Namens BALTAN gaf Carmin Karasic een presentatie over de transformatie van het lab.
Ze deed de volgende oproep: Als je graag een oud en vergeten experiment of concept nieuw leven wil inblazen om dat aan BALTAN te laten weten. Zij kijken dan wat de mogelijkheden zijn en werken graag mee aan een realisatie.
11. “The notion of an infinite, mysterious Nature,
waiting to be discovered or seduced into
revealing all her secrets, was widely held.”
- Richard Holmes, Age of Wonder.
12. 10
"The only way of discovering the limits of the possible
is to venture a little way past them, into the
impossible."
-Arthur C. Clarke
13. Age of wonder
Aims to create a
climate in which
wonder
for the mysterious
is important again.
INTRO: (short 20 seconds) hello! I’m Carmin Karasic, the assistant Director for Baltan I’m a multimedia artist working with communication technologies. I also teach and design online courses for Lesley University’s Educational Technologies master’s program.
Baltan was established in 2008. We promote artistic projects in design, science and/or technology. We encourage researching the unreal, For example, experiments that have an undefined potential, So they stimulate creative questions and answers.
2008 thru 2010, Baltan was busy with international experts, workshops, and symposia, researching what the art lab of the future would be like. The result was a popular book called A Blueprint for the Lab of the Future. In 2013 we will be the art lab of the future. Our lab will be in the newly renovated naltab building.
We intend to revive the original spirit of the Natlab, which thrived on innovation and experimentation. We will do so by organizing workshops, residencies, lectures, and education partnerships. Let me give you 4 Examples :
Workshops such as the Future of Offline File sharing. which features the PirateBox - ‘ basically internet-in-a-box ’. The PirateBox doesn’t track who logs in, so files are exchanged anonymously. *************************** The USB flash drive contains a bare, completely stripped website, a chat box and a file-sharing mechanism. Anyone who happens to find himself in the vicinity of a PirateBox can access it freely via WiFi.
Residencies for example at the Holst Center artist Sonia (Chillaaari) researched how our emotions effect our heart rhythm patterns – this gives us insights on what we’re feeling. The Holst Centre and Baltan Continue to work together to connect artists to the latest research on wireless sensors and flexible electronics. **************************** This collaboration is based on a desire to investigate the ways and potential of collaboration between industrial and art labs in order to support artistic and scientific research. the first artistic project (2011)in the framework of this collaboration is by artist Sonia Cillari (& Stock), which is an investigation into heart rhythm coherency. Sonia was researching the idea that emotions we experience directly affect our heart rhythm pattern and this, in turn, tells us much about what we are feeling. As part of their research they have been working with ECG necklaces developed at Holst Centre. This is a collaboration with Optofonica Laboratory for Immersive ArtScience in Amsterdam.
Talks, Lectures and Performances, For example ‘ Friday Afternoon Lectures ’ , a new lecture series inspired by the Natlab, where researchers had free time to experiment with their ideas. Last May Baltan, Holst Centre, and High Tech Campus invited art-scientist, Joe Davis, for the first lecture.
Education Partnerships Fontys ICT & Lifestyle is one of our partners. This year we coached about 30 Art & Technology Minor students. Inspired by artworks, they produce installations based on the theme of Superpowers: extending or expanding the senses. Later, we hope to develop a partnership with St. Lucas, who will also be in the Natlab building. **************************************** Fontys Infinite Cube, 2011 Fontys Hogeschool Eindhoven ICT & Lifestyle programme Art & Technology minor (with which Baltan Laboratories has been collaborating) The Infinity Cube, a glass cube filled with water and particles. Columns of light in primary colors are projected on the surface, and beams traveling through the glass are transformed into three dimensional blocks. Arduinos with ping meters detect interaction from visitors with the cube, enabling the visitor to experience the infinity of a Mondriaan through a play with changing light and sound.
