LASER Talks in Brisbane: Innovative Approaches for Advocating, Preserving, and Celebrating Indigenous Australian Culture Through Art and Technology. 

Chaired by: Dr. Anastasia Tyurina

This dynamic panel discussion delves into innovative approaches for advocating, preserving, and celebrating Australian Culture and Country in the digital age, highlighting the transformative power of the arts as a catalyst for social and ecological change.

This LASER (Leonardo Art Science Evening Rendezvous) Talk is part of the International Symposium on Electronic Art (ISEA2024) program.  

EVENT INFO

When: Tuesday, June 25, 2024, from 3.30-5.30 pm, AEST. Find your time zone here

Where: Plaza Auditorium, Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre, Corner of Merivale & Glenelg Street, South Bank QLD 4101, www.bcec.com.au, 

Access Info: www.bcec.com.au, Accessibility information This session will be live-streamed from Brisbane for ISEA2024! 

Register on https://leonardo.info/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=912

ISEA 2024 Websites: https://shorturl.at/aL2sP & https://isea2024.isea-international.org/welcome/

This dynamic panel discussion delves into innovative approaches for advocating, preserving, and celebrating Australian Culture and Country in the digital age. By examining innovative artistic practices that amplify the often marginalised voices of Indigenous Nations, and those of the more than human worlds, the panel will highlight the transformative power of the arts as a catalyst for social and ecological change. Our panelists, including multimedia producer and Indigenous advocate Brett Leavy, experimental environmental artist Dr.Keith Armstrong, and UQ Senior Lecturer in Architecture Dr. Kelly Greenop, will share their expertise and insights on:

• The role of experimental art practices in driving social and ecological change

• Building cross-cultural dialogue and understanding through creative process

• Developing Innovative strategies for preserving and celebrating Indigenous culture

  
  

SPEAKERS BIOS 

Dr Kelly Greenop is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Queensland's School of Architecture, Design and Planning. Her research is in Digital Cultural Heritage, utilises 3D laser scanning of heritage environments to document and archive fragile, remote and at-risk heritage sites, and research the use of digital heritage. She works with heritage governance, practitioners and peak bodies to promote sustainable use of digital heritage methods. Greenop’s work has been archived by CyArk, and won heritage awards with National Trust of Australia. She is a member of the Australia ICOMOS Executive Committee.https://kellygreenop.com/

Brett Leavy descends from the Kooma people whose traditional country is bordered by St George in the east, Cunnamulla to the west, north by the town of Mitchell and south to the Queensland/NSW border.   As a multimedia producer and Indigenous advocate, Brett heads up Australia's leading First Nations social impact cultural design company– Bilbie Virtual Labs, designing an innovative and connective program known as Virtual Songlines – a suite of immersive, interconnected multi-user virtual heritage simulations that showcase the history and heritage of fifty cities and regional towns across Australia. Brett brings together a dedicated team of historians, designers, developers and programmers to work collaboratively on the delivery of these virtual heritage landscapes; cost-effectively, authentically and comprehensively. He believes gaming and virtual reality (VR) can be an effective tool for the recreation of the heritage and culture of First Nations people everywhere. Virtual Songlines is being used by Cross River Rail , seeking to acknowledge and honour the cultural heritage of the project’s alignment in inner Brisbane, allowing viewers to walk through the native bushlands that covered the areas that are now the Brisbane CBD. https://www.virtualsonglines.org/

Keith Armstrong is an experimental artist profoundly motivated by issues of social and ecological justice. His engaged, participative practices provoke audiences to comprehend, envisage and imagine collective pathways towards sustainable futures. He has specialised for thirty years in collaborative, experimental practices with emphasis upon innovative performance forms, site-specific electronic arts, networked interactive installations, alternative interfaces, art-science collaborations and socially and ecologically engaged practices.Keith’s research asks how insights drawn from scientific and philosophical ecologies can help us to better invent and direct experimental art forms, in the understanding that art practitioners are powerful change agents, provocateurs and social catalysts. Through inventing radical research methodologies and processes he has led and created over sixty major art works and process-based projects, which have been shown extensively in Australia and overseas, supported by numerous grants from the public and private sectors. He was the installation artist for the large-scale collaborative artwork Uramat Mugas showcased for the Asia Pacific Triennial (APT10), Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA), Brisbane. In 2022 he showed his video artwork Common Thread in the exhibition Possibles' at ISEA 2022 (27th International Symposium of Electronic Art), Barcelona, Spain, and also at the V2 Lab (Rotterdam, Netherlands) and Novtec Festival (Lima, Peru).  In 2023-5 he is presenting a touring exhibition of a large scale social engaged artwork Carbon_Dating that fosters a 'community of care' around the sustenance of native gasses and grasslands, and in 2024 he will begin a new project called Forest Art Intelligence (FAI) that seeks to integrate a range of plant-supporting artworks within a rejuvenating forest, with the capacity to support the many intelligences of the re-emergent forest ecology. https://embodiedmedia.com/resumebio/short-bio

