storytelling the future
 
Author: <span>robb</span>

Subtle Technologies- Open Culture: Participatory Practices in Art & Science

It is that time of the year: Subtle Technologies Festival is back for a week-long ride to explore Open Culture in Art and Science. The theme this year is particularly timely: DIY-bio labs, hacker spaces and hacklabs, maker spaces etc… are popping up everywhere, new forms of sharing ranging from […]

We will be Different: Immortality in Science Fiction and Popular Culture

To conclude this fabulous round of Subtle technologies, we couldn’t omit the element that  during these days has informed and enriched with its presence our conversations: Science Fiction. Subtle technologies started with a reference to the Hitchhicker’s guide to the galaxy, mentioned many times William Gibson and Bruce Sterling, Mary Shelley […]

June 9: bio-techno soups, we know where we are coming, but where are we going?

June 9 morning sessions were marked by two very different presentations, Scott Menary’s Born in the big bang and Alan Sondheim’s Digital and Physical Collapse. Interestingly, and despite their different approaches, they set a dialogue among each other: The first explained how the building blocks of our universe have been […]

On De-extinction and other dreams

Hendrik Poinar, a professor in Paleogenetics at McMaster University has some fond memories of his parents (entomologists) spending time uncovering and examining insects fossilized and encased in Amber. What if we could bring them back? what if we could de-extinct dinosaurs and other animals? As a Paleogeneticist, Poinar considers himself […]

Tweets in Space

Very similarly, Tweets in Space by Scott Kildall and Nathaniel Stern collected twitter messages from a 30 minutes performance at ISEA 2012 identified with #tweetsinspace tag. later on, these messages were beamed towards GJ667Cc,  an exoplanet that might (or not) support extraterrestrial life. In 30 minutes, Kildall  and Stern collected 1500 […]

The Beyond Category: an exhibition on Immortality June 7

“What does immortality mean in terms of a non-human centered world?” Our current world is a diverse mix of many worlds and many dimensions, we are ourselves a combination of the biological and the informational, we live in connection with processes that are outside and beyond ourselves. According to curator […]

Different notions of Immortality – June 7

What does immortality mean?  Does it mean surpassing the thresholds that define our mortal existence? and how? using what instruments? As I mentioned before, there are many ways to interpret this “transcending” mortal existence.  We are all  aware that it would be impossible to cover the diversity of approaches that […]

Media coverage of ST in anticipation to the documentary on Singularity

I was forwarded this article that will appear tomorrow on the globe and mail (the only national newspaper here in canada) entitled “What happens when our machines get smarter than we are? (No, don’t ask Siri)” by Geoff Pevere. It introduces the theme of the festival and of course  the subtheme of  (insert […]

Subtle Technologies Festival – Immortality – Toronto, June 8-9, 2013

Remember these? Last year, Subtle Technologies Festival ended with a talk on Henrietta Lacks: her life was cut short by a cancer of the cervix, yet her cancer cells were discovered to be immortal.  Today, these cells, known as HeLa Cells are widely used in biological and medical science. She died, […]

Crossbreeding Sensibilities

Another fascinating stream at Mutamorphosis was Crossbreeding Sensibilities moderated by Franco Torriani What are the hopes and fears of becoming a hybrid in a de-modern scenario? How to understand neo-biological civilization and its anxieties? Can artists and creative practitioners substantially contribute, by cross researches and productions, to the treatment of major […]

Diversity and Controversy

One of The most interesting aspects of Mutamorphosis is both its disciplinary and thematic diversity. gathered under the same thematic umbrella, artists, scientists and theorists engage in inspiring conversations ranging from the internet of things to the networks of power (Phillips), deal with the full spectrum of living and semi-living […]