23–December 7, 2024 at the National Library of Latvia.

Me AndOther Me. Be My Guest!, 2024. Performance at IMPAKT Centre for Media Art in Utrecht. Photo: KakaLee.

The festival opening performance participants will be invited to dine with AI with an aim to rethink an age-old gathering ritual: a dinner with friends, where an AI, named Parasite, becomes the host and co-creator of the spatial experience and physical objects. The collective dinner transforms the private setting of home into a public domain, mirroring our current condition of dwelling in multiple realities and investigating how we inhabit and interact within networked virtual spaces, and how we foster parasitic relationships with AI systems, redefining the fabric of communal gathering in the digital age. What happens when species meet?

Participation is limited to 5 people.

To apply write to:gutmanelelde@gmail.com

*We welcome participants ready for active involvement in the performance, including enjoying real food and engaging in conversation with fellow guests. Duration ~50 min.

Exhibitions

Located at the intersection of symbiotic art aesthetics and visionary scientific paradigms, the Symbiotic Sense(s) exhibition explores symbiotic thinking. It draws on biological theories of symbiosis and the concept of the ‘holobiont’ – a complex entity composed of organisms living in close association – as well as early ‘human-computer’ symbiosis and modern ‘sensing machines’. By assessing the role of our senses and exploring the elusive 'sixth sense' as an extension of cognition beyond the human – both metaphorically and scientifically – the exhibition suggests that symbiosis defines our existence and that ‘symbiotic sensing’ is essential for our survival. Symbiotic Sense(s) presents works by artists affiliated with the European Media Art Platform (EMAP), as well as renowned Latvian and international artists, exploring the boundaries between human, machine, and nature, and envisioning new forms of sensing and collaboration towards a more symbiotic future.

Mónica Rikić in collaboration with Gema FB Martín. Hipèrbole, 2023.

In her Hipèrbole artwork, the Spanish artist Mónica Rikić has created mechanical personalities, with which communication is taking place through sensory interaction, in contrast to the dominant role of spoken and written language in cognitive communication with technology and artificial intelligence, which is so familiar to us. Dressed in soft suits, they become non-threatening and friendly to human perception.

T(n)C. Retraining Laziness, 2023

The relationship between the human and the digital is also revealed in Retraining Laziness, a video artwork by the Vienna-based artist duo T(n)C,  which follows a conversation between a human worker and a broken robot discussing their unfavourable working conditions and their own relationship to work and time. The artists have created a poetic reflection on a theme that is particularly relevant today: the evaluation of people based on their productivity.

Latvian artists Santa France and Sabine Šnē have created new artworks especially for the RIXC festival exhibition: Symbiotic Sense(s), which highlight questions about the interaction and connection between humans and nature. 

Santa France. Still Life with Fruiting Bodies, 2024.

Still Life with Fruiting Bodies by Santa France explores the tradition of foraging for mushrooms within a consumer-driven world – mushrooms naturally connect vast underground networks starkly contrasts with the isolation of overconsumption, where individuals grow distant from the origins of their food and environment. Drawing from personal experience of mushroom hunting from an early age and nostalgia for field guide books, the artwork examines how this sustainable practice has become intertwined with modern consumer excess. However, the We Belong to Them by Sabīne Šnē explores trees as one of the shapers of our world – 3D scans of trees are combined with speculative environments complemented by texts that “translate” more-than-human voices for humans.

The work focuses on six interconnected scenarios caused by the global climate crisis that impact trees: soil pollution, air pollution, rising temperatures and drought, loss of biodiversity, pest and disease proliferation, and shifts in growing seasons. 

Exhibition artists: Tatsuru ARAI (JP/DE), Po-Hao CHI (TW), Santa FRANCE (LV), Sasha LITVINTSEVA & Beny WAGNER (UK/DE), Me AndOther Me / Cenk GÜZELIS & Anna POMPERMAIER (AT/IT), Mónica RIKIĆ (ES), Studio Above & Below (DE/UK), Sabīne ŠNĒ (LV), T(n)C (DE/HU).

Deep Sensing immersive installation by Rasa Smite and Raitis Smits is the second exhibition of the festival and will be on view at RIXC gallery, Lenču iela 2 from October 24–December 7, 2024.

Rasa Smite, Raitis Smits. Deep Sensing, 2023. MEET Digital Culture Center, Milan.

Deep Sensing traces its origins back to the legendary sound art and radio astronomy symposium “RT-32. Acoustic Space Laboratory” organized by RIXC artists 20 years ago at the Irbene radio telescope in Latvia, after its abandonment by the Soviet armed forces. Re-engaging with the site 20 years later, the artists first tried to understand the captivation of this massive antenna today, when, after the grandiose space conquest plans of the 20th century, we have finally “landed on Earth” – or, if not, as French philosopher Bruno Latour remarks, “at least we have been pointed in… another direction” – as climate change and environmental issues keep becoming more and more pressing here. Yet, we ask, why is the Earth not enough?