Dr. Anastasia Tyurina holds the positions of Academic Lead of Learning and Teaching and Senior Lecturer in Visual Communication at the School of Design, Queensland University of Technology. With over 20 years of experience in teaching and industry roles, Anastasia is renowned for her work in design as a researcher and new media artist. Anastasia's interdisciplinary approach combines science, technology, arts, and design to create transformative experiences that challenge boundaries and advocate for social change. Her expertise spans emerging technologies, visual communication, interaction design, scientific imaging, photography, and creative coding. At the core of Anastasia's research and practice is the exploration of liminality in design. Through immersive visual-led digital experiences, she blurs the lines between physical and virtual environments, objective data and subjective interpretations, and human and non-human actors. Anastasia envisions a brighter future by designing liminal experiences that advocate for social change, improved health, and enhanced well-being. Her work exists at the intersection where art, design, science, and technology converge, offering new perspectives and transformative possibilities. As a design researcher and creative practitioner, Anastasia pushes the boundaries of what is possible, creating innovative experiences that transcend traditional boundaries and facilitate meaningful transitions in how we perceive and interact with the world around us. 

SPONSORS

ABOUT LASER Talks

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

ABOUT QUT

Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a major Australian university with a truly global outlook. Home to nearly 50,000 students, we’re providing real-world infrastructure, learning and teaching, and graduate skills to the next generation of change-makers.

ABOUT ISEA 2024

The upcoming 29th International Symposium on Electronic Art (ISEA), ISEA2024, will take place in Brisbane from June 21-29, 2024. ISEA is the preeminent international event in art and technology, offering a unique convergence of distinguished artists, scholars, creative technologists, and scientists who together explore ground-breaking advancements at the nexus of art, science, and technology.

ISEA2024 is co-directed by Wesley Enoch AM and Professor Gavin Sade. Our partners include institutions such as the Queensland University of Technology, the Brisbane Powerhouse, The Edge (State Library of Queensland), Metro Arts, Superordinary, the Australian Network of Art and Technology (ANAT), Griffith University, and the University of the Sunshine Coast, among others.

The theme for ISEA2024 is Everywhen, which explores human perception of timescales and challenges our understanding of the past, present, and future in the days of singularity and climate change. 'Everywhen' encapsulates the notion of all time co-existing within a single place, proposing that past, present, and future cohabit in every location.

ISEA2024 includes a conference held at the Brisbane Convention and Entertainment Centre, a workshop program held at partner venues. This will be combined with a showcase creative program of electronic art exhibitions and performances at The Brisbane Powerhouse, Metro Arts, Superordinary, the Griffith University Art Museum, Superordinary Northshore, KEPK, University of the Sunshine Coast Art Gallery, the QUT Art Museum and other venues. With a vision to foster innovation, ISEA2024 aspires to serve as a catalyst for collaborations with local emerging practitioners.

The event explores emerging mediums and digital technologies.  ISEA2024 will feature a mix of emerging and established practitioners, and First Nations artists. Works will span a range of forms, including creative robotics, bioart, augmented, virtual and extended reality, data visualisation, interactive public art, creative coding, electronic music, dance, XR film, expanded animation, projection mapping, machine learning, motion capture and more. This exploration of emerging mediums pushes the boundaries of what is possible in the arts and engages audiences in new and interactive ways.   The exhibitions and performances will showcase Australian artists including, Robert Andrew, R e a, Petra Gemeinboeck, Tory Innocent, Nirma Madhoo, Helen Pynor, Ross Manning and Gail Priest, to name a few, and present international artists of the likes of Postcommodity, Tiare Ribeaux, Mo Zareei and Simon Geist, to name a few.