Evolution Haute Couture
Talk und film screening mit Dmitry Bulatov
01 Juli 2010, 19h


Garnet Hertz (USA) "Cockroach-Controlled Mobile Robot", 2006

Art Laboratory Berlin is pleased to present a collection of documentary films about artworks recently created using the latest twenty-first century technologies: artificial life, robotics, bio and genetic engineering. The screening has been organized by the curator and artist Dmitry Bulatov in conjunction with the National Centre for Contemporary Arts (Kaliningrad branch, Russia).

The films document artworks whose medium is living or lifelike matter, and the properties of living organisms and technologically reproduced artefacts are combined to produce the method. Art created under these new conditions of post-biology - that is, under conditions of artificially generated life - cannot avoid making this artificiality its explicit theme. We are thus again confronted with the question of the relationship between art and life in a completely new context defined by biological and abiological creations, works, and beings.

This collection is the first comprehensive overview of the current stage of contemporary techno-biological art. It provides a panorama of artistic strategies for granting and withdrawing the gift of authenticity. The analysis of these strategies opens up new possibilities for creative production and cultural commentary. In 2009 the Evolution Haute Couture project won the National Innovation Prize (Moscow, Russia), awarded annually for achievements in contemporary visual arts.

The film screening also coincides with the first volume of the anthology Evolution Haute Couture: Art and Science in the Post-Biological Age. Edited by Dmitry Bulatov. Book plus two DVD-ROMs collection (45 video documentaries), KB NCCA, Kaliningrad, 2009. (ISBN: 978-5-94620-054-7). This publication is supported by The Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, The Ford Foundation (The Moscow Office, Russia), The Dynasty Foundation (Moscow). Web site: www.videodoc.ncca-kaliningrad.ru/eng/

SCREENING PROGRAM

Bill Vorn, Emma Howes, Jonathan Villeneuve (Canada) "Grace State Machines" (7'40")
The Tissue Culture & Art Project (TC&A): Oron Catts and Ionat Zurr (Australia) "NoArk" (7'51")
Arthur Elsenaar and Remko Scha (The Netherlands) "Morphology / Face-Shift" (10'45")
Ken Rinaldo (USA) "The Autotelematic Spider Bots" (10'56")
Stelarc (Australia) "Extra Ear: Ear On Arm" (5'12")
Joe Davis (USA) "Making Fire" (10'25")
Marcel-li Antunez Roca (Spain) "Epizoo" (3'21")
Erwin Driessens and Maria Verstappen (The Netherlands) "Tickle Salon" (8'16")
Julie Freeman (United Kingdom) "The Lake" (5'00")
Laura Beloff (Finland) "The Fruit Fly Farm" (8'42)
Marta de Menezes (Portugal) "DECON" (9'00")
Paula Gaetano Adi (Argentina) "Alexitimia - an autonomous robotic agent" (7'08")
Paul Granjon (France) "Sexed Robots" (4'18")
SymbioticA Group (Australia) and The Potter Lab (USA) "MEART - The Semi Living Artist" (7'28")
Floris Kaayk (The Netherlands) "Metalosis Maligna" (7'26")

The screening will follow a short introduction by Dmitry Bulatov, and afterwards there will be a panel discussion with Dmitry Bulatov, Elena Ryabkova (Museum of the World Ocean, Kaliningrad, Russia), and Christian de Lutz (Art Laboratory Berlin).

More information:
http://artlaboratory-berlin.org/home_eng.htm
http://artlaboratory-berlin.org/html/eng-events-archive.htm

This project is presented in cooperation with the National Centre for Contemporary Arts (Kaliningrad branch, Russia).

Artists Talk by Heidi Hove and Jens Axel Beck

Art Laboratory Berlin is pleased to invite you to an artist talk with Heidi Hove and Jens Axel Beck in conjunction with our current exhibition Artists in Dialog: 2^-1/4-n/2 x 2^1/4-n/2 . The artists will talk about the project as well as other works they have done before.

"We have been invited to take part in Artists in Dialog, a new concept for an exhibition series initiated by Art Laboratory Berlin. Our contribution is a project, which can partly be described as an exhibition, and as an office/workshop. Within these settings, we have set up a system of rules for ourselves for engaging with the surroundings of Art Laboratory Berlin in Wedding, the exhibition space in itself and our individual practices.

"We have chosen to work with the A4 paper as a material and with a certain limited amount of office working tools, thereby creating a range of elements and projects to be displayed in the gallery.

"Working ad hoc and dealing with the unexpected limitations of the working tools in the office, we have started working on various projects that take their starting points in themes that we usually work with in our individual practices, but also where we think we can meet or clash - such as memory, history, traces, tags and surfaces as well as the standard vs. the individual." (Heidi Hove & Jens Axel Beck, Berlin, Mai 2010)

Both Heidi Hove and Jens Axel Beck are interdisciplinary artists, whose practice includes sculptural objects and installations as well as architectural, spatial and social interventions. A point of convergence in their work is a focus on daily life and the public and private spaces that we daily travel through. Their work examines how we navigate and organise ourselves in the world. Through simple and diverse manipulations, the daily and the recognisable are brought out of their regular condition. Thus common and ordinary objects are manipulated, copied and placed in new connections for the purpose of changing the meaning or perception of how we look and deal with these in our daily lives. In addition, humour plays an important role in their work, and it is often used to start a dialogue with the viewer.

Artists in Dialog

2^-1/4-n/2 x 2^1/4-n/2
Heidi Hove & Jens Axel Beck
29 May - 27 June, 2010
Artist talk 12 June, 2010

Art Laboratory Berlin is pleased to invite you to the exhibition 2^-1/4-n/2 x 2^1/4-n/2 by the Danish conceptual artists Heidi Hove and Jens Axel Beck – the first exhibition in our new series Artists in Dialog.

(more information)