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The RIXC Art-Science Festival: ECODATA and the Open Fields 2020 conference takes place from October 8–10, 2020, in Riga, Latvia and online, exploring the 'ecosystematic perspective'. 

More than just rising awareness that living organisms are highly interdependent on each other and their environments, this year's festival edition aims to reveal a web of connections that interweaves biological, social and techno-scientific systems, living and digital data, artistic and scientific approaches. 

The ECODATA festival aims to become a space for artistic interventions and critical discussions, gathering together the scholars and artists who are engaged with ecosystematic approach, use techno-scientific tools and create new aesthetics to deal with the challenges of our time and envision the future for 'terrestrial coexistence' (Latour).

The festival program features the Ecodata EXHIBITION taking place in the The National Library of Latvia in Riga; Open Fields 2020 CONFERENCE – online, and a hybrid program of online and onsite activities – artistic interventions, screenings, virtual bio/eco-artworks and performances by young artists from Riga, Liepaja, Basel, Karlsruhe and Boston.

Open Fields conference is the RIXC's festival based annual gatheringbringing together international scholars and artists to discuss topics related to artistic research, the changing role of art in societies, and art and science collaboration. This year's Open Fields: ECODATA conference for the first time will take place virtually October 8-9. Yet it will be (thematically) connected with the exhibition and onsite program of the RIXC festival, thus extending a space for discussions on contemporary challenges and the role of art in dealing with them.

Conference speakers: 

Adesola AKINLEYE, Sandra ALVARO, Laura BELOFF, Karla BRUNET, Fernando CAVALCANTE, Oksana CHEPELYK, Maija DEMITERE, Tiziano DERME, Juan Carlos DUARTE REGINO, Desiree FOERSTER, Stelios GIANNOULAKIS, José GARCIA, Kyriaki GONI, Adnan HADZISELIMOVIC, John KAZIOR, Raivo KELOMEES, Michal KINDERNAY, Diana KNĚŽÍNKOVÁ, Martin KRUPA, Carlos LENTINI, Amanda LEWIS, Eva-Maria LOPEZ, Mia MAKELA, Sally MCINTYRE, Margarida MENDES, Lina MICHELKEVICE, Vytautas MICHELKEVIČIUS, Michal MITRO, Toni OLIVEIRA, Jakub ‘Preppikoma’ PALM, Ji Yun PARK, Matteo PIZZOLANTE, Gonzalo PRECIADO-AZANZA, Anna PRIEDOLA, Daina PUPKEVIČIŪTĖ, Tivon RICE, Byron RICH, Paul ROSERO CONTRERAS, Ellen RØED, Vincenzo SANSONE, André SIER, Eva SJUVE, Christina STADLBAUER.

As this year's festival is a collaboration with "Ecodata–Ecomedia–Ecoaesthetics" research group led by researcher and theorist Yvonne VOLKART, (Basel, Switzerland), it's featured event is the ECODATA Exhibition, taking place in the Exhibition Hall of The National Library of Latvia, from October 9 – November 17, 2020.

The exhibition opening program takes place on October 8-9, 2020, including the ECODATA discussion with the participation of invited keynote speakers, scientists and artists-researchers of "Ecodata–Ecomedia–Ecoaesthetics" project – Marcus MAEDER, Rasa SMITE, Yvonne VOLKART. The art and science discussion aims to introduce the context and outcomes of the SNSF-funded research project "Ecodata–Ecomedia–Ecoaesthetics" (2017-2020) that explores the role and significance of new media, technologies and technoscientific methods in the arts for the perception and awareness of the ecological.

The exhibition features twenty artworks by internationally acknowledged artists working in the field of media art, science, and ecology – Ursula BIEMANN, Sarah BURGER, Marcus MAEDER, Francois KNOETZE, Diana SCHERER, Maayke SCHURER, SEMICONDUCTOR, Rasa SMITE, Raitis SMITS, Susana SOARES, Tamiko THIEL and /P, Leena and Oula A. VALKEAPÄÄ, VARVARA & MAR, Elaine WHITTAKER.

The exhibition opening program will also feature Rattling the Curve – Paradoxical ECODATA performances of A/I and facial recognitions of humans and trees by an international artist collective.

Performance participants:

Digital Dramaturgy Lab2: Candy BLAIR, Antje BUDDE, Jill CARTER, Felipe CERVERA, Lars CROSBY, Nina CZEGLEDY, Astad DEBOO, Martin KULINNA, Montgomery C. MARTIN, Karyn MCCALLUM, George Bwanika SEREMBA, Don SINCLAIR, Grace WHISKIN, Vicki ZHANG. Assistants: Sanja VODOVNIK (research assistant, doctoral candidate), Yizhou ZHANG (technical productions assistant/ research).

