The National Centre for Contemporary Arts, part of ROSIZO, presents “TECHNE: Prologue”. The exhibition launches TECHNE, a long-term programme of exhibitions, education and performance devoted to innovative and technological practices in contemporary art.
TECHNE is curated by Natalia Fuchs, with Antonio Geusa as co-curator and Dmitry Znamensky as producer.
In antiquity, the Greek word techne referred to skilled making, including art made with tools. In the twentieth century, as technology became more than a means of production or documentation, the term “technological art” emerged. Art historian Frank Popper described the field as a fundamental integration of art and technology.
TECHNE traces the changing relationship between artists, technology and new media. Each stage of the multi-year programme focuses on a field of technological art: generative art (2017), interactive art (2018), algorithmic and technobiological art (2019), and kinetic, networked and robotic art (2020–2021).
The exhibitions place Russian work within the international history of technological art. They introduce significant events, artists and researchers through artworks and research material for both specialist and general audiences.
Russian artists, technologists and researchers work with ROSIZO-NCCA curators to develop new projects. TECHNE aims to connect technological art with contemporary culture, support artists working with new technologies and commission new work.
The opening exhibition, “TECHNE: Prologue”, introduces the history and context of technological art through graphic works, objects and video installations. Artists include Soviet media-art pioneer Bulat Galeev; video artist Nam June Paik; audiovisual artist Ryoichi Kurokawa; sound and robotic artist Dmitry Morozov (::vtol::); generative-video artist Jeremy Bailey; and conceptual artist Dmitri Prigov.
The historical roots of technological art are represented by artists such as Pyotr Bely and Francisco Infante-Arana and by groups including Collective Actions and Blue Soup. Special projects by Ryoichi Kurokawa and Dmitry Morozov (::vtol::) show how contemporary artists work with new media.
Ryoichi Kurokawa’s installation “unfold.alt” is an audiovisual encounter with the distant universe and its origins. It was developed with Vincent Minier, an astrophysicist at the Institute for Research into the Fundamental Laws of the Universe in Paris. Kurokawa used the institute’s data on star formation and the evolution of star clusters across ten billion years.
Ryoichi Kurokawa’s “Sirens” consists of five audiovisual works exploring the aesthetics of data. Their visual and sonic density changes with the global economy: the sharper the downturn, the more complex the installation becomes.
Dmitry Morozov’s “Open Laboratory” is both an installation and a working media-art studio. Visitors can see the equipment, tools and unfinished works involved in the creative process. During the exhibition, Morozov will make a new work, “Kola Superdeep”, which will premiere on 26 January.
TECHNE combines exhibitions with a public programme examining the relationship between art and technology. Trained mediators will lead tours, while lectures by Antonio Geusa, Olga Remneva, Alexander Serechenko and others introduce the history and theory of technological art. Public portfolio reviews will present younger Russian artists working with generative technologies.
Workshops led by Dmitry Morozov, Egor Kraft and Ildar Yakubov will support collaboration and help build a community around interdisciplinary practice. The music programme explores technology in contemporary sound, beginning with an audiovisual performance by VARVARA, the project of Rabitsa club artist Lisa Mamonova.
A key event is the Culture of the Future trend-prototyping laboratory, curated by Olga Remneva and Ivan Ninenko. It brings together people from creative, scientific, technological, social and business fields to consider how culture may develop in the near future. Participation is through an open call.
Anna Santomauro of the British organisation Arts Catalyst is a special guest. On 15 December she will discuss the international context of innovative contemporary-art practice with TECHNE curator Natalia Fuchs.
“Technology can expand both the creative process and how art is perceived. New media give artists new possibilities, but they also become obsolete quickly. An artist’s role is therefore not simply to display technology: a work of technological art must also carry meaning.” — Ryoichi Kurokawa, artist
“TECHNE and its first exhibition are unprecedented in Russian art. For the first time, a state institution is presenting technological art on this scale as a long-term programme. It marks a qualitative change in the place of interdisciplinary genres in Russian contemporary art.” — Dmitry Morozov (::vtol::), artist
“To understand contemporary culture and aesthetics, we must understand technology’s place in our lives and how artists use it as a medium. TECHNE connects a deep historical context with possible futures. It will present significant international practice while giving particular attention to Russian artists and new commissions.” — Natalia Fuchs, curator
