Publication DNA #24: Evidence Ensembles

Following Kat’s participation in the Haus der Kulturen der Welt’s Anthropocene Curriculum event Unearthing the Present, we are delighted to announce that the follow-up publication DNA #24: Evidence Ensembles (2024), published by Spector Books is now available.

CONTRIBUTORS: Kat Austen; Christoph Rosol; Giulia Rispoli; Katrin Klingan; Niklas Hoffmann-Walbeck; Carbon Aesthetics Group; Nigel Clark; Kristine L. DeLong; Anna Echterhölter; Victor Galaz et al.

LASER Talk Three Cultures: the potential for change when art, science and policy meet

A wealth of art + science projects are addressing topics of environmental importance. The cutting-edge ideas and experiments from the field hold great potential for transforming policy – but how does the message get across?

How does art+science intersect with policy? This LASER session responds to the recent publication, “The Art + Science + Policy Nexus(link is external)” by the Joint Research Centre (JRC), the European Commission’s science and knowledge service. The publication’s author, artist Kat Austen, will present an overview of current practice and discuss with a panel of experts how to foster exchange and transformation when policy and policymakers encounter art and science.

Kat will be joined by Lucía Iglesias Blanco, Jutta Thielen-del Pozo and Phillippe Kern.

Moderated by: Ingeborg Reichle

17th May 2024, online.

Music Release: 30+20 by Neural and Crónica features Kat’s Golden Acceleration

Kat was invited to be one of the 30 artists contributing to this momentous celebration of 30 years of the marvellous Neural Magazine and 20 years of the great Crónica music label.

Natural rhythms are key to Kat’s compositions, which are often led by emerging rhythms from soundscapes in which she immerses herself during field recording research.

Challenged with producing a track of only 9s in length for the 30+20 album, published on flexidisc along with Neural issue 74, Kat leverages the synergy between music and mathematics, focussing on evolving rhythm. For Golden Acceleration, Kat created a track that increases its rhythm according to the golden ratio. Using field recorded samples edited for aesthetics and effect, the piece evolves through 9 until the gap between the tones is no longer perceptible. 

The release was first launched at V2 in November.

More on Neural.it

Publication: Art + Science + Policy for the Joint Research Council of the European Commission

What does it look like when art, science and policy meet?

A wealth of art + science projects are addressing topics of environmental importance. The cutting-edge ideas and experiments from the field hold great potential for transforming policy – but how does the message get across? How does art+science intersect with policy? 

In “The Art + Science + Policy Nexus”, I explore the way that transdisciplinary projects intersect with policy and policymakers. Commissioned by the Joint Research Centre (JRC), the European Commission’s science and knowledge service and edited by Caterina Benincasa in the context of JRC’s SciArt programme with Adriaan Eeckels.

The Matter of the Soul at Leaky Earth, Technische Sammlung Dresden

Kat will headline the Leaky Earth programme at Technische Sammlung Dresden with The Matter of the Soul | Symphony. For this special performance, Kat has invited Korean media artist Dongjoo Seo to perform live visuals drawing on explorations of mining landscapes and transformation of bodies. The evening begins with screenings of films by the inimitable Rosa Barba.

21st March 2024
Screenings @ 7pm
Performance @ 9pm
Free Entry

Location:
Technical Museum Dresden (Technische Sammlung Dresden)
Junghansstraße 1 – 3
(Enter from Schandauer Straße)
01277 Dresden
Germany

Techniches Sammlung website
Produced in the context of Leakage Conference / TU Dresden.

2024 Cultural Olympics Programme

Time to Break Down (Echoes of the Palaeoplasticene)
in 2024 Cultural Olympics Exhibition Program
The Fabulous Stories to Save the Green Planet
10th January – 1st February 2024
Location: Sea Gallery, Gyeongpo Beach, Gangneung, KR

More information at http://2024coep.kr/

Opening 10th January on the occasion of the 2024 Youth Winter Olympics in Republic of Korea Gangwon Province, a new site specific installation of Time to Break Down (Echoes of the Palaeoplasticene) at the Sea Gallery in Gangneung. The work includes a very special soundscape using audio recorded in an abandoned shaft #850 in Samtan Art Mine, Taebaek, KR

Time to Break Down (Echoes of the Palaeoplasticene) is situated in the Palaeoplasticene speculative past and inspired by the scientific method of taphonomy, which looks at how bodies decay in the natural environment. For Palaeoplasticence, the method of taphonomy is applied to 3D printed PLA mushrooms, exploring what evolutionary advantage there would be to a mushroom if it had evolved to grow from plastic. The site specific installation for the 4th Gangwon Winter Youth Olympic Games joins four ongoing Palaeoplasticene taphonomy installations in Berlin, Germany; Helsinki, Finland; Dublin, Ireland and Gijon, Spain.

Accompanied for this site specific installation by a soundscape drawing links between fossil fuel extraction and the slow process of the break down of plastic, Time to Break Down (Echoes of the Palaeoplasticene) helps us to realize that the enduring legacy of man-made objects like the plastic will bring about changes affecting both human and non-human beings.

Credits
Artist: Kat Austen
Initial concept: Kat Austen in collaboration with Indrė Žliobaitė, Laurence Gill
Production: Ars Electronica Andrew Newman
Palaeoplasticene was realised within the framework of the STUDIOTOPIA program at Ars Electronica Linz GmbH & Co KG with support of the Creative Europe Culture Programme of the European Union.

This site specific edition of Time to Break Down (Echoes of the Palaeoplasticene) includes field recordings from Samtan Art Mine, Gangwon Province, thanks to Director Whasoon Son and with the support of Dongjoo Seo.

Exhibition opening ceremony at 14:00 on 10th January.