Critical Triggers by César Escudero Andaluz

SOLO EXHIBITION

Exhibition opening: Wednesday, 16 January 2019, at 7 pm
Open through: 15 February 2019
Opening times: TUE–FRI 12 pm–6 pm and by appointment


WORKSHOPS:
César Escudero
Data Polluters | Do-It-Yourself Physical Netbots
Tuesday, 15 January 2019, 10 am–1 pm

César Escudero and Martín Nadal
BoT | Bitcoin of Things
Wednesday, 16 January 2019, 10 am–1 pm

The Academy of Fine Arts and Design – University of Ljubljana
Department for Painting / Video and New Media, Roška 2, Ljubljana
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How do artefacts and interfaces affect our perceptions and change us? What are the social implications of invisible practices that cloud the way people and businesses are labelled and treated? How can we understand and describe the effects of interfaces and algorithms on society, economy and human relations? What kind of society will derive from this apparatus?

By critically studying the functionality and aesthetics of interfaces, we can begin to see them as non-neutral communication technologies. This task has been pursued, in recent years, by practices such as Critical Interface Design and Tactical Media. Following their legacy, Spanish artist César Escudero Andaluz – since 2011 working as a researcher at the Interface Culture LAB, Kunstuniversität Linz – has been developing a series of works of speculative – and critical – art and design, underlying the political, social, economical and environmental implications of interfaces and technological systems, such as personal devices and the Blockchain.
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WORKSHOP #1
César Escudero
DATA POLLUTERS | DO-IT-YOURSELF PHYSICAL NETBOTS

Data Polluters is a workshop for students aiming at developing a critical stance towards new technologies, the pervasive presence of interfaces in our lives, the ongoing homogenization of design and Graphical User Interface standards, and the data tracking and online management to which users are subjected. Participants will be given basic knowledge of BEAM robotics (Biology, Electronics, Aesthetics and Mechanics) and guided through the realization of their own small data polluter, a small bug-like physical bot designed to complicate the relationship between interactive systems.

WORKSHOP #2
César Escudero and Martín Nadal
BoT | BITCOIN OF THINGS

Bitcoin of Things (BoT) is a workshop for students who want to address issues related to media art, digital culture, critical economy, electronics and the Internet of Things (IoT). The theoretical introduction acquaints participants to concepts that help them to contextualize and better understand the Bitcoin and Blockchain world, while the practical part consists in working with a basic electronic circuit, welding and microcontrollers to build a playful bitcoin miner out of ordinary objects such as hammers, staplers or salt-shakers. Participants will build their own Bitcoin of Things (BoT) miner combining a Wi-Fi microcontroller and different sensors.

TO APPLY: Participants will be selected based on a short motivational letter. Follow this link to apply and tell us which workshop you would like to attend and why you think you will benefit from it.

Deadline for submission: 10 January 2019, by midnight

Each workshop is limited to 8 participants! No prior experience is necessary. The workshops are free of charge.
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César Escudero Andaluz is an artist and researcher focused on Human-Computer Interaction, interface criticism, digital culture and its social and political effects. His work spans image-making, sculpture, videogame, installation, networked culture, IoT, robotics, media archaeology. Since 2011, he is a researcher at the Kunstuniversität Linz in the Interface Culture LAB. His artworks have been shown at international electronic-art events, museums, galleries and conferences including the Ars Electronica Center (AT), ZKM (DE), ISMAR2015 (JP), WRO2015 (PL), Transnumeriques (FR), Hangar.org (ES), KIKK (BE), Rome Media Art Festival (IT) and ADAF (GR).
Martín Nadal is an artist/developer based in Linz and studying Interface Cultures at the Kunstuniversität Linz. In recent years, he has collaborated in a variety of projects dealing with cryptocurrencies, blockchain, IoT, etc., and taught several art- and technology-related workshops. His works have been shown at Visualizar 11, Medialab Prado in Madrid, the Ars Electronica festival and the Art Meets Radical Openness Festival in Linz, Settimana della Scienza in Genoa and at the IAMAS - Institute of Advanced Media Arts and Sciences in Ogaki-shi.
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Credits

Production: Aksioma – Institute for Contemporary Art, Ljubljana, 2019

Artistic Director: Janez Janša
Producer: Marcela Okretič
Executive Producer: Sonja Grdina
Development Specialist: Jana Renee Wilcoxen
Public Relations: Urška Barut
Technician: Valter Udovičić
Documentation: Jure Goršič (photo)

Workshops are organized in collaboration with: The Academy of Fine Arts and Design of the University of Ljubljana and Kunstuniversität Linz.

Supported by: the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia and the Municipality of Ljubljana, the Austrian Cultural Forum, and the Embassy of Spain in Ljubljana.
Aksioma's programme is additionally supported by the Ministry of Public Administration as part of the public call for co-financing projects for the development and professionalisation of NGOs and volunteerism and JSKD.

Contact:
Urška Barut, 00386-(0)41 417 707, [email protected]
Aksioma | Institute for Contemporary Art, Ljubljana
Jakopičeva 11, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
www.aksioma.org