MEET joins Ars Electronica 2020

MEET Digital Culture Center is the Italian partner of Ars Electronica 2020 from September 9 to September 13. As the host of one of 120 Kepler’s Gardens, MEET has curated its own “garden between art, technology and society”, joining thousands of organizations from all over the world simultaneously connected, safely overcoming Covid 19’s limitations.

Hybridizing life experiences is both MEET’s Garden title and a declaration of intents. Its contents explore the interbreeding of physical and virtual experiences tackling Ars Electronica’s major topics in 2020 such as Humanity, Technology and Ecology.

Meet the Media Guru with William Myers

A talk about emerging practice of integrating life sciences, technology and digital creativity held by William Myers on Ars Electronica’s website. An exhibition curator and lecturer based in Amsterdam, Myers is the author of two widely-acclaimed books about the intersections of design, art, and science, “Biodesign” and “BioArt”.  

On September 10 (5pm CEST) Myers’ talk explores how the Nature/Tech hybridization possibly disrupts our concept of what a society is. Can biology, ecology, genetics and other life sciences extend their boundaries through arts and digital creativity? Is technology a true resource to design and grow a “biobased” society?
As part of the Meet the Media Guru conference format, Myers’ talk is going to be designed and staged as a fully engaging infotainment lecture followed by a live Q&A session.

The Meet the Media Guru with William Myers is integrated into MEET’s activities as a S+T+ARTS Regional Center whose aims is to strengthen collaborative practices between professionals working in STEM (Science Technology, Engineering and Math) and Arts.

Dance the distance

A live guided tour through a virtual dance studio on Ars Electronica’s Mozilla Hubs: spectators wearing a virtual reality headset meet the virtual dancers and join a VR open rehearsal. On September 12 (7pm CEST) attendees can interact as customizable avatars and, eventually, pose a question to the choreographer Ariella Vidach and the VR dance company.
Dance the distance is an artistic research project by MEET’s Intermedia Lab in partnership with AiEP Avventure in Elicottero Prodotti; Ariella Vidach AiEP and DIDstudio aimed to test new forms of dance performances in virtual and augmented reality or via VR devices. It’s also a beta test to establish new formats of phygital experiences in performing arts.

You can join MEET’s activities for free at www.arselectronica.art.