ArtFutura 2005
Living Objects . Sensitive Spaces
October 27 – 30 / Mercat de las Flors, Barcelona
FuturaCircuit: Granada, León, Madrid, Murcia, Palma de Mallorca, Tenerife, Vigo, Vitoria
Bruce Sterling . Theo Jansen . Fumito Ueda . Toshio Iwai . Tetsuya Mizuguchi . Pablo Helman (IL&M) . Carlos Grangel
The introduction of sophisticated technologies anticipates a “sensitive” world in which all objects carry information about themselves, know where they are, and connect to the Internet. At this crossroads between bits and atoms, a new social space is being defined.
To discuss these topics, ArtFutura 2005 features a distinguished guest, the American thinker and novelist Bruce Sterling, one of the most important science fiction writers of the past two decades.
ArtFutura 2005 highlights two major presentations: Theo Jansen and Toshio Iwai. Jansen showcases his remarkable “Strandbeest” for the first time in Spain, immense robotic sculptures that move powered by the wind. Toshio Iwai, one of the most important and influential names in the international digital art scene, presents his musical instrument “Tenori-On,” a sound LED panel that shines while generating sound.
In the conference program, notable presentations include Hiroshi Ishii, a member of MIT MediaLab and father of the “Tangible Media” concept, and architect Usman Haque, creator of the striking installation “Sky Ear,” a large cloud of balloons that scans the data transmissions passing through the city.
In the realm of digital entertainment and video games, ArtFutura features the presence of Tetsuya Mizuguchi, one of the most innovative designers in the Japanese industry.
As every year, the festival hosts leading figures from the world of the digital creativity industry. Pablo Helman, visual effects supervisor at ILM, delves into the productions of George Lucas’ special effects studios, including Star Wars: Episode III and War of the Worlds.
Grangel Studio, in turn, presents their characters created for Hollywood films such as Madagascar and Tim Burton’s The Corpse Bride, which has an exclusive pre-screening at ArtFutura.
As a science fiction writer, journalist, and futurist, I am quite interested in the things that can be done, but I am extremely interested in the things that cannot be done – that is, not yet.
I am also very interested in the things that can no longer be done, and in the reasons why this happens.
Obsolescence is innovation in reverse; the innovator not only brings a new design into the world, they often put an end to an old one.
Bruce Sterling
For the past fifteen years, the Dutch artist Theo Jansen has devoted himself entirely to creating a new form of life.
His “Strandbeest” (beach beasts) are made from materials of the industrial age: flexible plastic tubes and adhesive tape.
They are born inside a computer in the form of an algorithm but do not require motors, sensors, or any kind of advanced technology to come to life. They move thanks to the force of the wind and the wet sand they find in their habitat along the Dutch coast.
