December 2005 on -empyre- soft-skinned space : Art and Cognition

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December 2005 on -empyre- soft-skinned space : Art and Cognition
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This month's topic will be art and cognition based on some premises
proposed by artist and researcher Louis Bec. Since the evolution of
cognitive sciences is progressively more marked by the use of
technological simulation, the similarities between art and cognition
are reinforced. According to Bec, the cognitive sciences cease to be
merely explicative and become a creative well-spring, a take off point
of imagination. The art/cognition interface is the source of an entire
range of new questions concerning the role of the living world, its
nature, its status and its future. These questions bear not only on
matters of redefinition, representation, behavioural modes and
perceptive, mental and imaginative functioning; not only on the
potential for learning, communication, expression, innovation and
creation; but also, and decisively, on modes of social and spatial
organization, on the management of the biosphere and of urban energies
and environments, on the creation of models of economic systems, on
the handling of the industries of knowledge, information and images.


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Moderator: Raquel Renno (BR)


+ Bios

—–> Raquel Renno (<http://www.influenza.etc.br>) is currently
developing a PhD thesis in Media and Urban Spaces for the
Communication and Semiotics programme at the Catholic University of
Sao Paulo (Brazil). Part of the research was presented in seminars at
Buenos Aires University, Plymouth University (Planetary Collegium) and
University of Sussex, among others. She's a member of the scientific
comitee of FILE Symposium and researcher at Medialab Madrid. Together
with Rafael Marchetti she develops projects at the digital art duo
Influenza. In 2005 some of Influenza's works were exhibited at Tohu
Bohu Gallery (individual exhibition at Marseille), Comafosca
(Influenza's retrospective exhibition at Barcelona), Nuevas Geografias
(Mexico), Soundtoys, Runme, FILE (Sao Paulo), Breal 2.3 (Ljubljiana),
404 (Rosario), VII Digital Art Salon in Havana, ARS Electronica
(Linz), among other places. Between 2004 and 2005 they've developed
the installation Non_sensor at Cypres institute directed by Louis Bec
in France sponsored by Unesco, Cypres and the Ministry of Culture of
Brazil.

—–> Luigi Pagliarini (Italy) is an artist, psychologist, multimedia
and software designer, expert in robotics, AI and artificial life. He
is currently Associate Professor at Maersk Institute, University of
Southern Denmark, Professor of Machine Psychology at the Academy of
Fine Arts of Rome, Italy, Director of the Pescara Electronic Artists
Meeting, President of the Cultural Association "artificialia", Art
Director of Ecoteca Cafe, Member of the International Committee
RoboCup Junior, Board Committee of "Rivista diPsicologia dell'Arte"
(Journal of Psychology of Art), Member of EvoNet and Executive Member
of EvoMusArt , Partner Consultant of Entertainment Robotics, Partner
Consultant of the Visual Emotion - Video Productions. He has
published in different international books, journals, congresses and
conferences proceedings and has been rewarded with international
prizes more than once. His work has often been reported on many
international newspapers, magazines and television.

—–> David Cuartielles (Spain) is a engineer and PhD student in
Interaction Design at the School of Arts and Communication, Malmo
University, Sweden. He is a lecturer at the School of Arts and
Communication, Malmo University, researcher at the Creative
Environments Studio, and founder of the laboratory in mechatronics at
the same institution. He was a co-developer with Massimo Banzi of
Arduino ( <http://arduino.berlios.de> ), an open-source physical
computing platform for artists and designers that after three months
of its creation was adopted by RCA in London, ITP in New York,
IDI-Domus in Milan and K3 in Malmo among other schools as a learning
tool. He's also a member of the Critical Design Collective aeswad and
the artistic group desearch and revelopment, curator of ExArTe and
member of E.A.T.

—–> Andy Gracie (UK) is an artist making multi-disciplinary art
work exploring relationships between technological and natural
systems, expressing a special interest in what takes place at the
point where the two are mediated through each other and what bridges
can be revealed or constructed. Current investigations involve the use
of Artificial Intelligence to allow spontaneous communications between
'machine' and 'animal', the devlopment of new language spaces and
emergent behaviours, and to create an epistemological landscape for
reflection, contemplation and discussion of the complex issues around
our changing relationships with the organic. He has shown work
internationally over the last few years and is currently developing a
new commission for AV06 to be shown in Sunderland, UK in March 2006.
<http://.www.hostprods.net>

—–> Monica Bello (Spain) is a freelance curator with a special
interest in the junctions between art, science and technology. She has
worked regularly with Art Futura <http://www.artfutura.org> in an
advisory and PR role, has been assistant project manager for hostprods
on international projects and represented the Mexican video art
collective TechMex <http://www.tech-mex.org> at the Off Loop video
festival <http://www.loop-barcelona.com> . She has curated the
exhibition 'Organismos', the first bio-art exhibition in Spain, at La
Casa Encendida and Espai Cultural de Caja Madrid, Barcelona. Currently
Monica is establishing the Capsula project, a framework for
conferences, exhibitions and workshops on various aspects of science,
art, technology and nature in Centre d'Art Santa Monica in Barcelona.
She is a researcher on the Resqualia portal, a web project focussed on
art, science and consciousness due to be launched early 2006 and has
lectured on the history of digital art at 9zeros school of animation
in Barcelona.