The project Hologram for plants and students: ADU & ARTHEA & UNISB (*Academy of Dramatic Art in Zagreb & NGO ARTHEA & University of Slavonski Brod) is presented as a performative event that uses the artistic metalanguage of media art, i.e. digital synesthetic framing with a hologram image, sound and the process of a recorded dance next to a sound-activated plant in the real space of the biosphere.
Back in 2011, the thesis of my doctoral dissertation Electronic media and aesthetics in post-feminist theory was that the aesthetic of media art becomes valuable through the performative, holistic and cybernetic in the domain of the Technosphere.
What is important, the spectacle is not the intention here, because we question whether the artistic event/performance notices us, to paraphrase the painter Paul Klee and media art theorist Žarko Paić (2019) – is there (astonished) biofeedback?
Žižek (2024) in his book Christian Atheism writes about Athings or Non-things as a new materialism of objects without aura, which do not have a discrete language of objects, that they are the real that escapes symbolic and quotes Han: The NON-THING impresses because it does not inform. It is the reverse, mysterious backyard, the ‘subtle beyond’ of the artwork, even its unconscious. It resists the disenchantment of art.
In this sense, our performative project transcends the banality of the spectacle of the Technosphere in a way that, through biofeedback from the audience, scientists, students and artists, and especially the plants, it is self-regulated through the loop of the (cybernetic) system, granting deep spiritual peace and a moment of tranquillity in which, as philosopher Marijan Cipra (1999) would say, Sisyphus’s rolling stone stops.
The lucid David Bowie, an English rock singer, also spoke about the unconscious levels of assimilation and humanization of technology through experimentation in inner worlds, in a famous interview (1999) with an interesting statement on technology (the Internet): … it is an alien lifeform – a technology that is both exciting and terrifying, we would say an area of existential and spiritual transformations that are intensifying.
With this infinite loop of the present, we twist the past and the future, referring to Badiou, and through the performative event of authentic humanity, we contribute to the union in a higher organic unity – that of science and art through love, or to apply the moral code of Cipra (1999) from his Christocentric period to collision with the technology of transhumanism, in which he directs people to the revelation of the dialectical principle of the Apostle Paul in the New Testament: (…) we have been freed from the Law and serve in the newness of the Spirit, and not in the oldness of the letters.
Ivana Brlić Mažuranić City Square in Slavonski Brod
Meaningful coincidence is the basis of the synchronicity and wonder of artistic creation, about which the old books, especially the texts of the Vedas, have written since ancient times. We carefully and intentionally synchronized the Biodata devices with the natural sound impulses of the Tree of Life plant and joined them with the intuitively orchestrated sounds of the Ensemble composed of pupils of the Slavonski Brod Music School, the Trade-Technical School, as well as the University of Slavonski Brod students on accompanying eco percussion. As the part of the project, students made their own recycled percussion instruments from plastic bottles and pebbles with sand, encouraging environmental artistic awareness.
ALL THOSE SOUND CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE STUDENTS AND PUPILS HAPPENED AROUND THE SUNNY PLANT. In this sense, BASIC ART WAS ESTABLISHED IN THE VISUAL AND AUDITORY MEDIA THROUGH EXTENDED PERCEPTION, WHEN LINGUISTIC NARRATIVES SILENCED, SO SILENCED THE MUMBLING OF THE WORLD, or as the French philosopher Alain Badiou would say: ITS IDENTITIES, NARRATIVES, NATIONS, RELIGIONS AND THE FINALITIES OF DEATH WERE SILENCED. (Badiou, A., Immanence of truth, being and event III, 2018)
Still freely interpreting Badiou, in the authentic creativity of the performance, with the egalitarian principle (equality), we introduced into the participants “quiet enthusiasm” or ontological affects, in the sense in which “previously unthinkable sets are coaxed into existence”. (ibid. p. 18)
Aleatory and the indeterminacy of the knitwork are these strange loops of deep love, art, science and authentic politics, in a situation that was performed in the heart of the city, on Ivane Brlić Mažuranić Square, exactly at noon on May 18, 2024. So, once again, Badiou emphasizes the importance of the guiding principles of the Event: “For now, let it suffice to say: Glory to the complete indices, those flints that produce an absolute spark.” (ibid. p. 460)
As every year, we see a special educational importance in glocalization (glocal₌global+local) and decentralization of culture, in the penetration of a progressive, intensive project into an urban space where pronounced conservatism in the understanding of culture and rigid xenophobia prevail, i.e. frustration not only with foreigners, but also contemporary artistic practices as a different, abstract expression, and therefore we incorporate this educational project into curricula at the primary, secondary and tertiary educational levels.
