[spectre] June 20 Deadline for Open Fields2: VIRTUALITIES AND REALITIES conference

Mon Jun 19 10:34:48 CEST 2017

Hello!

this is a reminder about the deadline is approaching soon for the 2nd 
Open Fields conference (on artistic research),  which with the title 
VIRTUALITIES AND REALITITIES will take place in Riga, October 19-21, 2017

Deadline: June 20, 2017
Apply now! http://openfields2017.rixc.lv 

Looking forward to see you in Riga, the programme just has began shaping 
(as the exhibition deadline is already closed, and notifications coming 
soon), but already it looks like this year festival will be particularly 
inspiring! :)

best,
Rasa

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VIRTUALITIES AND REALITIES

The 2nd International Open Fields Conference on Artistic Research

in the framework of RIXC Art Science Festival 2017

October 19 – 21, 2017, Riga, Latvia

http://festival2017.rixc.org

* DEADLINE – June 20, 2017 

* Apply Now! Here -> http://openfields2017.rixc.lv 

VIRTUALITIES AND REALITIES aims to establish a space for artistic 
interventions and conversations about the complex implications of 
immersive technologies. Immersive technologies coupled with superior 
virtual environments, artificial intelligence algorithms, faster 
processors, and biometrics are launching a new era in virtual 
experiences, entertainment and story-telling. At the same time these 
technologies have the potential for implementing new systems of invasive 
monitoring and control. What do these new developments in VR/AR mean and 
how artistic research in this new field can contribute for education, 
entertainment, social policy, and systems of codified knowledge?
This year's RIXC Art Science festival programme will feature the 2nd 
Open Fields conference on artistic research, as well as workshops, 
performances and exhibitions, exploring the theme “virtualities and 
realitites”. The conference and other festival events will take place 
from October 19–21, 2017, in Riga's most significant contemporary art 
venues – kim? Contemporary Art Center and RIXC Gallery, as well as in 
the Art Academy of Latvia, and the Latvian National Museum of Art.

* Keynote Speakers:

Ellen PEARLMAN / Parsons / New School / Art-A-Hack / ThoughtWorks / New 
York, USA
David ROTHENBERG / New Jersey Institute of Technology / USA
and others – tbc.

* About Open Fields

The Open Fields conference is the annual gathering in Riga, Latvia, for 
international scholars and artists working at the intersection of arts, 
humanities and science. The conference was launched in 2016 with the aim 
to create the Nordic-Baltic region based platform for artistic research. 
It is taking place in the framework of the RIXC Art Science festival. 
The 1st conference edition took place in Riga, October 2016, gathering 
together 120 participants representing 60 universities from 30 countries 
world-wide. The conference venues this year will be: the Art Academy of 
Latvia, and the Latvian National Museum of Art, and we expect to host 80 
participants. We welcome proposals from independent artists as well as 
university based artists-researchers and scholars from different other 
fields, if they have a relation and/or interest in art and other 
creative contemporary practices.

* VIRTUALITIES AND REALITIES

Immersive technologies coupled with superior virtual environments, 
artificial intelligence algorithms, faster processors, and biometrics 
are launching a new era in virtual experiences, entertainment and 
story-telling. At the same time these technologies have the potential 
for reinforcing stereotypes, contributing to massive economic and social 
disruptions, and implementing new systems of invasive monitoring and 
control.

 What do these new developments in VR/AR mean for education, 
entertainment, social policy, and systems of codified knowledge? Like 
their predecessors the telephone, television, and mobile phone, what are 
the impending new vistas and reduced horizons?
Biometrics and the uploading and tracking of personal data spans areas 
from healthcare to advertising, with implications for law, criminal 
justice, entertainment (gaming), education and sports. Machine learning 
and algorithms are harvesting and making use of big data in new and 
startling ways. Some of it allows pinpoint accuracy in determining 
issues of public health, economics, climate change, story-telling, 
political leanings and the migration of populations. What does all this 
data combined with new technologies mean? What are some current and 
future artistic strategies that deal with this? Combined with the 
acceleration of VR/AR and technologies of immersion, how will societies 
react?

Taking place in the framework of RISK CHANGE EU Creative Europe’s 
project, various festival events will explore relations between 
“virtualities” and “realities” in our post-media society. The Open 
Fields conference will discuss the socio-cultural and neurobiological 
impacts of virtual and augmented reality, and other immersive 
technologies. The conference participants will also look at the places 
and movements from a socio-political perspective, the mapping and 
charting of migrating cultures particularly people and their data traces.
The conference will be complemented by the festival exhibition that will 
explore the changing role of art in society, its transformative 
potential, and its relations to the sciences, especially focusing on 
neomateriality, new aesthetics and other critical qualities of the 
post-digital.

