27 Apr 2015 – 3 May 2015
Mousonturm & Naxoshalle
Frankfurt/Main, Germany
At the heart of the festival, the exhibition materialized the leitmotif and challenged the understanding of “one’s own body”. The artworks on display negotiated the impact of digital transformation on human (physical) interaction by debating the simultaneity of distance and proximity that occurs when one reaches out to the other through digital media.
In the exhibition, one could explore what it means to be another person and investigate the promise of technology to transcend material boundaries. The urge to overcome physical limitations was discussed by artistic wearables, interactive installations and performances.
‘The Informed Body’ gathered works of art that addressed the gradual incorporation of instruments and processes into the body, gadgets and algorithms optimizing our daily life or virtual reality devices trying to connect our physical bodies to potentially any virtual space and time.
The body has been examined both as a source of information and as an object of optimization. The viewer was invited to engage in a mental and physical work-out. He was confronted with the relation of flesh and consciousness in the interdependent evolution of human kind and technology.
Artists
NODE15’s exhibition presented a mix of more than 50 international distinguished and upcoming digital artists from manifold backgrounds as well as designers and creative minds in general.
Antoni Rayzhekov, Amir Bastan, Aram Bartholl, BeAnotherLab, Carolin Liebl, Chris Sugrue, Depart, Georg Scherlin, Golan Levin, Gregor Woschitz,
Herwig Turk, IOCOSE, Jeremy Bailey, Jörg Brinkmann, Katharina Köller, kling klang klong, Kyle McDonald, Lauren McCarthy, Lisa Bergmann, Nikolas Schmid-Pfähler, panGenerator, Quayola, schnellebuntebilder, Simon Renaud & Véronique Pêcheux, Stefan Tiefengraber, Susanna Hertrich, Woeishi Lean & Quadrature.
50+ artists
20+ artist talks
3 panel discussions
free entry
200 sqm area
Impressions
NODE15 invited more than 20 projects that investigate how the comprehension of the leitmotif ‘The Informed Body’ shape our perception and consciousness; how they alter communication and interaction with humans or machines. Coders, artists, scientists and developers quarrelled with the question, which significance to give to our flesh and shell called body. Among others:
‘Machine to Be Another’
Artwork, Virtual Reality
by BeAnotherLab Collective
Can a virtual reality help to develop feelings of empathy? Innervated by this question, the artist collective ‘Be another Lab’ developed an experimental series that enables you to immersively slip into an alien body.
‘The Eidolon Splits’
Artwork, Commission
by Leonhard Lass, Gregor Ladenhauf
Ever since the invention of fictitious worlds, we have wondered how drowning in these alternative worlds would impact our own mental state and health.
‘Augmented Hand Series’
Artwork
by Golan Levin, Chris Sugrue, Kyle McDonald
Of all parts of the body we make the most demands on the hand. The tactile sensory system makes it a bridge to our environment that can communicate complex information by a mere touch or highly complex sign language.
‘Captives’
Artwork
by Quayola
An on-going series of digital and analog sculptures and installations
Additional program
Artist Talks and Conversations
Panel Discussion, Talk
NODE15 hosted a series of conversations and presentations that addressed the festival’s leitmotif from an artistic and critical point of view. Our artists were generously sharing their ideas, insights into their working processes, challenges in their practice and what they think about ‘The Informed Body’.
Mediation of culture and art education
Guided tour
For the first time NODE’s mediation program offered guided curator tours giving insights to the exhibition – and on top special tours for Kids were provided.
The curators’ voices
“The intention of the exhibition in general is to engage the audience with a question that is relevant to the society as a whole: How does the image of our own body change in interaction with technology?”
Jeanne Charlotte Vogt
Frankfurt & Hamburg, DE
Jeanne is a dramaturge, curator and cultural producer. Since 2017, she is the artistic and managing director of NODE. Trained in management theory, working in arts and culture, she embodies the multidisciplinary perspective in the team. Her projects are working at the intersection between the digital arts, performance and technology, always aiming at spreading the means for the critical reflection and application of technology.
Alexandra Waligorski
Hamburg, Germany
Alexandra is an art historian, curator and art mediator. She organizes projects at the intersection of art, technology and education. Alex joined the NODE team in 2014 and co-curated the exhibitions “The Informed Body” and “Designing Hope” as well as the public and educational program of NODE15 and NODE17. She is an active member of Digitale Welten, the NODE initiative for younger audiences.