The project was implemented in the category of Improving the quality of life of children and young people, with the special task of Education about healthy lifestyles, nature conservation and sustainable development. We are witnessing ubiquitous and extreme digitalization, which in itself does not have to carry a danger for the psychophysical development of young people, if it is carried out in a healthy way, as the author of this text sees in her scientific works: through the “anthropologization of technology” or in other words through the production of prolonged perception (astonishment), it is mastered affectively by the “extended hand” of man – technology (tool) while digitally framing the humane artistic content.
In this sense, the new performative project called Performativity of Synchronous Chance: INDETERMINATE ART put in the foreground exactly this characteristic of technology – serving humanity, and not the other way around. Through the digital recording of the impulses of a large plant, we put nature at the foundation of authentic art, while our ensemble of musicians, pupils and students on eco-percussion creatively adapted to the beauty of these plant, its organic impulses, celebrating the unity of nature and human inventions, while also raising awareness of scientific and artistic useful, healthy module of lifelong education and holistic living.
Ph.D. Vesna Srnić, docent
NGO ARTHEA president
The Croatian national television HRT informed about our performative project.
PUBLICATION (In the Croatian language)
Multicultural project „The Image of the World“
NGO „Culture, Media and Education“ – ARTHEA
Our project is a multiplatform awareness raising programme with a heavy emphasis on performance art in urban surroundings.
Through this project we hope to:
Combat xenophobia (fear of everything strange/strangers)
Contribute to the decentralisation of culture and spread cultural events outside of major institutions via civil organisation.
Increase the presence of performance arts in urban environments.
With the imminent entrance of Croatia in to the EU the need for a project that raises awareness of European values is greater than ever.The project puts a heavy emphasis on bringing european values to its’ future citizens on a more intimate and local level. More often than not it’s the localities that are neglected since most programmes deem it only necessary to target major cities.
The project will immidiately pull in by-standers and will peak their curiosity which will lead them to ask questions about the performances and in turn will be informed about the project and it’s theme. By catching just a glimpse of another/different culture they can draw their own conclusions as to the differences and similiarities they may share with other nations. It will promote open mindedness and a will to accept foreigners in to their society. Web logs, social networking and traditional forms of media will ensure that the program will not go unnoticed. With all the performers, intelectuals, experts and the general public involved the project has huge potential to reach a massive audience.
This project takes advantage of this and uses the fact to „hook“ by standers. From then they ask themselves the questions needed to come to the realisation that multiculturality and understanding is indeed the road that needs to be taken. This unique combination of performances in urban surroundings combined with online conferences, discussions and multimedia campaign (brochures, social networking) will ensure that the project will reach it’s full potential.
The members of ARTHEA are scientists, professors, artists, students and agile creative citizens. The association is registered as a competent civil organisation for the Cultural areas of Art, Media and Internet, thus it promotes Media culture and raises awareness on the Multicultural integration. Professor Frankopan Mariano Klaric, (ex) Public Relations
PUBLICATION
publikacija_2024_arthea_final-1 (In the Croatian language)
The recent exhibition of the Dalmatian painter Botteri Dini in Zagreb Klovićevi dvori (till 6.2.2024.) matches the quality of new controversial book by the world-famous Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek, known in the West as “the most dangerous atheist and leftist”.But we think that Žižek’s preoccupation with Badiou’s concept of “the event” did not solve the process nor performativity in art.
“More than 100 public works by Josip Botteri Dini can be seen all over Croatia and the world, such as the stained-glass windows in the Church of the Holy Cross in Siget in Zagreb or the monumental frieze History of Split in Hotel Zagreb in Split. Monumental stained-glass windows and mosaics adorn the Church of St Leopold Bogdan Mandić in Melbourne, Australia, as do the stained glass, mosaic, and paintings in the Church of Christ the King in Porto D’Ascoli, Italy.
Contemplating the spirit of the times, he created a unique oeuvre within contemporary art, especially in the field of religious art, with recognizable and distinctive artistic interpretations of biblical content. It is precisely in this area that Josip Botteri Dini has a prominent place within domestic and international art.” (Josip Botteri Dini – A retrospective, Klovićevi dvori, Zagreb)
A unique insight of a theological project Christian Atheism, as a new book of worldly famous Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek, brings us the exploration of his religious thinking: “This affirmation of Christian theology whilst simultaneously deconstructing it is familiar Žižekian move, but one that holds deep-seated political, philosophical and, in the end, personal import for him”. Boštjan Nedoh adds: (…) “Žižek makes it clear why Christian atheism is the main concept of every true materialism”. (Bloomsbury Academic)
But we think that Žižek’s preoccupation with Badiou’s concept of “the event” did not solve the process nor performativity in art.