* Proceedings

The papers by conference participants will be published in conference 
proceeding, which will come out in the Acoustic Space, (double blind) 
peer-reviewed journal & book series. The call for full paper submissions 
will be announced after the conference on the Acoustic Space journal 
website:
http://acousticspacejournal.com

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CALL FOR CONFERENCE PROPOSALS:

DEADLINE EXTENDED: JUNE 20, 2017

We welcome proposals by scholars, artists, artists-scholars, designers, 
PhD researchers, media theorists, art historians, curators, science 
philosophers, cultural innovators, critical engineers and data 
designers, as well as scientists from different Fields – biology, 
ecology, environment, digital technologies, renewable energy, and 
others, who have experienced or see the potential of collaboration with 
arts.

THEMES:

* augmented and virtual reality

* 360-degree video and interactive story-telling
* biometrics, AI and 
machine learning

* tracing and charting the migrating cultures
* artistic and scientific 
research practices

* techno-ecological perspective

* neomateriality and post-digital aesthetics
* digital art archives and 
curating practices
* data visualization and immersive environments

Welcome to submit your conference proposal consisting of:

- keywords 5–6,

- an abstract 250 words,

- biography of the author(s) 200 words each

APPLY FOR CONFERENCE here > http://openfields2017.rixc.lv
DEADLINE EXTENDED: JUNE 20, 2017

Notifications: July 15, 2017

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* Conference chairs:

Ellen PEARLMAN / Parsons / New School / Art-A-Hack / ThoughtWorks / New 
York, USA
Rasa SMITE / RIXC / Liepaja University / Latvia

* The International Conference Scientific board:

Lev MANOVICH / Cultural Analytics Lab / The Graduate Center, City 
University of New York, USA
Jussi PARIKKA / Winchester School of Art / University of Southampton / UK
Geoff COX / School of Communication and Culture, Aarhus University, Denmark
Kristin BERGAUST / Oslo and Akershus University, Norway
Laura BELOFF / IT University, Copenhagen / Finnish Bioart Society, 
Helsinki, Finland
Lily DIAZ-KOMMONEN / Head of Research Department of Media, Aalto 
University, School of Arts, Design and Architecture, Helsinki, Finland
Ursula DAMM / Bauhaus University Weimar, Germany
Vytautas MICHELKEVICIUS / Nida Art Colony, Vilnius Academy of Arts, 
Lithuania
Margrét Elísabet ÓLAFSDÓTTIR / Art Education at the University of 
Akureyri, Iceland
Ilva SKULTE / Riga Stradins University, Latvia
Regine DEBATTY / we-make-money-not-art.com / UK/BE
Piibe PIIRMA / Tallinn University / Estonian Academy of Arts, Tallinn, 
Estonia
Raivo KELOMEES / Estonian Academy of Arts, Tallinn, Estonia
Aleksandra KOSTIC / Kibla / Risk Change project / Maribor, Slovenia

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* Participation Fee / Travel / Accommodation:

The participants will be asked to take care about covering their own 
travel and accommodation costs. We will provide you with official 
invitation letters, encouraging to apply for travel support at your home 
universities. Selected exhibition artists will be asked to cover all the 
artwork production costs by themselves – we only will cover the costs 
related to the exhibiting the works in Riga.
However, limited amount of grants for covering support travel and 
accommodation for independent artists and researchers will be available 
too, primarily, for participants from Baltic and Nordic countries, as 
well as Central and Eastern Europe. Partial support can be given to 
participants from other countries.

Please see for more information on the festival website: 
http://festival2017.rixc.org

The Festival is produced by RIXC / Riga, Latvia in collaboration with EU 
programme's Creative Europe Risk Change project partners.

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* The Festival and Exhibition curators: Raitis SMITS and Rasa SMITE / RIXC

The Conference is organized by RIXC / Riga in collaboration with the 
Renewable Futures Headquarters / Oslo, and Art-A-Hack / New York, and 
Hybrid Lab Nordplus project academic partners: Liepaja University, Aalto 
University and HiOA, Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied 
Sciences.

* Contact: rixc (at) rixc.org

Address: Lencu iela 2, Riga, LV-1010, Latvia
Phone: +371 67228478 (office), +371 26546776 (Rasa Smite)
http://rixc.org

Support: EU Programme “Creative Europe”, Risk Change project, Nordplus 
Hybrid Lab project, the State Culture Capital Foundation of Latvia, Riga 
City Council, the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia

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http://festival2017.rixc.org

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