The acceleration also happened in the media realm. In the USA the radio required 38 years to reach 50 million people, the television needed 13 years, the cable 8 and the Internet 5. And inside the Internet-based communications Facebook required less than 4 years to reach 50 million users, while Skype took roughly two years. Sciences and technologies deeply influenced human life. In ancient Greece the average lifespan was 30 years, in the Roman era it was about the same, and by the end of the XIX century it reached 40 years. Today, in roughly one century, in the so called “technological world”, the lifespan expectation has doubled.

Humans also developed a wide range of artefacts, machines, entities that are quickly becoming more and more powerful, complex, autonomous, and independent. These could be defined to a certain extent as “living entities”, expanding the idea of life and of life forms. All this processes seem pushing forward the human biological, cultural, technical boundaries. How do they happen? Where are technologies based on? Can these processes give any glimpses on a possible evolution?

The nonclassical philosophy offers some theoretical tools to advance a solution of the problem. The true isn’t now ahead on a course of proofs, it could be found out by return thinking akin psychoanalysis and deconstruction. Practice of “return thinking” connects itself with opening unconscious by Freud and critics of ideology by Marx. Thus the ideology is dependent from unconscious, and unconscious is connected with horizon of history. We could say that Marxism and psychoanalysis started the theory of discursive differentiation, which is mainly important in the time of globalisation. Here we take theoretical technology to augment and transform our reality. That is why I will speak in terminology of nonclassical late soviet Marxism and Lacanian psychoanalysis.

Credits: The workshop is presented as part of the BioTehna project initiated in 2012 by Kapelica Gallery and Hackteria – Open Source Biological Art. The BioTehna project is supported by a grant through the Swiss Contribution to the enlarged European Union.

Information:
Tanja Grosman
E: tanja.grosman@kibla.org
T: 059 076 371
M: 031 682 579

Conceptual frame of the workshop is based on demistification of power positions in an era of overexpanding populism of science which is serving public with hermetic information which disable options of equal dialogue levels. Using one of the popular maneuvers in a workshop by executing the saliva collection which is routinely being used for forensic and human identity samples at the field of molecular biology, the workshop content is focussed on a disclosure of the specific gene as one of the source files of decoding one’s own body to understand certain consequences of its operational system. However the genetic profiling test results are coded within the specific system of knowledge which is based on the principles of references and probability. We would like to disclose to the visitors some of those specific systems of knowledge and at the same time critically examine the probability principles which modern science uses within the approach of discovering the ultimate levels of “the truth”. At the same time an interdisciplinary collaboration between an artist, a scientist and other technological experts is being addressed to the broadest public sphere since the position of establishing an objective point of view, with the interest of general public in mind, which is being generated by informed (non)experts, could have a profound impact on the discourse of the processes and final products in the field of science. Within this frame it is important that society gets an overlook over life science structures too, by raising the awareness that every view on “the truth” can be some kind of a manipulation based on an operational system of a specific device.

Information:
Tanja Grosman
E: tanja.grosman@kibla.org
T: 059 076 371
M: 031 682 579

This intensive workshop offers hands-on introduction to interactive systems, based on various methods of motion tracking, gestural interfacing, monitoring of small variations of electrical parameters of different conductive materials including a human body, liquids, plants, metal objects, foil and metal threads, thin metallized plastic films etc. As a starting point of the workshop participants will convert their laptops into digital multichannel theremins to develop further during the workshop unusual gestural interfaces and unique musical instruments, based on principles similar to the well known electronic musical instrument the theremin, invented by the Russian inventor Leon Theremin in 1919. Daily theoretical introductions which accompany the workshop give detailed technical overview of the sensor technology and construction, basic principles of operation of the theremin based systems, art and music applications, useful concepts and ideas, condensed historical content related to almost forgotten historical facts. The workshop is oriented on sound and media artists, composers and musicians, who have particular interest in sound art and interactive systems, forgotten history and musical technology in general. Participants should bring their laptops and have some basic skills in MAX/MSP or PD programming. Various kinds of analog and digital USB theremin-sensors, different stuff for antenna construction as well as all appropriate software libraries for testing, experimenting and performance will be provided by the instructor.

Information:
Tanja Grosman
E: tanja.grosman@kibla.org
T: 059 076 371
M: 031 682 579