MTF Aveiro 2021

MTF Aveiro 2021

MTF Aveiro

Just Ocean

11-16 October 2021

From Monday 11th to Saturday 16th of October, MTF Labs ran the second in its series of commissioned innovation events at Teatro Aveirense in the city of Aveiro. Building on the knowledge and experience gained at the first MTF Aveiro during the worst of the Covid pandemic crisis in 2020, the labs were organised and run with strict safety protocols in a refurbished venue with additional ventilation for the health and wellbeing of participants.

Representing a total of 26 countries, 50 experts were assembled in person and 8 global satellites joined online for a week of creative brainstorming, co-creation and response to grand challenges under the theme ‘Just Ocean’, resulting in 13 original new projects and a final collaborative performance in six movements which united 40 collaborators.

MTF Aveiro

Just Ocean

11 - 16 October 2021

#MTF AVEIRO PROJECTS

International collaborations between artists and scientists

MTF Labs Aveiro gathered 50 experts (45 sharing the space at any one time) at Teatro Aveirense and connected remotely to simultaneous MTF Satellite Labs events taking place at universities around the world to collaborate on innovation projects. Participants represented 26 different nations. 14 separate projects including a 6-part oceanographic symphony were created, documented and performed in situ in Aveiro. In addition, live exclusive international contributions and multiple cocreation projects from 8 global satellites were presented.

#MTF AVEIRO PROJECTS

International collaborations between artists and scientists

MTF Labs Aveiro gathered 50 experts (45 sharing the space at any one time) at Teatro Aveirense and connected remotely to simultaneous MTF Satellite Labs events taking place at universities around the world to collaborate on innovation projects. Participants represented 26 different nations. 14 separate projects including a 6-part oceanographic symphony were created, documented and performed in situ in Aveiro. In addition, live exclusive international contributions and multiple cocreation projects from 8 global satellites were presented.

MTF Ensemble Performance

This performance is inspired by the Marine Ecosystem Service Optimisation (MESO) scientific model of Carr, Keen, Pegg & Tillin (2018) using sound and images to express an underlying Bayesian Belief Network. This network maps human pressures through ecosystem processes to model the effect these have in ecosystem services. Ecosystem services define the benefits provided to us, humans, by a natural ecosystem. The piece consists of six movements: Baseline lagoon, Habitat changes, Extractive activities, Physical changes, Contamination, and Cataclysm.

SINK

Like many cities on our coastline, Aveiro will be underwater in 30 years if we don’t do anything about it. SINK is a piece evoking the memories of a city that is about to sink, with singers performing in a sink, recorded with hydrophones. One of the project’s outputs was the creation of a free downloadable software instrument called the “Nestorphone” available for download on Github at: https://github.com/ekkolabs/nestorphone

Interactive Cork Interface

Tiago Margaça from Aveiro band Musgos, mechanical engineer André Maia and sound designer Rui Carvalhos teamed up to combine technology with natural materials found in and around the Laguna de Aveiro. Working with electronic capacitive paint, the team created an instrument that uses local sounds recorded in Aveiro, triggered by touching ancient cork that had circuitry applied using the conductive paint.

Siren

Siren is a ritualized performance inspired by the Aveiro para-hydromorphic Regosal - the constantly changing boundary between land and water. Breathing, voluntary and involuntary muscle movements and dual heartbeats compose the sound. The performance is accompanied by an interactive video-art piece edited from a film taken from a site-specific performance at the Aveiro wetlands.

Music For Solo

One of the inspirations to make music that represents the parameters of the physical changes (waves) at the sublittoral mud ensemble performance was to recreate the experience Music for Solo Performer of Alvin Lucier (1965) using electrophysiological signals to trigger MIDI messages sent directly to a custom percussion instrument with mechanical actuators and also to other synths from a brain-computer interface sequencer software (aka [MEME] music).

Tercer Cuerpo Sonoro

The Art+Science research group at UNAM in Mexico City explored and mapped a third body or third space between two different realities: one in the abandoned mine and mostly unexplored biosphere of the Parque Ecológico Experimental in the center of Mexico City, and the other at the Laguna de Aveiro. Using field recordings made in both locations, they combined the environmental audio to create an entirely new sonic space in a search for a resonance and remote togetherness with Aveiro.

#MTF EXCLUSIVES*

50 GLOBAL EXPERT PRESENTATIONS
& PERFORMANCES

*EXCLUSIVE TO #MTFLabs participants AND VIPS

To inspire the participants and inform their work, MTF Labs Aveiro featured an exclusive conference with 50 live presentations and performances from high level experts across the United States, Britain, Mexico, Italy, Slovenia, Israel, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Portugal, in a blend of online presentations and live in-person talks.

A small selection of presentations from the conference sessions are included below. For the full programme, see Aveiro Exclusives.

#MTF EXCLUSIVES*

50 GLOBAL EXPERT PRESENTATIONS
& PERFORMANCES

*EXCLUSIVE TO #MTFLabs participants AND VIPS

To inspire the participants and inform their work, MTF Labs Aveiro featured an exclusive conference with 50 live presentations and performances from high level experts across the United States, Britain, Mexico, Italy, Slovenia, Israel, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Portugal, in a blend of online presentations and live in-person talks.

A small selection of presentations from the conference sessions are included below. For the full programme, see Aveiro Exclusives.

Paul D. Miller aka DJ Spooky - Sonifying Antarctica

Paul D. Miller, aka DJ Spooky, is a composer, multimedia artist and writer whose work immerses audiences in a blend of genres, global culture and environmental and social issues. His current work is the artistic research project ‘Virtual Antartica”.

