[spectre] (fwd) Device_art 4.012, Zagreb

[Andreas Broeckmann]

Device_art 4.012 | Ubergadget robotic DIWO art encounter
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Student Centre Zagreb @ hall of Cinema SC, Cinema SC , MM Centre | 10-14 
October 2012
organization and realization: KONTEJNER | bureau of contemporary art 
practice
curatorial team: Ena Hodzic, Sandra Sajovic, Pavel Sedlak, Tereza Teklic
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Would you watch Blade Runner (again)? Can you remember the last robotic 
concert that you’ve been to? What are your kitchen skills when it comes 
to hacking household appliances? Do you see yourself in a fab lab and 
are you into DIWO practice? You may find your answers to these questions 
by visiting Device_art 4.012, since the thematic focus of the festival’s 
4th edition is the idea of a robot. Artists from the Czech, Slovenian, 
Serbian, and Croatian sci-tech scene have approached robots from various 
vantage points – through installations, interactive projections, 
prototypes of devices and objects, and even holograms and (your) 
activity in an extended reality. You can experience this fusion between 
technologized humans and the humanoid technology of device art, between 
robotized devices and living organisms or biological communities, and 
between interactive machines/interfaces and self-willed, autonomously 
acting gadgets by visiting our exhibition, robotic concerts and musical 
performances, workshops of food hacking and gadget hacking, film 
programme, and a round table.
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Fire Painting is a spectacular fire performance of Sanela Jahic, in 
which we literally play with fire. The idea is based on the paradox of 
tactile handling of this primary element, using it as paint on canvas, 
like in action painting. The artist becomes a contemporary variant of 
the hypnotizing shaman, who has the power of manipulating fire by using 
a single glove. 
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Installation of Maja Smrekar (SI) called Active Denial System Error 1.0 
(2009) is a sound kineticon linked to the Active Denial system, a 
refined weapon for the surveillance of civilian population. The artist 
has re-actualized the issue of surveillance and control, problematizing 
the unethical activity of repressive power systems that, under the 
pretext of protecting the civilians, justify the development and use of 
surveillance systems and technologies, not only for military purposes, 
but also in the civil sphere.
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In the holographic video projection Boundary, Dorijan Kolundzija (RS) 
explores the idea of new embodiment in a digital form, blurring the 
border between real and digital, humanity and technology.
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The way in which aspects of action are defined in public discourse as 
licit or illicit has been an important topic of The Media Reality 
(2007). It is a TV-diversion made by Ztohoven (CZ), a guerrilla art 
group who provokingly inserted footage of nuclear explosion into the 
regular TV-programme, thus clearly expressing their attitude concerning 
the issue of media manipulation. 
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This year’s Device_art festival features the artist and hacktivist Roman 
Tyc, one of Ztohoven’s numerous members. He will present the 
documentation of his own project called Traffic Lights (2007), in which 
he tackled the issue of banal conventions that surround us in our 
everyday life in a controversial manner, by inventing, producing, and 
personally installing some fifty street filters which turned the 
standardized, red and green figures on Prague traffic lights into 
vulgarized scenes of people who committed suicide, drunkards, and 
invalids, scandalous to the general public. This humorous intervention 
earned its author a prison sentence, but it also brought him world fame. 
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Besides the exhibition, at this year’s Device_art festival you will be 
able to attend the concert of colourful retro-futuristic robotic 
creatures made of waste materials, whose creator, Stanley Robotman 
Povoda (CZ) is known as the father of Czech robotics. You can also join 
Device_art workshops, where you will have the opportunity of learning 
how to produce an unusual DIY instrument, how soft-boiled eggs are 
creatively linked to the technology of USB-stick, how to make an 
UberGadget from household appliances, and other Arduino tricks.
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Participating artists:
Prokop Bartonicek (CZ), Marko Batista (SI), Andrey Boleslavsky & The 
Vasulkas (SK/CZ), Iva Curic & Ana Horvat (HR), Hrvoje Hirsl (HR), I'MM_ 
Media lab (HR), Sanela Jahic (SI), Michal Kindernay (CZ), Stevan Kojic 
(RS), Dorijan Kolundzija (RS), Dominik Mahnic & Matic Potocnik (SI), 
Darija Medic (RS), Martina Mezak (HR), Origamitronica (HR), Marie 
Polakova (CZ) & Jonathan Cremieux (FI), Stanley Robotman Povoda (CZ), 
Maja Smrekar (SI), Sasa Spacal (SI), Standa Filip Trio feat. Standuino 
(CZ), Anselmo Tumpic (HR), Roman Tyc (CZ), Ztohoven (CZ)
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You can register for the workshops (Sous-vide device hacking workshop, 
fraAngelico, Make your own UberGadget! Hacking household appliances) at 
radionice at kontejner.org by 11 October 2012 at the latest; the number of 
participants is limited for all workshops.
Free entry to all events.
For the complete programme, please visit www.kontejner.org .


-- 
KONTEJNER | bureau of contemporary art praxis
kontejner at kontejner.org