#InTheLoop | Five-Day Tech Art Conference Begins in LIC on Sept. 8 – QEDC

#InTheLoop | Five-Day Tech Art Conference Begins in LIC on Sept. 8

BY QEDC It's In Queens

Are you ready to extend reality and explore a portal to a new world? (Don’t worry, you don’t have to leave Queens.)

Culture Lab LIC at The Plaxall Gallery will host Ars Electronica’s Festival Garden NYC from Wednesday, Sept. 8, to Sunday, Sept. 12.

Participants can attend online or in-person at Culture Lab’s IRL headquarters at 5-25 46th Ave., where the parking lot will be converted into an AR (augmented reality) square and the inside will be a multi-genre exhibition-interaction space. An audio dome will offer the chance to make noises that are converted into audio reactivity (or digital sound).

Since 1979, Ars Electronica, an Austrian educational institute focused on new media art, has facilitated this annual event, which blends real and virtual worlds to provide a news and networking forum for the always-advancing tech world. This year’s theme is “A New Digital Deal” with the subtheme “A Portal,” and participants will explore the intersection between art, tech, and society and address the following questions.

How can humans cope with digital developments, get a grip on problems, and at the same time prevent the increasingly obvious advances of powerful political forces?

How do humans take control of — and maybe even shape — the hands they’re dealt?

How can technology be used to heal?

Admission is free, but registration is required. Organizers request online donations via Go Fund Me.

This might appear like something from a futuristic space age, but Festival Garden NYC is actually very down-to-earth. Main events include workshops, concerts, and art exhibitions. Consider some aspects of the five-day schedule.

Enhanced Poetry

On multiple platforms, digital and analog artists collaborate around the question “How do we dialogue together when we come from such different artistic backgrounds?”

Comedians, dancers, healers, musicians, and poets are paired with AR artists who will use Tilt Brush and Cosmic Sugar to make live virtual art. The audience experiences an improvised “jazz-fusion” of digital and non-digital worlds in a kaleidoscopic feast for the senses.

NFT Gallery

Blockchain developer Soo-Young, who founded Vizmesh, hosts a gallery of Non-Fungible Tokens.

Enhanced Poetry Workshops

These sessions connect youngsters with seniors for tech-enhanced dialogues.

AR Sculpture Garden

Thanks to a collaboration with 8th Wall, the sculptures are seen through a general browser surrounded by live music.

International Garden Portals

Audiences travel through space and time zones to immerse themselves in art and technology installations via a connection with artists in Japan.

Festival Garden NYC is presented and curated by the international, interdisciplinary artist collective Extended Reality Ensemble and co-curated by Vizmesh and another artist collective, Never Knows Better.

“I’m excited to be a part of this festival because I’m driven by community shared experiences,” said Never Knows Better’s Erin Wajufos. “Likewise, by providing emerging electronic artists with a platform to showcase their art and music, Never Knows Better demonstrates that ultimately in the hands of the artist, any piece of technology is simply a means with which they can communicate their ideas and share the joy of art with others.”

Click here for a promotional video.