Checked Reality
Work at the Interface Continues
Curator: pETER Purg
In 2019 Pixxelpoint will be checking reality as currently accessible and fostering doubt about what happens at its interface. It is right there that perhaps the
final redistribution of power is taking place before man capitulates to the almighty machine steering emotions, rearranging thoughts, and lying to the senses – but in whose interest? How can science, art, and education in partnership
with art continue to co- or re-shape this reality? What kind of interface do they need to maintain a genuine contact with it? Do we (still) truly understand modern machines and the software that they run, beyond the polished interface
and the friendly user manual?
Humans project their wishes onto machines even though machines are not able (or willing or programmed) to realise them. Techno-optimism is returning as a shattered mirror image of the bizarre mosaic
of our weaknesses, follies, and nonsense. The soothing technological metaphors are completely unnecessary for our freezing spirit; they may even be dangerously misleading. The data form is merely a system of efficiently interconnected
databases, machines, servers, memories, and controllers – done so with a purpose, be it business if not political in nature. At the dusk of the age of monetised knowledge, information is being transformed into a weapon of mass real-isation.
Pixxelpoint
2019 swears by the user as the agent responsible for interaction at the interface, even as the interface is becoming (yet again) increasingly elusive, abstract, and even shrouded in mystery (for better marketing). The mechanisms and
algorithms that serve us information and impulses collect and polish (self-)images in our name. And when humans finally see the self(ie) stripped of its digital interface, beyond the invisible and omnipresent technologies, they will
find little consolation in unreal artificial intelligence, the broken internet of things, unfathomable cryptocurrencies, and news lies.
As it enters its jubilee 20th year, Pixxelpoint continues to address the broad field of
exploration of contemporary intermedia production, increasingly based on the interdisciplinary connections of artists with science and new technologies, from the investigation of artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and big data
to robotics and advanced software environments. How has the role of the (responsible, critical) user of media technologies and mediatised content changed in these two decades? Is reality still truly accessible, let alone to be verified?
Thus
with an even sharper focus, the festival will look for synergies between, as well as contrasts with, media art scenes and names in the wider region. It will interrogate some of the most contemporary creative practices in the world
and reflect on them in the triangle between art, science, and technology. Aside from the central gallery exhibition of multimedia installations, videos, and fine art, this year’s Pixxelpoint will be staging performances and other site-specific
interventions in streets and casinos alike. In this way, artistic practice will not just be positioned adjacent to the social reality of the urban environment, but also be embedded in media-art critical discourse through public discussions
and an international symposium at the intersection of science, art, and technology (MAST). In addition to a short topic-specific film programme, the festival is also reviving the Pixxelmusic partnership, which will offer several special
musical events, from electronic explorations at the intersection of sound and image, to conceptual raves and some ethno jazz at its finest!
Come and Check Reality at Pixxelpoint!!
FULL festival book, PDF (2,3 MB)
Festival Concept Full Text, PDF (80 KB)
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