Workshopsورش العمل
Survival kit for media artists.
Workshop 01 
An Astrolabe for Computational Arts Unlike traditional art forms, New Media Arts often break down the boundaries between the artist and the audience, allowing for more active engagement and participation.
The rise of the internet and the rapid growth of digital technology have been key drivers of the New Media Arts movement. With the ability to create and share digital content on a global scale, artists have been able to push the boundaries of what is possible in terms of creative expression and audience engagement.
New Media Arts is an exciting field that offers a diverse range of artistic practices. From AI and Robotics to Biocomputing and more, artists are able to explore innovative technologies to create works that challenge our assumptions about the potential of art.
During this three-day workshop, we will explore the impact of computation on artistic practice together with the participants. We’ll delve into the “Internet” and “Data” as a playground for artists, and examine the role of “AI”, “Robotics”, and “Biological” entities as the building blocks of New Media Art. Participants will gain an overview of the common tools, platforms, and programming languages used in this field.
The workshop includes a second phase that is coordinated by The NODE Institute. Anyone interested in learning visual programming can participate in a 12-session online course at the NODE Institute starting in the second half of October 2023. More information will be announced during the Festival.
About the Instructor
As a new media artist with a background in fine arts and philosophy, Amir Bastan (*1991) explores the gap between the conscious and the unconscious. He realises his works by designing narratives through real-time processes.
“The Human Robot Transference” is the centrepiece of his current research, drawing parallels between psychoanalysis theories and human-robot interaction within the context of new media arts.
Alongside his artistic practice, Amir is developing “The Bunraku Project”, a software utilised for real-time control, visualisation and simulation of industrial robots.
Amir is based in Linz/AT, where he is pursuing his PhD and is currently a researcher at Creative Robotics and a lecturer at the Kunstuni Linz.
Website Links
amirbastan.com
Together with:
• Johannes Brauman
• David Bruell
• Noor Stenfert Kroese
About the Affiliated Institution
Creative Robotics
Creative Robotics is a research unit within the University for Arts and Design Linz that was set up with the goal of investigating robotics as an interface between the digital and physical world.
CR is engaged in arts-based and industrial research covering a wide range of applications, from developing new robotic processes with traditional craftsmen and SMEs to realizing highly visible robot installations with partners from various industries. We want to distribute our knowledge as widely as possible and are therefore highly engaged in research-led teaching at various stages.
The NODE Institute
Our mission is to complement the great wealth of user generated tutorials with an organised learning path suited for professionals.
As a platform we connect students and educators in a way that benefits both.
Educators can spend more time on creating learning materials and help students when they get paid.
Students will be able to aquire certificates, backed up by industry professionals that actually mean something when looking for a job.
Who Can Participate
We encourage students from fields of Arts, Interaction design, computer science, Dance and dramatic arts, Game designer and roboticists. And anyone with an interest in New Media Arts is welcome to join us.
How to Prepare for the Workshop
Bring your laptops, Tablets or any other note-taking devices!
Workshop 02 
a MIT Senseable Dubai Lab workshop As layers of networks and digital information blanket urban space, new approaches to the study of the built environment are emerging. However, privacy concerns linger around the benefits data-driven solutions bring to cities and citizens. In this 60-minute and hands-on webinar, MIT Senseable City Lab senior researchers will lead a discussion about Data Storytelling and how to balance privacy concerns and benefits of data-driven approaches to cities, and will present current, and some not-yet-published work
0-10: Introduction to Senseable Dubai Lab and the privacy/benefits trade-offs of data-driven solutions
11-25: Play data slots
26-30: Short discussion about the activity and storytelling
31-45: SCL work and data storytelling
46-60: Q&A
About the Instructor
- • Martina Mazzarello is a Senior Postdoctoral Researcher at MIT Senseable City Lab and currently the Senseable Dubai Lab Lead (a research initiative between Dubai Future Foundation and MIT Senseable City Lab).
- • Khalifa Al Qama Director of Dubai Future Labs
Workshop 03 Join James Kelly for a hands on vinyl DJ’ing workshop focused on experimental
DJ’ing and vinyl cutting techniques. Participants will be introduced to DJ
equipment such as the turntable and DJ mixer and learn how to scratch and
mix with vinyl records for the creation of new experimental music and sound
art. After an introduction to DJ mixing, the workshop will focus on two DJ
techniques; the ‘baby scratch’, and mixing locked grooves. Scratching is a
technique often used by hip hop DJ’s while locked grooves are more often used
in techno and experimental music. A locked groove on a vinyl record is a
closed groove, which traps the turntable needle creating a short repeating
passage. They have been used by a range of artists from the Musique concrète
of Pierre Schaeffer to the Detroit Techno of Jeff Mills. Participants in the
workshop will experiment with mixing locked groove records and creating new
locked grooves by placing stickers onto existing records causing the sound to
loop.
Course Outline:
Introducing DJ Equipment Vinyl record cutting Scratching
Mixing
Locked Grooves
About the Instructor
James Kelly is a DJ, composer, scholar and teacher. James’s creative work explores the
use of the turntable as an instrument. He pioneered the use of a vinyl disc cutting lathe
as part of the compositional process in order to create turntable music and has worked
in popular and experimental music as well as academia. He toured the UK as a DJ and
also with Ginger Snaps, Ola Szmidt and Pure Phase. As a composer and audio
engineer, interdisciplinary projects have included film score production for the feature
film Honeytrap (2014), the contemporary dance film Cynefin (2011) and sound art
exhibitions at New York University, Abu Dhabi, UAE (2023) and the Avenue Gallery,
University of Northampton, UK (2016). James is Senior Lecturer in Audio at SAE, Dubai
and Music Instructor at Berklee Abu Dhabi and has a PhD in turntablist composition
from De Montfort University, UK.
