From 21 to 25 November, the international New Media Art Festival “UPDATE 2023: AUTOMATED CREATIVITY” will take place in Liepāja, bringing together more than 100 new media artists, art students, designers and new technology experts from the USA, Germany, Estonia, Ukraine, Latvia, etc. In the creative workshops at Liepaja University Art Research Laboratory (MPLab) and online masterclasses, they will explore automation processes in art, design and creative practice – artificial intelligence tools and conceptual methods for creating innovative, multimedia artworks. The artworks and prototypes created at the end of the festival will be presented to the general public in an exhibition at the Gallery of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the University of Liepaja, where they will be on display until 22 December. The exhibition will open on 25 November at 15.00. All festival events are free of charge.
The festival’s workshop leaders (artists and designers Krista Dzudzilo, Reinis Kalvelis, Imants Žodžiks, Sol Sarratea, Peter Gomes, Oleksandr Sirous, Sabrina Durling-Jones, Taavi Suisalu, and John Grzinich) work with a wide variety of media in their creative practice, including photography, 3D printing, video and sound recordings, computer-generated images, artificial intelligence tools, game engines, and also everyday objects and their symbolic meanings, and they will train workshop participants to use these artistic tools, while considering conceptual and practical questions related to the automation of creativity and work in the creative industries: can routine enter into creative work? To what extent does technology increase the capacity and quality of creative work? What is the creative potential of artificial intelligence and does it create competition for artists and designers?
Masterclasses and discussions on the evenings of the festival week will be easily accessible online. Mexican audio engineer Juan Hernandez Chico has contributed to the soundtracks of several industry-acclaimed films such as The Candidate (Netflix, 2019), Radical (Sundance Film Festival 2023, Festival Favorite Award) and will present a masterclass on sound layering as an important element of sound design. Researcher and artist Jānis Garančs will present the most current platforms for creating immersive and interactive 3D and virtual reality environments, giving a brief insight into their use. German-based Iranian artist Rosbeh Asmani will demonstrate how intangible heritage can be preserved through 3D scanning and modeling using Blender. At the end of the week, festival guests, artists and researchers from the Liepaja University Art Research Laboratory will discuss the role of automation in achieving creative results, including the impact of artificial intelligence tools on the creative sphere – art, design, creative industries.
On 25 November at 15.00 in the building of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the University of Liepaja, Kūrmājas pr.13, the exhibition of the results of the festival “UPDATE 2023: AUTOMATISED CREATIVITY” will be opened, where everyone will be able to see the photo, video, interactive and virtual artworks, as well as meet the artists and authors of the art pieces and design prototypes. The exhibition will be open to the public every working day during the university’s opening hours until 22 December.
On the evening of 25 November, at the end of UPDATE 2023, audiovisual performances will take place in the cultural space “Kursas putni”, Kuģinieku iela 5, Liepāja. Sound artist John Grzinich (Estonia), Paula Vītola with her performance “AV Ritmi”, Deelis, Kartoteka and other artists will perform.
For more information about the festival, its programme and to visit the online events, visit https://update.mplab.lv/.
The festival is organised by Liepaja University Art Research Lab (MPLab) and ASTE. Art, Science, Technology, Education. Supported by the cultural center “Kursas putni”, Liepaja City Municipality institution “Culture Department”, State Culture Capital Foundation (VKKF), Kurzeme Planning Region and Latvian Historical Lands.