Femmes Br@nchées: #59 – Nina Czegledy presents Spacearts: Science and Fiction

In keeping with our programming thematic of Science Fictions and the creation of our space times, we have invited internationally renowned cultural producer, Nina Czegledy, to guide us on a tour of the Spacearts network and beyond. Informed by her personal work as a curator, media artist and writer, as well as a member of the Space Art Network as well as the Advisory Committee for Leonardo/Olats Space and the Arts Projects, Czegledy has unique access and insights into the projects and the ramifications of our cultural fascination with outer space.

“Artists have been at the forefront of space exploration since its very beginning. Their works of imagination have stimulated and catalyzed a new human endeavor. Works of art and literature about space have both anticipated and stimulated space development while exploring destinations and technological concepts that were often too dangerous, too distant or too advanced for the science and technology of the moment. Today, a new breed of contemporary artists have initiated projects to explore outer space on their own terms by realizing their art beyond Earth or with their own bodies in weightlessness.”
* Taken from the front page of the spacearts.info site

Projects such as the Mars Patent have taken a uniquely feminist perspective in seeking a site for works not welcome on this planet, or in need of “geographical redefinition”.

links
http://www.spacearts.info/
http://www.olats.org/
http://www.ours.ch/

Leonardo/OLATS – the French branch of Leonardo/Isast (the International Society for the Arts, Science and Technology) and the OURS Foundation – a non-profit cultural and astronautical organization based in Switzerland have embarked on an ambitious project to comprehensively document this vast and new genre of space art.

+ Launch: first edition of the STUDIO XX Automatic Gallery featuring the work of Justyna Latek, PRODUCT

In contemporary life, a barrage of images surrounds us, even within our own work and production environment here at the studio. In recognition of this state, and a desire to be part of its construction, the Automatic Gallery was born.

Justyna Latek’s work PRODUCT: revolution and elevation seemed an apt starting point.

“In this project, I am working on space and movement in commercial centers. These film are composed of a multitude of shots taken from the elevators and revolving doors of a couple of shopping centers in Montreal. My aim is to push the aesthetics of commercial spaces and reveal their hyper-hypnotic effect: humans devoured by the rhythm of consumer products. The commercial space’s visual feasts masquerade as a new and unique adventure for the agitated body of the consumer. His/her endless and frantic pursuit of instant gratification prevents contentment and serenity. Swept along by the concurrently fluid and jerky movement of the elevator and the revolving door, the spectator will experience a disconnection from time.”

From this suite of works, Justyna will cull a section to act as screensaver for our computers and displays – problematizing the screens, reminding us of the relation between capital and computation, furthering our drive to work in open source software, or hypnotizing us further?

++ .dpi_no4, Studio XX Electronic Review. Thematic this issue : Architecture

Feature articles include:

The Future of Space. Towards an Architecture of Invention by Elisabeth Grosz
STUDIO XX would like to acknowledge the generosity and support shown by Elizabeth Grosz in allowing us to reprint this article. The piece originally appeared in Architecture from the Outside: Essays on Virtual and Real Space, ed. Elizabeth Grosz with a foreword by Peter Eisenman. MIT Press, 2001. We would also like to recognize MIT Press for its work in bringing such germinal texts to light.

Les Ondes Martenot of Suzanne Binet-Audet

habitgram a project by beewoo + video documentation

The “archisculptures” of Richard Greaves by Katherine Lapierre

Nathalie Charbonneau, Ivanka Iordanova and Nada El-Khoury: 3 doctoral candidates at the heart of GRCAO (research and development group for computer assisted architecture) at the University of Montréal present their current projects accompanied by short texts.

AND MORE…
http://dpi.studioxx.org/