WHEN: 

From 6 to 11 September 2023. 

WHERE: 

Ars Electronica – Linz (AUSTRIA).

On September 6th-11th, CIFRA will join Ars Electronica with the project “Mise en Abyme,” reflecting on the interconnectivity in art. At our dedicated area, we invite the visitors to explore the CIFRA universe to the fullest. From curatorial playlists by Lev Manovich, Olga Shishko and Tobias Fisher to the best selections of our special projects: Mythological Menagerie with Jonathan Monagan, CIFRA TV, ART ME UP, and Media Comics with Manel De Aguas, Moon Ribas, Neil Harbisson, Pol Lombarte, Yvan Guillo “Samplerman” – you’ll get the most inspiration to start your journey with CIFRA and curate your first new media art playlist at hand.

Today, the “human” is breaking their boundaries. The last 60 years of technological development and ecological challenges compel us to rethink our bodies, capabilities, and the ethical horizon of “humanity.” In the coming decades, and possibly beyond, human beings will exist in a perpetual crisis of ontological identity. But this isn’t as frightening, as Michel Foucault also subtly points out in “The Order of Things…”: “It is comforting, however, and a source of profound relief to think that man is only a recent invention, a figure not yet two centuries old, a new wrinkle in our knowledge, and that he will disappear again as soon as that knowledge has discovered a new form.”

Myth is also a form of knowledge and understanding, a form of feeling that, contrary to common belief, is not a historically underdeveloped form of cognition. Science and blind faith in progress has led us to misunderstand ourselves in the world, and mythological understanding can restore these senses to us. By tapping into mythological consciousness and practices, the artists presented in this playlist create narratives that focus the viewer’s attention on the future of humanity and humankind, as well as other possible forms of life.

What are we? The playlist is opened by the work of Mariano Sardón, “The Wall of Gazes”. Sardón’s experiment shows us not so much what we see but rather what remains in the blind spot—those parts of another person’s face that are rarely captured by our gaze and remain faintly distinguishable. This analytical experiment reveals how a mere glance is often insufficient and how our other senses must also be engaged in understanding others.