 

Festival programme:

Thursday / October 8, 2020

13.00- 15.00 ECODATA OpeningKeynote Session: 

Art and Science Discussion

Ecodata–Ecomedia–Ecoaesthetics research project team

15.30- 16.45 ECODATA Artist Talks

17.00-17.50 ECODATA and AI: Opening Performance

Zoom Webinar (performance) + Live Stream: Youtube

18.00-20.00 ECODATA Exhibition Opening

Location: The National Library of Latvia + Live Stream: Youtube



Friday / October 9, 2020

10.00 – 17.00 Day 1 Panel Sessions (1–4)

17.00 – 18.00 ECODATA Thematic Keynote: Jacopo RASMI

Zoom Webinar (conference) + Live Stream: Youtube

19.00 – ECODATA Exhibition Opening: ATMOSPHERIC FOREST

Location: RIXC Gallery, Lencu iela 2, Riga + Live Stream: Youtube

 

Saturday / October 10

10.00 –17.00 Panel Sessions (6-10)

17.00 – 18.00 ECODATA Closing Keynote: Marko PELJHAN

Zoom Webinar (conference) + Live Stream: Youtube

18.00 – 21.00 Closing Screening Programme and Conert

Location: The National Library of Latvia (exhibition + conference)

+ Live Stream: Youtube 

 

OPEN FIELDS 2020 Conference Chairs and ECODATA Exhibition Curators:
Rasa SMITE, Raitis SMITS (Latvia), Yvonne VOLKART (Switzerland)

OPEN FIELDS 2020 Conference Organizational Board:

Dr. Jens HAUSER, media studies scholar and art curator, Paris, France

Prof. Helena SEDERHOLM, Biofilia, Aalto University, Helsinki Finland

Prof. Kristin BERGAUST, OsloMET – Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway

Prof. Marko PELJHAN, University of California Santa Barbara Media Arts and Technology Program

Dr. Ellen PEARLMAN, Parsons / New School / Art-A-Hack / ThoughtWorks / New York, USA / Docent, RISEBA University for Business, Art and Technologies, Riga, Latvia

Assoc. Prof., Dr.philol. Ilva SKULTE, Riga Stradins University, Latvia

Dr. Piibe PIIRMA, Tallinn University, Estonia

Dr. Raivo KELOMEES, Estonian Academy of Arts, Tallinn, Estonia

Assoc. Prof, Dr. Vytautas MICHELKEVICIUS, Vilnius Academy of Arts, Lithuania

Mg. Art Maija DEMITERE, Lecturer and Assistant of Program Director of New Media and Audiovisual Art MA Program at RISEBA and Liepaja University, Latvia

Mg. Art  Anna PRIEDOLA, Head of Art Research Lab, Program Director of New Media Art BA program, Liepaja University, Latvia

Dr. Oksana CHEPELYK, leading researcher of The New Technologies Department at The Modern Art Research Institute of Ukraine

Assoc. Prof., Dr.art. Solvita ZARINA, the Faculty of Computing, University of Latvia, lead researcher at the Laboratory of Innovative Information Technologies FC UL

The RIXC Festival is produced by The RIXC Centre for New Media Culture. The Open Fields 2020 Conference is co-organized by RIXC and The Art Research Lab (MPLab) of Liepaja University (Liepaja, Latvia).
Festival producer: Agnese Baranova (agnese@rixc.org)
PR and information coordinator: Liva Silina (rixc@rixc.org)
Contact e-mail: rixc@rixc.org
Phones: +371 29635167 (Agnese Baranova), +371 26546776 (Rasa Smite)
Address: RIXC the Centre for New Media Culture, Lenču iela 2, Riga, LV-1010, Latvia.

This year the festival is exceptionally free. Further information about the festival and registration: http://festival2020.rixc.org/

Support and Partners:
“Green Revisited” project supported by EU program Creative Europe,  State Culture Capital Foundation of Latvia,  Riga City Council, the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia,  Goethe Institute Riga, Pro Helvetia, Swiss Embassy in Latvia, LG, EMAP, REVERIE|TG™, The National Library of Latvia, Liepaja University, Art Research Laboratory MPLab of Liepaja University,, Mondriaan Fund, Canon and others.

“Ecodata-Ecomedia-Ecoaesthetics” Research Project funded by The Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), hosted by The Institute of Aesthetic Practice and Theory IAeP at FHNW Academy of Art and Design, Basel (Switzerland), in cooperation with Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL (Switzerland).

CONTACTS

rixc@rixc.org

+371 67228478 (office)

+371 26546776 (Rasa Smite)