The opening of the first part of the exhibition, BOTTOM-UP, will take place on Wednesday, 14 November 2012, at 7 pm, at the Koroška Art Gallery (KGLU) in Slovenj Gradec, with honourable speakers Andrej Čas, mayor of Slovenj Gradec and Dmitry Bulatov, curator of the National Centre for Contemporary Arts, Kaliningrad, Russia.

The opening of the second part of the exhibition, TOP-DOWN, will take place on Thursday, 15 November 2012, at 7 pm, at the location of an industrial heritage object, today’s Portal, on 40 Valvazorjeva Street in Maribor. Honourable speakers: Suzana Žilič Fišer, director-general of Maribor2012: Public Institute – European Capital of Culture, Danijel Rebolj, Rector of the University of Maribor, and curator Dmitry Bulatov. The opening will present a robotic performance THE TILLER GIRLS.

Curator Dmitry Bulatov will guide you through the exhibitions (at 6 pm, one hour prior to opening) in Slovenj Gradec and Maribor.

Please join us also for the international conference Art, SCIENCE AND THE TECHNOLOGICAL UNCONSCIOUS on Friday and Saturday, 16^th and 17^th November 2012, between 2 pm and 8 pm at the location of Portal, 40 Valvazorjeva Street in Maribor.

Koroška galerija likovnih umetnosti	ACE KIBLA
Marko Košan	Aleksandra Kostič

arhiv.kiblix.org/kiblix2012/softcontrol.

Opening in Maribor
SOFT CONTROL: Art, Science and the Technological Unconscious
Part II. Top-Down
PORTAL, 40 Valvazorjeva Street 40, Maribor
Thursday, November 15, at 7 pm

The SOFT CONTROL: Art, Science and the Technological Unconscious exhibition reveals to us today’s “technological unconscious”, which encompasses mythological imagination, apocalyptic visions and utopian dreams. By focusing our attention on works of art created using the latest 21st century media – robotics, IT, biomedicine and nanotechnology – the 26 artworks featured in this exhibition attempt to reveal the sources of the modern technological myth, which insists on the permanent value of efficiency, control, unrestrained technological development and economic expansion.
The opening of the first part of the exhibition, Bottom-Up, will take place on Wednesday, 14 November 2012, at 7 pm, at the Koroška Art Gallery (KGLU) in Slovenj Gradec, with honourable speakers Andrej Čas, mayor of Slovenj Gradec and Dmitry Bulatov, curator of the National Centre for Contemporary Arts, Kaliningrad, Russia.

The opening of the second part of the exhibition, Top-Down, will take place on Thursday, 15 November 2012, at 7 pm, at the location of an industrial heritage object, today’s Portal, on 40 Valvazorjeva Street in Maribor. Honourable speakers: Suzana Žilič Fišer, director-general of Maribor2012: Public Institute – European Capital of Culture, Dr Danijel Rebolj, professor and Rector of the University of Maribor, and curator Dmitry Bulatov. The opening will present a robotic performance The Tiller Girls.

Curator Dmitry Bulatov will guide you through the exhibitions (at 6 pm, one hour prior to opening) in Slovenj Gradec and Maribor.

Please join us also for the international conference Art, Science and the Technological Unconscious on Friday and Saturday, 16-17 November 2012, between 2 pm and 8 pm at the location of Portal, 40 Valvazorjeva Street in Maribor.

LINK – location map
Opening performance
Louis-Philippe Demers (Singapore): The Tiller Girls, artificial intelligence – robotic performance, 2010
Music: Phillip Schulze
Light: Armin Purkrabek
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The exhibition is part of the project Soft Control produced by KGLU – Koroška galerija likovnih umetnosti (Slovenj Gradec, Slovenia) and Association for Culture and Education KIBLA (Maribor, Slovenia), with the participation of The National Centre for Contemporary Arts (Russia) and with the support of the programme Culture of the European Union, coproduction Maribor2012 – European Capital of Culture. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This communication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

SOFT CONTROL:
ART, SCIENCE AND THE TECHNOLOGICAL UNCONSCIOUS

INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION > CONFERENCE > EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM > PUBLIC LECTURES > SCREENINGS

Maribor – Slovenj Gradec – SLOVENIA
November 14–December 15, 2012

Production: ACE KIBLA Maribor and KGLU Slovenj Gradec
Curator: DMITRY BULATOV (RU)

Opening of the exhibition Part I: BOTTOM-UP / KGLU, Slovenj Gradec, Slovenia, on Wednesday, November 14, at 7 pm

Opening of the exhibition Part II: TOP-DOWN / Maribor, Portal-Valvazorjeva ulica 40 on Thursday, November 15, at 7 pm

International conference: ART, SCIENCE AND THE TECHNOLOGICAL UNCONSCIOUS on Friday and Saturday, November 16 and 17, from 2 pm to 8 pm

Exhibiting artists:
Marina Abramović (RS/US) with Suzanne Dikker and Matthias Oostrik (NL) / James Auger and Jimmy Loizeau (UK) / Tuur Van Balen (BE) / Brandon Ballengee (US) / Guy Ben-Ary and Kirsten Hudson (AU) / Boredomresearch: Vicky Isley and Paul Smith (UK) / David Bowen (US) / Ursula Damm (DE) / Joe Davis (US) / Louis-Philippe Demers (SG) / Stefan Doepner and Lars Vaupel (SI/DE) / Arthur Elsenaar and Remko Scha (NL) / Andrew Gracie (UK/ES) / Floris Kaayk (NL) / Kuda begut sobaki (RU) / Seiko Mikami (JP) / Neurotica (AU-US) / Leo Peschta (AT) / Maja Smrekar (SI) / Stelarc (AU) / The Tissue Culture & Art Project: Oron Catts and Ionat Zurr (AU) / Polona Tratnik (SI) / Bill Vorn (CA).

Curator statement:
“…The SOFT CONTROL: Art, Science and the Technological Unconscious exhibition reveals to us today’s “technological unconscious”, which encompasses mythological imagination, apocalyptic visions and utopian dreams. SOFT CONTROL shows how the language and ideas of our modern post-biological society are capable of altering and reconfiguring the boundaries of our reality and our very identities. By focusing our attention on works of art created using the latest 21st century media – robotics, IT, biomedicine and nanotechnology – the artists featured in this exhibition attempt to reveal the sources of the modern technological myth, which insists on the permanent value of efficiency, control, unrestrained technological development and economic expansion.

We begin with the axiom that science and technology are not simply instruments to be used in the achieving of certain designated goals. On the contrary, the autonomy of technological systems and their active penetration into all spheres of human life allow us to conceptualize technology as an autotelic ontological entity that plays an ever-greater role in defining human development. The question arises of how one should understand the nature of control, the nature of the compulsion that forces the human to participate in the making of technological systems that, with time, will become not only inseparable from the biological organism, but, in the long term, will surpass it. Is structuring by technologies a manifestation of distinct, abstract “machinisms” that fill our unconscious, or is it a hidden “formatting” influence of the basic elements of medial carriers that possess their own materiality and reality?…” Dmitry Bulatov

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SOFT CONTROL: ART, SCIENCE AND THE TECHNOLOGICAL UNCONSCIOUS is part of the Soft Control project. The project is supported by the Culture Programme of the European Union, Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of the Republic of Slovenia and co-produced with Maribor 2012 – European Capital of Culture.