Time: 28.11.2023 at 3-5 pm
Venue: TeaK (Tori), Haapaniemenkatu 6, Helsinki
On 28 November, the team responsible for developing MAGICS at Uniarts presents a forum for discussing the past, the present, and the future of the arts in the digital era. The discussion is open for all interested and set up by expert reflections from within our community.
As invited guests we present:
- Marjo Kaartinen, Vice Rector for Education, Uniarts Helsinki
- Hanna Pajala-Assefa, Theatre Academy
- Tuomas Timonen, Theatre Academy
- Tero Heikkinen, Research Institute
- Samir Bhowmik, Research Institute
- Tuomo Rainio, Fine Arts Academy
The research, education, and social interaction of Uniarts Helsinki are constantly expanding onto new platforms. In reaching these, and in addressing the issues of green, digital, and social sustainability, digitality and artificial agency play an increasingly important role. A critical discussion on what this development entails and what is ultimately at stake for those exploring and building artistic expertise in the digital realm is therefore crucial.
Why adopt and promote a digital selection of tools as part of the daily practices of artistic work, research, and teaching? How many of our activities are already immersed in, engaging or breaking the limits of the digital, and how could our expertise influence and challenge the road ahead?
One step to address these questions is provided by the joint research infrastructure titled MAGICS (magics.fi). Currently, it brings together the multidisciplinary communities of Uniarts Helsinki, Aalto University, and Tampere University, focusing on the problematics of human virtualization. It is a network of distributed physical and virtual facilities that
- measure, analyze and digitize human behavior and experiences in authenticity-focused settings (Aalto);
- construct and utilize highly detailed virtual realities and remote presence (TAU) and
- apply virtual and remote presence technologies for creating digitally augmented practices for art, artistic research, and research in arts education (Uniarts).
It is time for the Uniarts community to ask what it expects and anticipates the above infra to provide for its activities.