This year’s performance project is an elaborated continuation of last years multicultural themes called Glocal Multimedia Culture: “The World Image and Performativeness of Glocal Consciousness”, with an emphasis on educational and scientific / artistic urban affect, mitigation of xenophobia as foreign / different from traditional, via interdisciplinary and integrated education of students and citizens through innovative art practice. More at: http://glocal-art.ning.com and SBTV News (in Croatian).
The project, titled Situationally Performative Smartphone Orchestra, examines the relationship “Humans vs. Tehne “, and continues on lectures and seminars of the course Media Culture lectured by the author Dr. sc. Vesne Srnic (an example of a small sample of 50 students in the lecture hall is available on https://media-via.net/…/post-modern-dystopic-deconstruction …).
On Saturday, 5 May 2018, exactly at 12 o’clock on the main city square “Ivana Brlić Mažuranić” in Slavonski Brod we orchestrated a set of 200+ smartphones in phenomenologically designed, situationally astonished (humming) sounds and (white) noises. Eighty students of the “Faculty of Teacher Education in Osijek”, a department in Slavonski Brod, 2 teachers and the video group of the elementary school “Ivan Goran Kovačić”, as well as the present 200 people on the square – turned on the sounds and alarms of their smartphones! The students/performers presented the meditative, asymmetrical and atonal shift of the usual harmonic sounds in the postmodern spirit, and the students/moderators gave the viewers the performative tasks of activating the alarm or their favourite ringtone of the smartphone at the exact time (12.15 minute). Multimedial photographs and video footages were recorded by 60 students as an intense event for their final work in the above-mentioned Media Culture course, and elementary school students added lower and upper shots recorded with mBot robots and drones. We invited national televisions, the local SBTV, as well as numerous Internet portals and radio stations. The length of the performance was 20 minutes, after which the affectivelly refined usual perception returned to the main square.
Project sponsors are the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia, the City of Slavonski Brod, the Tourist Board of the City of Slavonski Brod, and this year’s collaborator in celebrating the European Week was the Europe House Slavonski Brod.
International project “The Glocal Multimedia Art”, with the this year’s topic “The Revolt in Art against Corruption”, which was created by the this portal’s Croatian association “Culture, Media and Education” – ARTHEA, was successfully finished on Friday, 15th June, in Slavonski Brod. The project had included creating the social network http://glocal-art.ning.com where the artistic conceptual task was realised, then the symposium with the artists, doctors of philosophy and students in discussion on corruptive conscience and finally the performance of aesthetical/ethical testimony at the town square of Slavonski Brod.
The members of the project were: Professor and Artist Vladimir Frelih from the Art Academy Osijek, his students Lucija Jakovina, Robert Fiser and Ana Petrovic, who all uploaded their videa-art works, PhD Kruno Martinac from Melbourne, Australia, Dr Dragan Calovic and Dr Vlatko Ilic from the association “Young Peas” from Belgrade, Republic of Serbia, a film Director Zoran Sudar from Zagreb, Tomislav Lacic a representative of the music group SB Reprezenta well known for anticorruptive music, students from the Faculty of Teacher Education in Osijek, department in Slavonski Brod and the president PhD Vesna Srnic as well as other members of the association ARTHEA.
The project was funded by The Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia and will be incorporated in educational activities of primary, secondary and tertiary educational levels of the teachers/members.
Scientists and composers have produced a new choral work in which performers sing sequences or parts of their own genetic code as an ultimate genome!
As the BBC News Science correspondent Pallab Ghosh reports a musician Andrew Morley got the idea of assigning a note to each of Human DNA compound! The “proper composer” approached by Dr Morley was Michael Zev Gordon, who was inspired by the idea, and thus has turned a simple idea into a beautiful work of art.
The new piece, Allele, will be performed by the New London Chamber Choir at the Royal Society of Medicine on 13 July. “Each of the 40-strong choir has also had his or her own DNA decoded. At its climax, each member of the choir is singing their own unique genetic code – resulting in everyone singing a subtly different song.”
In such a way the music is a sound of the ultimate human genome. You can hear the sample at:
God particle signal is simulated as a sign! BBC reports that the scientists have simulated the sounds set to be made by sub-atomic particles such as the Higgs boson when they are produced at the Large Hadron Collider.
At the “LHC sound” web page http://lhcsound.hep.ucl.ac.uk/ we can be informed about a creative project of sonification LHC data from CERN, done by a group of particle physicists, composers, software developers and artists. The project started in earnest in January 2010 thanks to funding from the science & technology facilities council in the form of a small award for public outreach. You can find out more about them here. The aim of the project is threefold:
To attract people to the results of the LHC experiments in a way that is novel, exciting and accessible.
To establish mutually beneficial communication between the usually disparate fields of music and science and provide composers with access to LHC data.
To introduce particle physicists to the possibility of using sonification as an analysis technique and to begin to establish the methods available for doing this.
Media-Via 