Introduction to the winning works of the 3rd CDSA International Media Art Creativity Competition VOL.02
The following are the works of 18 winning artists introduced this time.
Nominee Awards
Clouds are a reflection of ground activities. Ashes from volcanic eruptions form aerosol clouds in the air, industrial emissions dye clouds red, and gases produced in urban heat islands gather in clouds… Particles produced by ground activities enter our bodies with every breath.
“Atmospheric Alchemy” extracts meteorological data from hundreds of cities around the world, including data on carbon substances, greenhouse gases, pollutants, and meteorological conditions such as humidity and temperature, and generates corresponding digital cloud sculptures through algorithms. For example, sulfur dioxide, which reflects the degree of industrialization, and chemical substances such as marine aerosol particles, which reflect the degree of coastal areas, as well as the longitude and latitude of cities… will affect the shape, movement, color, texture, etc. of digital clouds. As the chemical substances in the clouds increase, the digital clouds will gradually move from a soft/sparse state to a chaotic/violent state.
Humans are social animals, and we have been connected to others since the moment we were born. However, the establishment of intimate relationships is often accompanied by the possibility of being hurt, and humans are instinctively afraid of pain.
At the same time, with the development of technology, the continuous enrichment of virtuality has brought space for escape, and the rise of emerging technologies such as AI has even made it possible for intimate relationships to be painless.
It is true that whether it is between people, people and objects, or people and machines, there is an inherent relationship flow, but at present, we have to face the question of where we will go when the relationship in this virtual world gradually invades reality.
Sicko is a brand new, outstanding way of getting in touch with your own anger. What if we, as a society, let go of our control issues and started expressing our true feelings when we feel them? What if we took a feeling as frowned upon as anger and tried to normalize it? This is how a new, outstanding experience is born. This is how the possibility to get in touch with your darkest sides sees the light. sicko believes in competition and trusting your instincts. sicko believes in tantrums. sicko believes in taking pride in stubborness. This is sicko.
website: sicko.surge.sh instagram: sicko_worldwide
The video portrays a chase animation between pantomime hands and Earth, exploring themes of technological advancement, environmental degradation, and the inherent resilience of nature. The mysterious hands symbolize technological progress and its varied impacts. While they reshape Earth, symbolizing development and creation, they ultimately fail to overpower nature’s inherent laws. Despite the destruction, nature resists and protects itself. After the hands withdraw, the video shows how, without human interference, Earth can return to its natural state, regaining its beauty and revealing nature’s fundamental strength and mystery. It artistically reminds us not to harm nature further and captures the untouchable essence and wonder of the natural world.
Nature is in harmony, reflecting the concept of yin and yang where opposing forces are interconnected and interdependent. Just as decisions lead to consequences, lives are intertwined, influencing each other continuously. Human beings are part of a larger system, and our actions ripple through this system, impacting others. The interconnectedness of the world highlights the importance of our choices within the broader system, emphasizing our collective responsibility and the profound effects of our individual actions. This artwork illustrates the crucial role we play in the broader world. Coral reefs serve as a narrative symbol, representing one of nature’s fractals. Coral reefs underscore the significance of decision-making, and by imagining the corals through a particle system, we demonstrate the interactions between individual changes and the transformation of the overall structure. The artwork delves into the alternative possibilities posed by the question: If one single entity changes in this fractal, in our universe, what would happen to the overall picture? This exploration seeks to emphasize the interconnectedness of all elements in nature and our vital role in maintaining the balance within this complex system.
The artwork uses the ‘Anthropocene’ as a lens for existential inquiry, drawing creative energy from the profound ‘sacred mountain cosmology’ to explore the essence of Eastern ‘mountains and rivers,’ ‘society,’ ‘material symbols,’ and ‘divinity.’ The piece blends glitch art with the spontaneous grandeur of Eastern freehand brushwork, channeling the raw vigor of a primordial creation narrative that mirrors the intricate dynamics of natural systems and cosmic forces.
It transports the viewer into the realm of ancient literati paintings, inviting them on an enchanting odyssey where each step reveals a new vista. The work crafts a distinctive visual tapestry of Eastern cyber-nature, presenting a sublime spectacle that transcends the limitations of time and space.
“Cyber Suzhou Tour” is an ingenious digital art masterpiece. Inspired by the ancient “woodblock” technique, it presents the water city of Suzhou. Under the rendering of the cyber style, the scenes in “Maple Bridge Night Mooring” by the renowned Tang Dynasty poet Zhang Ji are dreamlike and illusory. The integration of technological elements does not undermine its original charm. People are content and at ease in this cyber world, where the ancient and the modern coexist in harmony. Technology endows tradition with new vitality, and tradition adds humanistic warmth to technology. Viewers can deeply feel the perfect integration of technology and humans here and appreciate the beauty of harmony, as if being in a beautiful scroll interwoven between the future and the past.
