Art+Communication 09

I attended RIXC’s Art+Communication festival on Energy in Riga. The event was centered on an exhibition and a 2-day super intense seminar that gathered an eclectic mix of people interested in the question of energy, including artists, scientists, philosophers and other researchers, practitioners and utopists. The perspectives brought into the discussion were thus very diverse and at least from my point of view succeeded in widening the context of reflection on issues related to energy. The whole atmosphere was quite relaxed and the seminar ended up with a great diy vodka-making session under the guidance of Signe Pucine (see attached photo).

//// One interesting “utopistic” idea brought up in several presentations was that the “revolution of information” based on peer-to-peer models, will help create an “energy internet” and lead to the “energy revolution” in a world where energy is in abundance. The question is perhaps, can this happen soon enough if it can happen?

About Information & Energy:

// Ludger Hovestadt, Vera Bühlmann / Energy in the Metalithicum era

http://rixc.lv/09/en/conference.participants/buhlmann.html

http://www.slideshare.net/connectedurbandev/dr-ludger-hovestadt-the-eplanet-where-there-is-more-energy-than-we-need

// Michel Bauwens / Peak Energy, Peak Hierarchy, Open Everything

http://rixc.lv/09/en/conference.participants/bauwens.html

// Julian Priest / Who is Energy?

http://rixc.lv/09/en/conference.participants/priest.html

//// Here are links to a few projects by artists worth checking out:

- Bartaku / PhoEf: The Undisclosed Poésis of the Photovoltaic Effect

http://fo.am/bsl_phoef

- Thomas Traxler / The Idea of a Tree

http://rixc.lv/09/en/exhibition.participants/mischer.html

- Gert Aertsen / A Tribute to Karl L. Nessler

http://rixc.lv/09/en/conference.participants/aertsen.html

- Erik Sjödin / Stem Sounds and Bush-Scopes

http://www.eriksjodin.net/blog/category/technology/

//// The latest “The Yes Men Fix the World” movie by the Yes Men

http://theyesmenfixtheworld.com/

/// Audiovisual performance: Mortals Electric by Telcosystems/NL
It was indeed quite mortal. Many people were spaced out in the concrete sense of the term after the performance. I am not sure if I liked it or not but this was quite powerful.

http://www.telcosystems.net/