INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE: ARTECH 2023

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE: ARTECH 2023

CHALLENGES OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE HIGHLIGHTED AT ARTECH 2023

ARTECH 2023 – 11th International Conference on Digital and Interactive Arts will feature Heitor Alvelos, Juan Martín Prada, and Edgar Pêra as keynote speakers, with a common theme in their presentations: artificial intelligence. Get to know the highlights of the event’s program, which will take place on November 28, 29, and 30 at the University of Algarve.

In this edition, ARTECH is held under the theme “Digital Creation Processes”, and we highlight the opening panel in partnership with UNESCO MIL ALLIANCE, the presentations by guest speakers, and the exhibition of digital media art that will be showcased at the UALG TEC CAMPUS building.

UNESCO MIL ALLIANCE has joined forces with ARTECH to prepare the opening conference “International Projects in Digital Media Art from the Perspective of UNESCO Mil Cities”. The term “Mil Cities” was introduced by UNESCO in 2018 to encompass all the innovations a city can receive, making citizens’ lives more sustainable and happier. Felipe Chibás, Latam specialist at the Smart Cities and CAPMIL UNESCO Core, author of the book “From smart cities to a thousand cities”, explains that the concept does not exclude its predecessors, such as sustainable or smart cities but aggregates them all.

Regarding the main conferences, Heitor Alvelos presents “On Blur, Interpolation and Hallucination: speaking at a time when all seems to have been said”, arguing that current times have been marked by the ambition of an extreme technical protocol as much as by a radical reconsideration of semantics. He argues that behind this dynamic is a phobia of ambivalence that promotes a kind of perverse, neurotic, and automated sharpening of perception, cognition, and expression.

Through a series of examples, Heitor Alvelos will argue that the concepts of “blur,” “interpolation,” and “hallucination” play a fundamental role in unpacking a cultural zeitgeist that often seems too complex and volatile to allow for coherent deciphering. Add to this the current hermeticism of Artificial Intelligence, and an effervescence of efficiency and hilarity randomly alters with speculative omens of a “new plus ultra apocalyptic.”

Juan Martín Prada has prepared the conference “Artistic practices, Algorithms and Artificial Intelligence”. According to the guest, this conference will focus on the relationship between artistic practices and algorithmic rationality, emphasizing how artistic practices adopt a critical approach to artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, making the powers of automated vision and its forms of recognition specific themes to work on.

The analysis of how some new artistic practices revolve around what we could call an ethics of AI vision systems will be crucial. The problematic concept of creativity that the use of new AI-based visual creation systems is bringing with it will also not be overlooked in this lecture, with a special emphasis on the concept of “computational mannerism.”

“Cine-Konference – from VHS to AI” is the title of Edgar Pêra’s conference, proposing to delve into the evolution of formats in the world of moving images, from VHS cassettes to Artificial Intelligence.

We also highlight the exhibition of digital media art, curated by Pedro Alves da Veiga, which represents a multifaceted and transdisciplinary exploration of the artistic possibilities provided by digital creative processes.

The exhibition is situated in an academic context, aiming to enrich the understanding and appreciation of the convergence between art, science, and technology. As such, an intrinsic feature of this exhibition is the collaborative overlap of artistic and scientific-technological disciplines, exploring significant synergies in digital creation processes in all their forms and stages.

Pedro Alves da Veiga states that “the goal is to transcend the conventional boundaries of art, providing an experimental, comprehensive, and enriching perspective through a variety of digital media and technological approaches, including virtual and augmented reality artifacts, interactive systems, video art performances, generative art, among others”.

Each piece challenges the audience not only to explore the intersection of science and technology with art but also to consider the philosophical implications inherent in the use of an increasing number of digital tools. “This exhibition is more than a mere showcase of technological innovations; it is an invitation to reflect on the possibilities offered by the digital era”, he emphasizes.

ARTECH is one of the largest and most prestigious events in the field of digital arts and the relationships between arts and technology, bringing together artists and researchers from around the world to contribute to the development of digital culture.

In 2023, CIAC joined the Artech International Association and will host the event at the University of Algarve on November 28, 29, and 30, 2023, under the theme “Digital Creation Processes.”

Check the complete program [here].