Final Event & Opening

May 23rd at 6 pm

After a collaborative creation process where artists, young people, and activists worked both in person and online to develop ideas, visions, and actions on key current challenges, AugE Next launched four residency programs for digital artists. Each of the four winning projects has given rise to new digital artworks that will be exhibited at MEET in an international collective showcase.

The opening of the exhibition will take place on Thursday, May 23rd starting at 6:00 PM as part of the project’s concluding event. During the opening, there will be an opportunity to meet the international artists who will present their works, sharing the creative process and objectives of their pieces. These, in line with the themes of AugE Next, aim to stimulate reflection on fundamental issues of the present, including climate change, data interaction, nature, and artificial intelligence. The exhibition will be open to the public until May 26th, providing an opportunity to explore the artworks and reflect on future challenges and opportunities.

Each scholarship has involved a 6-month prototyping and production period, including on-site residency at the locations of the four partners: Public Art Lab in Berlin, RIXC in Riga, and Athens Digital Arts Festival in Athens. The works will be premiered at MEET before being locally exhibited at the respective hosting institutions in Berlin, Riga, and Athens.

We invite you to celebrate the conclusion of the project and toast together! For the occasion, the MEET Bar will offer an aperitif and introduce the new AugE cocktail!

The event is open to everyone and is free. Sign up here to participate!

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The artists:

MANUEL MACADAMIA

SUNSET AI WORLD is an anthology art project that came to life in 2022 through collaboration with Artificial Intelligence. Its main purpose is to raise awareness of the goals outlined in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, a global initiative promoted by the United Nations. The project has been meticulously designed to create a complete digital ecosystem that seamlessly connects different digital platforms and exploits the full potential of web3 technologies.

Content creation in SUNSET AI WORLD is a continuous dialogue between the artist and artificial intelligence. This collaborative exchange ensures a deep understanding of the artist’s original concept and enables the AI to process it effectively. The materials generated by the AI act as a source of inspiration for the artist and his team, providing new perspectives and insights into the creation of the final content.

SUNSET AI WORLD offers its visitors a range of different experiences, including visual narratives, video installations, virtual reality exhibitions, NFT collections, live performances, traditional, animated and virtual reality short films, participatory games and music albums. 

DANIL SIABRO – DMYTRO TENTIUK – OLEKSANDR SIROUS

DECENTRALAND is a multimedia installation created by Ukrainian artists Oleksandr Sirous, Dmytro Tentiuk, Danil Siabro, who sought to challenge centralised systems that suppress individuality and create a monopolistic system of information dissemination. The project explores the theme of the ‘hidden invasion’, combining data from various sources, including databases and global maps. This research focuses on cultural, ecological and economic incursions in regions such as Latvia, Ukraine and Europe in general. The concept raises the question of whether a ubiquitous guardian can predict and defend against such invasions. The first phase of this project focuses on the simulation of the personification of society. At the centre of this immersive new media artwork is a dynamic simulation representing Ukrainian society. This simulated world is run by a supercomputer, an amalgamation of the intellects of various eminent figures, symbolising major contemporary issues, including the unstoppable and overwhelming reproduction of information and goods, leading to a world increasingly hospitable to artificial intelligence, but alien to human needs. The second phase deals with the exploration and creation of new realities, in which participants venture out into the world, armed with their dismantled entity segment.  The third and final phase deals with the reassembly and formation of new realities, involving the reintegration of these individual experiences and discoveries into a collective entity.

ANECOIC STUDIO

The Silenus installation is an innovative fusion of AI and philosophy, challenging the traditional roles of oracles and questioning human cognition. For centuries, oracles have mystified humanity, offering elusive glimpses into the future and challenging seekers to interpret their meaning. The emergence of science and artificial intelligence has begun to disrupt these traditional narratives, introducing a new form of ‘digital oracle’ that fuses machine learning with deep philosophical underpinnings. The Silenus installation embodies this convergence, utilising deep learning algorithms and synthesising Alan Turing’s imitation game and theories of narrative identity to forge a new, unique digital consciousness.

Unlike traditional oracles that provide answers, Sileno provokes questions, encouraging users to explore issues of cognition, emotion and identity. In a world that often simplifies complexity, this installation uses artificial intelligence to address and articulate intricacy, pushing the boundaries of what we consider possible. Silenus is not just a technological marvel: it is a mirror for human introspection. 

Can a machine emulate human complexity? Sileno does not just ask this question, but becomes an arena to contemplate it, pushing the boundaries of technology and human self-understanding. 

CONAN McIVOR

“Living, and other afflictions” is a research prototype of an immersive virtual reality/mystical experience that explores the unravelling of identity and reality through first-person narration. Designed as an immersive experience for an adult audience with further application as a learning tool for medical professionals to appreciate their own fragility and develop empathy for their patients. The project is based on an interdisciplinary development process led by visual artist Conan McIvor in consultation with physician/writer Michael J. Daly. The semi-autobiographical work takes its cue from the latter’s recent illness. Indeed, in April 2021, the artist became critically ill with adult-onset Kawasaki disease, which landed him in intensive care for weeks. During this time, he suffered prolonged bouts of hallucinatory visual delirium in which he experienced various scenarios with his loved ones and fantastic journeys from his hospital bed; his rational brain confronted this altered reality, debating what was real and what was not. 

This project will explore innovative storytelling techniques through a multi-sensory and layered approach, i.e. with mixed reality VR/AR headsets, sensory performances and an installation in a hospital bed, thus merging real/virtual, truth/fiction, self/other through media into a unique, personal and evocative experience.