Modern humans and post-humans encounter each other in a thundercloud. Post-humans use light as a medium to communicate with the audience and pass on evolutionary information to contemporary humans.
In the Anthropocene era, where we critique human-centric practices and emphasize the intricate relationships between human and non-human actors shaping our planet’s geology, “(NON)HUMAN AQUARIUM” aims to portray hope for survival and flourishing amid ecological and environmental challenges. The project uses an imaginary organism, symbolizing an assimilation of human and non-human life forms, as a lens to explore this new geological epoch. By dissolving traditional distinctions between these entities, it envisions possibilities emerging from places of resistance. Through this synthesis, “(NON)HUMAN AQUARIUM” offers a narrative of struggles and interconnectedness, inviting us to reconsider our place in the world within the broader and ever-evolving ecological framework.
Our aim is to visualize the topic of “Nature and Data” in an abstract way. We decided to depict the modification of DNA. Thanks to the development of CRISPRCas9, it is now possible to edit DNA very specifically by removing, adding or changing the sequence. In our project, we want to visualize a utopian use of this gene modification. The first part of the animation depicts the modification of a DNA string. The DNA is created in a laboratory environment and then placed on the roadside. Here now grows a gene-modified plant that has been edited to be able to glow with bioluminescence. In our project it is used as a streetlamp for us humans. This would be an environmentally friendly, resource-saving and potentially inexpensive method of lighting up the roads at night.
Territorial Metabolism is a communicative artifact for urban areas facing overtourism. The project aims to highlight the complexity of non-human elements, offering a non-anthropocentric perspective. Metabolismo Territoriale, a digital platform, combines video-documentary, cookbook, and travel guide formats. Using the recipe metaphor, non-human territorial elements become catalysts to reveal hidden local phenomena. These ingredients, processed in steps and mapped, form a complete dish symbolizing the understanding and metabolization of the territory. The format transforms scientific and ecocritical territorial analysis into an immersive, evocative, and poetic experience, promoting awareness through remote engagement. Applied to Venice, a “souvenir city” and complex ecosystem, the project showcases a unique observatory of the Anthropocene, reflecting nature altered by human actions. In Venice, one can observe natural elements and phenomena that contribute to the human-nature balance, highlighting the hidden order and symbiotic relationship between the two. The project also includes a satellite artifact: a set of 12 accordion postcards depicting the non-visible aspects of the territory. These postcards, showcasing layered elements of the Venetian Lagoon, offer a deep investigation of the landscape through photography.
Sicko is a brand new, outstanding way of getting in touch with your own anger. What if we, as a society, let go of our control issues and started expressing our true feelings when we feel them? What if we took a feeling as frowned upon as anger and tried to normalize it? This is how a new, outstanding experience is born. This is how the possibility to get in touch with your darkest sides sees the light. sicko believes in competition and trusting your instincts. sicko believes in tantrums. sicko believes in taking pride in stubborness. This is sicko.
website: sicko.surge.sh instagram: sicko_worldwide
The project consists of an interactive device of a fictional brand within a speculative scenario; the purpose is to bring out the environmental issue from the perspective of a natural element. We are surrounded by screens pervaded by images about climate change that cause us eco-anxiety. Litia, a tech company, presents a protection to all this: Specta, your personal eco-anxiety silencer. Studies and research based on millennia-old rock-knowledge prove that climate change has always been there and will always be there; that our biocentric view is limited; and that eco-anxiety is a useless feeling. Thanks to Specta, it is possible to observe the alarming events caused by climate change by taking the perspective of rocks that consider natural disasters to be mere layers of debris. Climate change is not a problem; seeing it is.
Despite explores the theme of independent welfare, addressing unprecedented forms of social cooperation, autonomously organized to make up for the shortcomings and absences of the state. Every action counts, anyone can start a revolution, and heal shortcomings in his life. Unspoken Stories is an app that aims to share one’s own stories of existence, read those of others and try to replicate them, while pushing people to take real action.
Our aim is to visualize the topic of “Nature and Data” in an abstract way. We decided to depict the modification of DNA. Thanks to the development of CRISPR-Cas9, it is now possible to edit DNA very specifically by removing, adding or changing the sequence. In our project, we want to visualize a utopian use of this gene modification. The first part of the animation depicts the modification of a DNA string. The DNA is created in a laboratory environment and then placed on the roadside. Here now grows a gene-modified plant that has been edited to be able to glow with bioluminescence. In our project it is used as a streetlamp for us humans. This would be an environmentally friendly, resource-saving and potentially inexpensive method of lighting up the roads at night.
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