LASER talks at Roy Ascott Studio 
The TAO of TAI
Technoetic Aesthetics of Artificial Intelligence

LASSER chair: Clarissa Ribeiro, Ph.D.

Roy Ascott Studio Program Director

(Hybrid) October 23rd, 2023 3 p.m. Beijing, Shanghai ( 9 a.m. Belgian)

zoom meeting  邀请你参加已安排的Zoom会议。

主题: LASER talk in Shanghai 

时间: 2023年10月23日 03:00 下午 北京，上海

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https://zoom.us/j/8605473651

会议号: 860 547 3651

(term definition) Technoetic Aesthetics (Roy Ascott, 1997) The classical concern with the surface image of the world gives way to the technoetic aesthetics of creative consciousness and artificial life.

From July 2023 to February 2024, LASER talks at Roy Ascott Studio in Shanghai, are inviting artists, scientists, humanists and technologists together for informal gatherings to explore Roy’s 100 Terms and Definitions for the Post-biological Era coined in his ‘Technoetic Aesthetics’ written in 1997. For the October 23rd edition, hybrid — in person at DeTAO Bulding 7th floor Conference Room, Shanghai Institute of Visual Arts’ campus and online on Zoom, the invited speakers will discuss the Technoetic Aesthetics of Artificial Intelligence. The invited speakers’ choices from Roy Ascott’s glossary include: 

Peter Friess and Dan Zhu

Bionicity: Synchronicity is the convergence of disparate events into a unified time. Iconicity is the convergence of disparate data into a unified image. Bionicity is the convergence of artificial / living systems into a unified consciousness.

Varvara Guljajeva and Mar Canet Sola:

Neuro-cosmology: Artificial neural networks are merging with planetary networks in a new space of consciousness. We shall chart the mind as we chart the sky, creating new cognitive constellations, noetic zodiacs.

Huang Wei

Cyberstress and Datafoam

Cyberstress: Induced by inertia in fast-flowing streams of transformation and translocation.

Datafoam: Wormholes are found tunneling in quantum foam - connecting widely separated

locations in the galaxy. We tunnel through datafoam from hyperlink to hyperlink, across

our planetary Web.

Invited speakers:

Peter Friess, Brussels-based European media artist and senior researcher. Holding a Ph.D. in self-organizing complex social systems and a degree in space technology, he explores fields of AI, mixed realities, and humanities. He engages through artworks, performances, workshops, and talks (such as Brussels Lasertalk). His work has been globally exhibited, including at the Beijing Media Art Biennial, and ACM Designing Interactive Systems at Carnegie Mellow University. Recent publications include writing on “How to Escape a Boring Metaverse” in Leonardo and “THE_OTHERVERSE - A Contemporary Cabinet Of Curiosities” in ACM.

Contact:  (petermfriess@gmx.com)

Personal Website: https://www.petermfriess.com/

Dan Zhu, Belgium and UK-based researcher and media artist. Dan’s current Ph.D. research at Loughborough University focuses on the design of future hybrid creative spaces using the pattern language approach. Her educational and professional background as an architect spans China, the USA, Belgium, and the UK. From 2021 to 2022, project manager at GLUON Art & Research organisation in Brussels, and before executive manager at Design Square of the College of Design and Innovation at Tongji University in Shanghai. She is also a guest co-editor and translator for ILAUD (International Laboratory of Architecture and Urban Design). Dan’s recent publications include “An Analytical Framework for Designing Future Hybrid Creative Learning Spaces: A Pattern Approach” and “Environmental Design vs. Environmental Art Design: A Chinese Perspective”.

Contact:  (zhu.dan729@gmail.com)

Researcher profile: https://www.lboro.ac.uk/schools/design-creative-arts/people/doctoral-researchers/dan-zhu/

Dr Varvara Guljajeva is an artist and researcher holding the position of Assistant Professor in Computational Media and Arts Thrust at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou). Previously, she held positions at the Estonian Academy of Arts and Elisava Design School in Barcelona. Varvara was invited as a visiting researcher to XRL, Creative School of Media at Hong Kong City University, IAMAS (Ogaki, Japan), LJMU (Liverpool, UK), Interface Cultures in the Linz University of Art, and Design, Blekinge Institute of Technology (Karlshamn, Sweden). Her Ph.D. thesis “From Interaction to Post-Participation: The Disappearing Role of the Active Participant” (defended in 2018 in the Estonian Academy of Arts) was selected as the highest-ranking abstract by Leonardo Labs in 2020. As an artist, she works together with Mar Canet forming an artist duo Varvara & Mar. Often the duo’s work is inspired by the information age. In their practice, they confront social changes and the impact of the technological era. The duo has been exhibiting in international shows since 2009. Their works were shown at MAD in New York, FACT in Liverpool, Santa Monica in Barcelona, Barbican in London, Onassis Cultural Centre in Athens, Ars Electronica Museum in Linz, ZKM in Karlsruhe, and more.

Contact: varvarag@gmail.com

Varvara & Mar collective: http://var-mar.info/

Mar Canet Sola is an artist and researcher. Mar is a PhD candidate and research fellow at Cudan research group in BFM Tallinn University. He has a master’s degree from Interface Cultures at the University of Art and Design Linz and two degrees in art and design from ESDI in Barcelona and in computer game development from the University of Central Lancashire in the UK. Mar was invited as a visiting researcher to XRL, Hong Kong City University, IAMAS (Ogaki, Japan), and Blekinge Institute of Technology (Karlshamn, Sweden). As an artist, he works together with Varvara Guljajeva forming an artist duo Varvara & Mar. The duo has been exhibiting in international shows since 2009. Their works were shown at MAD in New York, FACT in Liverpool, Santa Monica in Barcelona, Barbican in London, Onassis Cultural Centre in Athens, Ars Electronica Museum in Linz, ZKM in Karlsruhe, and more.

Contact: mar.canet@tlu.ee

Researcher profile: https://cudan.tlu.ee/team/mar/

Varvara & Mar collective: Website: http://var-mar.info/

Huang Wei is a digital art director and transmedia artist based in Shanghai, China, who has been working in collaboration with multimedia artists and engineers to create cross-media space-time experiences, exploring how digital technologies and media have the power to influence behavioral shifts interfering in reshaping humanity’s socio, political and cultural aspects. He was shortlisted and awarded the Lumen Prize, Ann Arbor Film Festival, and Slamdance Film Festival and has been exhibiting, performing, and lecturing in institutions such as Beijing Minsheng Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai Concert Hall, Shanghai West Bund Art Center, Strawberry Music Festival, and Kemper Art Museum in St. Louis; collaborating with international artists and technical teams in commercial projects for Tencent, BMW, Audi, Rob Report, Geek Park, Adidas, JNBY, Bilibili, Vice/BIE. He explores AI aesthetics in multimedia experiments in the courses he leads for 3rd and 4th-year students of the Roy Ascott Studio Advanced Program in Technoetic Arts, Detao Masters Academy at the Shanghai Institute of Visual Arts

Contact:huangwei2022@foxmail.com

Personal Website: https://www.behance.net/hwang_wei