Summer School Online Session 5

Photos: Willows Green Trail

On May 2, 2024, we had our fifth summer school session. The session was divided into two parts:

• Aesthetic Considerations by Luigi Marino (Queen Mary University of London) in conversation with the summer school participants.
• Pitch your idea + general feedback coordinated by Peter Batchelor (De Montfort University) and Anna Xambó (Queen Mary University of London).

The format consisted of a 25-minute conversational presentation led by Luigi Marino followed by elevator pitches and a final discussion. Thanks to Luigi for a thought-provoking conversation, which was a teaser of the opening keynote that he will offer in the on-site summer school. Also thanks to Pete for coordinating the group discussion.

Aesthetic Considerations

The brief of this conversational presentation was:

When we turn the speed of the wind into a parameter of a synthesizer, the levels of carbon dioxide into the shape of a drawing, or the quantity of light passing through the canopy into a sculpture, we are mediating information. What kind of aesthetic content do these mediations channel? Are direct and intuitive relationships more effective for a fulfilling aesthetic experience? Are less intuitive and tangential ones worth exploring? Does it make sense at all to discuss relationships that are utterly unintelligible to our senses? I have no definitive answers, and you deal with a broad spectrum of mediation in your practices, so this session will be more of a discussion rather than a lecture.

Luigi raised some questions about the topic of turning real-world data into music. Concepts such as meditation, beauty and intuition were discussed. The role of the context and the audience interpretation were questioned. Alvin Lucier’s Music On A Long Thin Wire was provided as an example to think about the translation of this contextual information into something intuitive and accessible to the audience.

The summer school participants raised their points of view about the importance of context. Many of them agreed that providing some context is important, but without being overcontextualised. The distinction between mediation and amplification of phenomena was made. The perception of the work was questioned if it is possible without context. The role of the artist in letting the audience build their own stories was suggested as well as the transformative role of the artist.

Luigi concluded this part by acknowledging that we are still in a humanistic culture but there exists a change, especially related to the division between objective and subjective worlds. He also made a point that there can be many different ways of mediation and layers, one of which is ‘climate change’ as part of the headline of this project.

Pitch your idea + general feedback

This second part consisted of pitching your idea for one minute. The brief was:

Imagine that you take an elevator from the ground floor (or 1st floor) to a higher floor of a building. This is the only time that you have to describe your project. You are invited to present your project as an elevator pitch and we will have an audiovisual sign after your minute is over! What is the essence of your project? How can you describe it in a short period in a convincing way?

We used random.org to create the lineup, and a tuning fork played with an allen key as a time watch. All the projects sounded fantastic, ranging from using a variety of media, sensors, sounds, and technologies, with the purpose of creating interactive experiences.

As final comments, it was agreed that many of the participants lack experience showcasing their work outdoors. Some tips were shared about waterproofing, naturally fading out the artwork, internet connectivity, and using environmentally friendly materials. It was also agreed that there is a sense of crunch time at the moment.

The next and last online session will be scheduled on the 23rd of May, which will be crucial to start seeing how the projects are turning from concepts to realisations.