Our roots go back the NATLAB, the famous Philips physics lab . Baltan, Broet and Plaza Futura will move to the new Natlab in September. Natlab, together we plan to become a hotspot for media culture. And Baltan will continue the legacy of Natlab as a lab for artistic research and innovation. ************************************************ As an art research lab Baltan plays a pivotal role, in cultivating broader public awareness, of the cultural value of art research in science and technology, And in openly sharing knowledge and expertise with the public. We see Eindhoven itself, as a perfect location for projects that bring together the 4 domains of Industry, Education, Art & Design and Science & Technology. Baltan combines always art with the other realms. • We provide technological and science art support by initiating projects and networks at the intersection of these 4 realms. • Locally, nationally and internationally So being in Eindhoven is a benefit because of the regional hi-tech research and the Legacy of Philips And in terms of the History of Strijp-S and the NatLab
In the fifties Dick Raaijmakers did electro-acoustic research at Natlab. He ’ s known as a pioneer in the field of electronic music . He called himself Kid Baltan, which is Natlab backwards. We take our name from him. ************************************************ Einstein spoke at the NATLAB, and among other things, CDs were invented there. Speaking of recordings, NATLAB had a resident artist. He was known as Kid Baltan. His name was Dick Raaijmakers. From 1954 to 1960 he worked in the field of electro-acoustic research at Natlab. He ’ s known as a pioneer in the field of electronic music and tape music , but he has also did music theater pieces and published many theoretical essays.
Our philosophy can be seen in the project, Techno Ecologies. It is also an example of Baltan as proeftuin. The idea that we 'inhabit' technological ecologies emphasizes our connectedness to our environment and our dependence on the available resources. sustainability must consider complex layers such as energy, material, biology and culture, And how we inhabit them. ********************** (introduduction to philosdphy about art and science). -example residency bartaku / tech ecologies. continud Beyond questions of finite resources and obvious forms of pollution and environmental degradation, attempts to develop sustainable relationships with technology and our living environment should take into account far more complex layerings of the way we inhabit our current technological ecologies. Such a deeply informed ethical and philosophical perspective is indispensable if we hope to find less hazardous routes into the future.
“ Age of wonder” will be our first major project at the Natlab. The theme is “wonder for nature’s mysteries” Past and present will be linked in talks, movies and presentations That dare us to dream the impossible again.
Altho many artist-researchers work with science and emerging technologies, art and science don’t have the same agenda, So collaborative work with scientists is especially important in the beginning. Later in the process, art takes its own path and science follows its rules.
During the Renaissance, the path of art and science were not yet separated. For example, Brunalesky conducted a wonderful experiment that demonstrated perspective. He revolutionized painting and architecture. because you could calculate relative size and distance using perspective geometry.
Modern society is so complex now, that no single discipline is able to deal with today’s issues. Now the imaginative, intuitive, emotional, and subjective approach of art-research Again compliments science. Perhaps the changing role of art in our society, will be a catalyst for transformation. **************************************** Staalhemel – Christoph de Boeck – 2009 Staalhemel (‘steel sky’) is an interactive installation with 80 steel segments suspended over the visitor’s head as he walks through the space. Tiny hammers tap rhythmical patterns on the steel plates, activated by the brainwaves of the visitor who wears a portable EEG scanner. This responsive environment gives the viewer with an acoustic representation of their own electrical brain activities at that very moment.
Age of wonder is a series of events starting in 2014 with a big kick off next spring and a series of public events happening throughout the year. The first event will be part of 100 years of Natlab, which will highlight the discoveries & inventions from the natlab, Starting back when electricity and scientific salons were popularized by experiments like the electronic kiss.
From 2015 -2017: Batan will be an incubator for developing ideas and new works by emerging artists, We’ll have artist residencies + open calls for new art-science works.
The Age of Wonder project will evolve over time. And 2018 will showcase the newly developed work from the previous 4 years. The project concept was developed w/ bio art laboratories. Whose slogan ,”linking past, present and future,” perfectly fits the project.
Looking toward the future we invite everyone to be curious as a child and filled with wonder again. And we ask: Are you interested in re-enacting an old experiment about a forgotten or neglected topic? If so, please send us your idea along with why you think this forgotten experiment should be revived!
You can reach us by email, or through our website, FB page or Twitter. Thank you! We look forward to hearing from you!