2019 is the last year of the international EUCIDA Project, concluded by a symposium in Luznava manor, Latvia, in which a series of lectures, masterclasses, exhibitions will take place for two days, 15 - 16 May. Symposium is curated by media artist and leader of RIXC Centre for new media culture in Riga – prof. Rasa Smite.
“An ecology of the virtual is .. just as pressing as ecologies of the visible world” – Felix Guattari
Ecological awareness forms the core of the EUCIDA symposium, which aims to explore the artistic strategies facing the urgent realities of today in our society – such as climate change, environmental issues, ubiquitous and immersive virtual technologies. By focusing on ecologies, we are using environment as the point of departure to make a shift “back to reality” with the two fold intent: First, as climate change is a major issue which can only be solved in the physical world; and second, as nature in Latvia, where this Eucida symposium will take place, has always had a particularly strong meaning and link for the local communities.
Now more than ever, it is time to make a reality turn, and to treat the virtual more seriously.
Outstanding keynote speakers will discuss alternate realities and ecologies of the virtual, while featured Eucida network artists will give masterclasses that use digital technologies for communicating with the plants, reveal myths behind electricity and network infrastructure, grow algae and bacteria for producing green energy, experiment with 3D printing to transform the digital into the tangible, and experiment with 360-video transforming the real environment into the mixed reality experience, establishing a stronger link between the virtual and the real.
