LEONARDO LASER LINZ - Die Gartenlaube Vol. III, Danube Songs 2

This LASER Event will be part of the Ars Electronica Festival program

LASER CHAIRS: Christa Sommerer & Fabricio Lamoncha

Event Info

When: Thursday 8th September 2022, 12:30 to 14:20 CEST

Where: Johannes Kepler Universität Linz - Learning Center Square, Altenberger Straße 69,4040 Linz, Österreich

”There are still songs to sing beyond mankind.” (Paul Celan)

We are delighted to once again have the opportunity to host our "Leonardo Laser Talk" at the Ars Electronica Festival 2022, with the support of the Kunstuniversität Linz and the Interface Cultures Department. In September 2021, Linz joined the Leonardo Art & Science Evening Rendezvous (LASER) network, an international program that brings together artists, scientists, academics, and the general public, to share their work and inspire each other through engaging presentations, performances, and discussions. The mission of these gatherings is to foster unusual encounters and dialogues, allowing its participants to challenge their worlds and practices while promoting pluralism and interdisciplinarity, providing a space to make new friends and build new alliances, set new agendas and new horizons. We do it out of love and curiosity.

In this third edition we continue our "Gartenlaube" series with a second panel around water. Through different narratives such as bodies of water and bodies of water, water fluidity and water love, water ecologies and water pollution, water management, and with a special focus on the Danube River, our guests will present their personal work as well as their methods, their stories and maybe even their songs. We are very interested in understanding how their work—whether artistic or scientific—has shaped their relationship with this sensitive force of nature. We understand the river as an artery through which communication and exchanges, not only human but also interspecies, have been established since long before humans began to navigate, cultivate and establish their settlements along it.

Program 

- Introduction: Christa Sommerer & Fabricio Lamoncha  

- Welcome Performance: “Underwater Lillies”, by Verena Merstallinger (AT) (guitar) & Dogus Karlik (TR)

- Workshop Presentation: “Photosynthetic You”, by Vanessa V(ozzo) (IT)

- Keynote 1: “Sounds of a troubled world’s = Underwater Interception of aquaforming”, Robertina Sebjanic (SI)

- Keynote 2: - “~Molecular Flow~“, Dr. Olivia Osborne (UK)

- Discussion: Robertina Sebjanic, Dr. Olivia Osborne, Christa Sommerer & Fabricio Lamoncha 

Speakers Bios

Dr Olivia Osborne (UK)

Dr. Olivia Osborne is an interdisciplinary scientist in the fields of human health and the environment. She is an acknowledged multidisciplinary artist known for her experimental techniques. Her artwork is expressed in a wide variety of media, including but not limited to watercolour, acrylic, oil painting, linoleum printmaking, drawing, photography and video. Osborne’s artwork has been described as a renaissance artist; where she renders and explores the world through its many levels of macro, micro and nano, natural / built, environmental, somatic and emotional. [She is a member of the UCLA’s Art|Sci Collective, and has been an lecturer at the Sci|Art Lab+Studio program]

Robertina Šebjanič (SI)

Robertina Šebjanič is an artist whose work explores the biological, (geo)political and cultural realities of aquatic environments and the impact of humanity on other organisms. Her projects call for developing empathetic strategies to recognise the other (non-human) species. In her analysis of the Anthropocene and its theoretical framework, the artist uses the terms “aquatocene” and “aquaforming” to refer to the human impact on the watery world.

Her works received awards and nominations at Prix Ars Electronica, Starts Prize, Falling Walls.

SPONSORS

The Leonardo/ISAST LASERs are a program of international gatherings that bring artists, scientists, humanists and technologists together for informal presentations, performances and conversations with the wider public. The mission of the LASERs is to encourage contribution to the cultural environment of a region by fostering interdisciplinary dialogue and opportunities for community building to over 50 cities around the world. To learn more about how our LASER Hosts and to visit a LASER near you please visit our website. @lasertalks