Moreover, these giant radio telescopes not only look upwards, they are the unique points of convergence for cosmic rays reaching Earth’s surface. In the new visualization, the radio telescopes are no longer represented as massive objects, but as immaterial point clouds that rotate, leaving and crossing traces, following the flow of cosmic particles that fly from the Sun to Earth, impact ionospheric clouds, interact with the Earth’s atmosphere and create terrestrial wind patterns. The artists use radio astronomy data from our Solar System, combined with environmental recordings from the Irbene radio telescope site, to create an immersive soundscape and the ‘sensorialized’ data experience. Hence, Deep Sensing strives to push the boundaries of climate science by investigating its correlations with space research, while contextualizing these interactions in a socio-ecological and geopolitical perspective.

Deep Sensing has previously been exhibited at the MEET Digital Culture Centre in Milan (Italy) and the Zone Sound Creative Art Centre in Taipei (Taiwan).

Rasa Smite, Raitis Smits. Deep Sensing, 2023. MEET Digital Culture Center, Milan.

Book and conference

Alongside the festival's exhibitions, one of the festival's highlights is the international Open Fieldsconference, which will take place at the Neiburgs Hotel and online from October 23–25, 2024. The conference will bring together more than 50 speakers in Riga and online from 16 European and other countries around the world to redefine the boundaries between self and other, human and machine, natural and artificial, promoting symbiotic thinking, conversations about collaboration and collective action towards a more symbiotic future.

On Wednesday, October 23, at 16.00, the festival will be begin by the thematic opening keynotes on symbiosis, intelligent ecosystems and algorithmic art by art theorist and curator Eric Kluitenberg (NL) and artist and media researcher Rosemary Lee (US/PT).

 Jens Hauser. RIXC publicity photo.

The first day of the conference, Thursday, October 24, will start at 10.00 with a lecture by Jens Hauser (DE/FR/DK) on Art and the Holobiont: Microperformative Positions Beyond the ‘Individual/Collective’ Binary.

Jens Hauser is a media art researcher and curator, as well as co-creator of the concept for the RIXC Festival 2019: Un/Green, exploring the relationship between art and technology. How does the concept of the holobiont profoundly inspire performative artistic practices, by opening up a contemporary perspective on life as a co-operative and holistic phenomenon based on complex relationships between living and non-living entities? Based on the contributions to the forthcoming book Lifve is Other: A/Biotic Entanglements in Art and Curating, Jens Hauser (the editor) will introduce the fluidity of lifve across various scales appears through the lens of the holobiont – from microscopic organisms to planetary systems, demonstrating how art can reveal the deep interconnectedness within a holistic and evolutionary perspective, and relate the invisibility of the microscopic to the incomprehensibility of the macroscopic.

Cover of Beyond the Hybrid. RIXC publicity image.

 The final day of the festival, on Friday, October 25, will start at 10.00 with the launch of the latest book of the RIXC series: Acoustic Space / Renewable Futures, titled – Beyond the Hybrid. Narratives, New Media Experiments and Speculations Touching Art and Science Knowledge Exchange.

The recently published book will be presented by the editors from Aalto University, Lily Diaz-Kommonen and Juhani  Tenhunen. The RIXC book published in collaboration with Aalto University addresses hybridity’s implications in modern contexts, from AI and digital interfaces to bio-artistic expressions,  exploring how hybrid media systems blend traditional and new media to reshape power dynamics and cultural narratives.

Book editors: Lily Diaz-Kommonen, Juhani  Tenhunen, Rasa Smite, Raitis Smits.

Conference participants: Jade APACK, Nima BAHREHMAND, Elizabeth BARRY, August BLACK, Yindi CHEN, Oksana CHEPELYK, Pohao CHI, Enrico DORIGATTI, Sabrina DURLING-JONES, Tuçe EREL, Jānis GARANČS, Mariella GREIL, Yoon Chung HAN, Mona HEDAYATI, Susanna HERTRICH, Carolyn KIRSCHNER, Lily DÍAZ-KOMMONEN, Agata KONARSKA, Jakub KOSECKI, Peter KOZEK, Tina KULT, Robert LISEK, Shanhuan MANTON, Jozef Eduard MASARIK, Me AndOther Me (Anna POMPERMAIER, Cenk GÜZELIS), Katherine MORIWAKI, Sebastian MÜHL, Sandris MŪRIŅŠ, Yi Qing NG, Terho OJELL-JÄRVENTAUSTA, Vygintas ORLOVAS, Miguel PAREDES MALDONADO, Chantal T PARIS, Anna PRIEDOLA, Mónica RIKIĆ, Arturo ROMERO CARNICERO, Yan SHAO, Oleksandr SIROUS, Lucie STRECKER, Sabīne ŠNĒ, Juhani TENHUNEN, Gisèle TRUDEL, Svitlana USYCHENKO, Agnes VARNAI, Līga VĒLIŅA, Martins VIZBULIS, Nathan WILLIAMS, Liang XIAO, Anne YONCHA

Performance programme: satellite event

RIXC publicity image.