David Cox - Humans Since 1982

Head of technology and partner at art studio Humans since 1982, responsible for the technology of the kinetic projects “Clock Clock” and “A million Times”: hardware, firmware, network, server application and choreography design platform. David played a key role in shaping the studio which comprises a large group of specialists from different backgrounds.

Carolin Vogler - Knitting DNA

Vogler is a S+T+ARTS alumna with “Knitted DNA” and winner of the IEEE Brain Prize at a hackathon of Ars Electronica 2019 for creating a personalisable 3D printed light and ornamental EEG cap. Merging marketing skills, design ideas and maker knowledge she combines traditional processes and new technologies to create new viewpoints and sustainable solutions.

Robertina Šebjanič - Aquatocene Art

Robertina uses art to explore the cultural, (bio)political, chemical and biological realities of aquatic environments, which serves as a starting point to investigate and tackle the philosophical questions on the intersection of art, technology and science.

Mónica Pedro - Fish-based materials

Mónica Pedro is an applied researcher with a background in project management for cutting-edge technologies and in fashion. She uses fish skin and local and ecological (non-petrochemical) substances in order to create leathers and textiles. Her work raises discussions about aesthetics, localism, whole-animal use and ecology awareness.

Marta de Menezes - Nature?

In 1999 Portuguese artist de Menezes created her first biological artwork (Nature?) by modifying the wing patterns of live butterflies. Since then, she has used diverse biological techniques using live neurons and bacteria - as well as functional MRI of the brain to create portraits where the mind can be visualised and fluorescent DNA probes to create micro-sculptures in human cell nuclei.

Alexandra Murray-Leslie & Melissa E. Logan - Chicks On Speed

Chicks on Speed is a feminist music and fine art ensemble, formed in Munich in 1997. They reached cult status throughout the 2000s as catalysts of the musical genre electroclash, but were founded as a multidisciplinary art group working in performance art, collage, textiles and fashion.

Kika Goncalves - Ocean Soundscape Awareness

A PhD researcher in ecoacoustics and artistic creation focusing on the ocean soundscapes, Goncalves creates awareness of noise pollution in aquatic environments through artistic practices and artworks, with a special interest in low frequencies, vibration and particle motion disturbances.

Martim Sousa Tavares - Ways of Hearing

Maestro orchestra conductor and music communicator. Beyond conducting orchestras in several countries, Martim is an avid communicator of classical music, being involved in several projects that aim to reignite interest in classical music, and bring it to remote parts of Portugal.

Dan Hill - The Slowdown Papers

Head of Strategic Design at Vinnova, the Swedish Innovation Agency, Visiting Professor Eindhoven, RMIT and Bartlett; ex Head of BBC Music, and Head of the Cities Catapult. Author at cityofsound.com

Harry Yeff (Reeps One) - Vocal AI

Artist in Residence at the World Economic Forum and Nokia Bell Labs, Yeff explores the evolution of the human voice, art and science. His work blends experimental vocal performance with AI, and transforms the voice into visible, physical form through performance, installation, sculpture, photography and film as well as curatorial, directorial and academic projects.

Christian Guttmann - How Our Lives Change in the Age of AI

Global Vice-President for Artificial Intelligence, TietoEVRY, named one of the top 100 global AI leaders in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Data Science, Guttmann has built hundreds of wide-ranging AI systems. He is also involved in major European initiatives, advising EU commissioners in Brussels on AI regulation.

Davys Espindola Moreno & Ana Maia - Inclusion Through Music

Morena and Maia use music in inclusive education for children with and without special needs. Their work includes the development of children’s orchestras, as well as solutions that allow children with motor disability due to Cerebral Palsy to access Art Education Programs, and develop their potential and artistic skills using ICT.

Joseph Wilk / Andreas Bergsland / Kirsi Mustalahti / Lilian Jap - Dance AI

Ongoing international collaboration to create, explore and perform a novel system for language and movement that repositions the relationship between movement, music and meaning and addressing communication and accessibility.

Stanza - The Emergent City

Stanza is an internationally recognised artist, who has been exhibiting worldwide since 1984. His artworks have won twenty international art prizes and art awards including: Vidalife 6.0 First Prize Spain; SeNef Grand Prix Korea; Videobrasil First Prize Brazil; and Cynet Art First Prize Germany. His art has also been rewarded with a prestigious Nesta Dreamtime Award, an Arts Humanities Creative Fellowship and a Clarks bursary.

#MTF AVEIRO SATELLITES

International MTF SATELLITE events at universities and research institutes

Art+Science Research Centre at UNAM in Mexico City
INESC at the University of Porto
ESMAD at the Polytechnic Institute of Porto,
NTNU – the Norwegian Institute of Science and Technology

Participants from around the world also joined MTF Labs as part of MTF Aveiro satellite events hosted at universities and research institutions. This new format mixed the onsite expert labs and inspirational talks with an educational component from the universities, joining research teams across the world and creating new curricula and teaching models.

#MTF AVEIRO SATELLITES

International MTF SATELLITE events at universities and research institutes

Art+Science Research Centre at UNAM in Mexico City
INESC at the University of Porto
ESMAD at the Polytechnic Institute of Porto,
NTNU – the Norwegian Institute of Science and Technology

Participants from around the world also joined MTF Labs as part of MTF Aveiro satellite events hosted at universities and research institutions. This new format mixed the onsite expert labs and inspirational talks with an educational component from the universities, joining research teams across the world and creating new curricula and teaching models.