Concept: from groves to …

grooves

Garden unfolds itself at the new cultural complex SODAS2123 (in Lithuanian SODAS means GARDEN) in the centre of Vilnius city and online. A few dozen artists, researchers, students and professors perform in the hybrid reality grove which merges physical grove with the building and perspectives of creatures living in and around it: from artists to microorganisms.

Garden takes a visual and conceptual metaphor from the grove (small forest) and builds its programme around it. Grove as an assemblage of trees or a smaller unit of forest is a place where symbiotic communication and relationship happens not only between indigenous (in)habitants but also invasive and migrant species including human beings and their activities.

Every grove has from 6 to 9 layers: the overstory, the canopy, the understory, the shrub layer,  the grass,  the forest floor (moss and soil) and underground (mycelial/fungal/roots). Garden Vilnius is inspired by Jussi Parikka’s book “Insect Media” and manifests as networked hive or swarm in the grove where makers culture and DIY activities flourish.

Multiple viewing modes and angles enable to experience the 3 days and nights activities in the „physical grove“ and merge them with a virtual grove with the help of live streams and pre-recorded materials. One could experience hybrid reality by following a wandering camera(wo)man, tree climber, flying drone, running or crawling pet (dog, cat, bird, rat) or even branch or herb movement.

Artists in the event are expanding the notion of humanity and its sustainable living with a help of culturally sited and rooted approaches to new media and its relations to biological and urban grove.

Artworks and 3D Mozilla Hub
https://ars.electronica.art/keplersgardens/en/groves/

TEAM
Curator-commissionaire:
Vytautas Michelkevičius

Curatorial team: Danutė Gambickaitė, Lina Rukevičiūtė, Mindaugas Gapševičius, Ignas Pavliukevičius, Gailė Griciūtė

Artists: Mindaugas Gapševičius, Ignas Pavliukevičius, Gailė Griciūtė, Brigita Kasperaitė, Rūta Spelskytė, Valentinas Klimašauskas, Auksė Gaižauskaitė, Vitalij Červiakov, ūmėdė, Andrew Gryf Paterson, Julijonas Urbonas and others

Team: Antanas Skučas, Arturas Bukauskas, Paulius Žižliauskas, Gailė Cijūnaitytė, Nidas Kaniušas, Eva Rodz, Žilvinas Baranauskas, Gabija Pernavaitė; and all students, artists and collaborators

Organised by:
Instituto Media, LTMKS / Letmekoo (Lithuanian Interdisciplinary Artists’ Association), Ūmėdė / MENE, VDA PhAMA (Department of Photography and Media Art at Vilnius Academy of Arts)

Supported by Lithuanian Culture for Council, Vilnius City Municipality, Robotics School Vilnius, Vilnius Academy of Arts