The festival will conclude on Friday, October 25, at 21.00 at the 1983 bar, Vagonu iela 21, with a programme of electronic music performances - the festival's satellite event: Synthetic Sense, organised by Creative Crib. The event will feature live electronic music from artists of various contemporary subgenres throughout the night. From 21.00–00.00 you will hear atmospheric and experimental sounds, as well as an audio-visual performance by RIXC residency Ukrainian artist Oleksandr Sirous. After midnight, electronic dance music artists of different genres will perform.

Artists: I swear, Oleksandr Sirous, Eiii, Daffelz, Vanckars, Ljoha, 3electronics, Seimurs Guseinovs, Miu, Kentasso, Echoeast

Entry: 10 € Donation (5 € donation with the RIXC Festival Pass) at the venue.

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Festival / conference registration (tickets) on Eventbrite:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/rixc-art-science-festival-2024-symbiotic-senses-tickets-999218548577?aff=oddtdtcreator

Price: 36 EUR, Students 50% discount

Entry to the Symbiotic Sense(s) and Deep Sensing exhibitions is free of charge.

We offer free guided tours (in Latvian and English) for exhibitions. We invite groups to apply by writing to rixc@rixc.org

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FESTIVAL PROGRAMME

Wednesday, October 23

 

16.00–17.30 (EEST) Opening Keynotes. Eric KLUITENBERG, Rosemary LEE

Location: Neiburgs Hotel, Address: Jauniela 25/27, Room A (Amaryllis) / Zoom

 

18.00 Festival Exhibition Opening

19.00 Be My Guest performance

Location: National Library of Latvia (LNB), Address: Mūkusalas iela 3

 

Thursday, October 24

Conference Day 1 

Location: Neiburgs Hotel, Address: Jauniela 25/27 / Zoom

 

10.00-11.00Plenary Speaker. Jens HAUSER

11.00-12.30 Panel 1. Hidden Invasions and Sensory Systems

12.40-14.15Panel 2. Artificial Natures

12.40-14.15 Parallel Session: Futures Workshop (Part 1) Led by Terho OJELL-JÄRVENTAUSTA. Digital Technologies and Human Consciousness: A Futures Workshop for Exploring Potential Implications. 

15.15-17.00Panel 3. More-Than-Human

15.15-17.00 Parallel Session: Futures Workshop (Part 2 - continues) 

 

18.00 Deep Sensing Exhibition Opening 

Location: RIXC Gallery, Address: Lenču iela 2, Riga

 

Friday, October 25 

Conference Day 2

Location: Neiburgs Hotel, Address: Jauniela 25/27 / Zoom

 

10.00-10.30 Plenary Session. Book Presentation by Lily DÍAZ-KOMMONEN, Juhani TENHUNEN. Beyond The Hybrid (Acoustic Space 19). 

10.30-12.00 Plenary Session / EMAP Capacity Building Workshop (Intro) / Panel 4 

12.10-13.40 Parallel Session: EMAP Capacity Building Workshop (Part 1). Led by Rosemary LEE

12.10-13.40 Panel 5.

14.40-16.10 Panel 6.

14.40-16.10 Parallel Session: EMAP Capacity Building Workshop (Part 2 - continues) 

16.20-18.00 Panel 7.

 

21.00 SYNTHETIC SENSE. Performance Program. (Satellite Event).
I swear, Oleksandr Sirous, Eiii, Daffelz, Vanckars, Ljoha, 3electronics, Seimurs Guseinovs, Miu, Kentasso, Echoeast.

Location: Bar 1983, Vagonu iela 21 (Vagonu ielas kvartāls). 

 

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Festival is produced by the RIXC Centre for New Media Culture.

Festival curators and concept authors – Rasa Smite (rasa@rixc.org) and Raitis Smits (raitis@rixc.org)

Festival producers:

Līva Siliņa – PR and information coordinator (rixc@rixc.org, +371 25358541),

Agnese Baranova – festival and exhibition producer (agnese@rixc.org, +371 29635167),

Daina Siliņa – conference (daina@rixc.org, +371 29463054),

Lelde Gūtmane – festival producer assistant (rixc@rixc.org, +371 28365323).

Contact e-mail: rixc@rixc.org

Address: RIXC Centre for New Media Culture, Lencu iela 2, Riga, LV-1010.

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More information:

https://festival2024.rixc.org/

http://rixc.org/

 

Support: State Culture Capital Foundation, Riga City Council, European Commission in the framework of the project "EMAP Expanded", Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia, Goethe-Institut Riga.

Partners: RTU Liepaja Academy, National Library of Latvia, Neiburgs Hotel, Skaņu mežs.

Media support: We Make Money Not Art, Echo Gone Wrong, Arterritory, Satori.