Description
The project aims at breaking knowledge barriers in art and technology. The goal is to diminish the economic and social differences resulting from these barriers. A field sound-art festival will be held in Gdansk followed by a series of art residencies and concerts in Poland and Iceland. A robotic art workshop will be organised in Gdansk followed by an exhibition of robotic art held in Gdansk and Porsgrunn. The interdisciplinary character of the project aims at engaging artists, scientists and ingeneers in a joint undertaking. It promotes new forms of art activity involving sound, engineering and science. The target groups of the project are students of art and politechnic as well as the general public. Kunsthall Grenland will coordinate the participation of Norwegian artists and students in the Man|Machine workshop and will host the robotic art exhibition. Skálar will host art residencies and concerts. The collaboration will link artists, students and engineers from the 3 countries.
Summary of project results
The goal of the project was to draw attention to the existence of a technological barrier and knowledge barrier, an increasing social problem in today's society. This project sought to break down these those technological barriers and barriers of knowledge in the context of artistic creativity and the used of modern technology. The project focused on an interdisciplinary approach, by incorporating scientific inquiry to develop and foster culture. Another important aspect of the project was the notion to ecology in reference to sound. The main theme of Soundplay festival was field recording. This kind of activity showed the existence of audiosphere. In turn, theManMachine workshops was based on the idea of DIY (do it yourself) and showed how the electronic and electric scrap can be used to create robots and works of art. The crucial aim of the project was to promote the idea of creative interdisciplinarity, a combination of various fields of knowledge and the use of technology for different purposes. The project has revealed how scientific knowledge can be used in artistic activities. It was a multi-dimensional project combining exhibitions and educational activities, and scientific and technological knowledge with artistic – visual and musical – creativity. Most of the events were organized in Gdańsk: at Laznia CCA, but also in various art institutions. The project was developed on an international scale, especially in cooperation with Kunsthall Grenland, Norway and with Skalar Centre for Audio Art & Experimental Music, Iceland. The parttners organized: an audio festival Soundplay, concerts, workshops, lectures, discussions panels and artists residencies as a part of the festival. An interdisciplinary, robotic workshop ManMachine addressed to students form different kind of universities (artictic, technical) was also organized. The workshop ended up with an exhibition of robots crated and constructed by the workshops' participants. There was also another exhibition which showed history of robotic art. The exhibition was shown both at Laznia CCA and Kunsthall Grenland in Norway as well.
Summary of bilateral results
The international character of the project has contributed to collaboration between artists, curators and institutions from three countries: Poland, Norway, Iceland. The two exhibitions - „Nearly Human” and „ManMachine” were on display at Kunsthall Grenland in Norway, enabling the artists to reach a wider audience and promote art and science project in different countries. The meetings of artists, curators, workshop participants – students within the Norwegian art community - helped to develop their networking, what may result in future projects. In turn, art residences in Iceland (at Skalar) were also a good practice of networking and art collaborating. Artists who participated in the project collaborated with local artists, developed and performed their work of art, played concerts and did radio broadcasts.The collaboration between Polish and foreign institutions helped to promote the idea of art and science project, giving both audiences and artists wider access to knowledge and activities in the area of art and science.