The 12th edition of the Patchlab Digital Art Festival explores the captivating theme of SPACE/S.
Space is a fundamental philosophical concept that encompasses all the relationships among objects, events, and us, people. It is one of the two vectors of our lives, apart from time, which we can influence by creating a social, cultural and artistic space.
Over the four festival days, we will thoroughly explore how technology affects the creation of a creative, spiritual, and shared space where we live together as a community, both within ourselves and in relation to our environment. Space in the sense of freedom and unrestricted existence, space for action, creation, an area of unlimited, continually developing artistic expression in VR/AR/XR. We will also reach for the stars – into the universe, a field of boundless exploration and source of inspiration for imagining the unimaginable.
At the SPACE/S exhibition in the Wesoła creative quarter, you will be able to explore various works, including Spheres VR, an exploration of space sounds produced by Darren Aronofsky, inspired by Stanley Kubrick’s famous film Odyssey 1.4.9 by François Vautier, To The Moon, a virtual story by New York avant-garde artist Laurie Anderson and Taiwanese interactive narrative creator Hsin-Chien Huang. Additionally, Ayahuasca, Kosmic Journey by Jan Kounen offers an immersive experience that delves into the meditative and transformative ritual of consuming a psychedelic plant in the Shipibo tradition of Peru.
In the #ALPHALOOP project, Adelin Schweitzer, through the use of extended reality (XR), will lead us into spiritual realms with a blend of cybershamanism. This unique experience involves participants being guided by a technomancer on a transformative journey that reshapes their perception of the interplay between nature and technology.
At the ICE Kraków Congress Centre, we will present one of the most unique interactive dance performances in recent years created by the Italian Fuse* studio. Dökk, is a spectacular performance combining dance and acrobatics with 3D spatial projection, creating an innovative story about man in the universe.
At the AVnight at Hevre+1, you can experience live audiovisual performances by artists from France, Belgium, and Austria, immersing the audience in cosmic spatial worlds. During the evening titled Space Flares at Cricoteka, we will host two experimental projects: Solar Flares by Florent Di Bartolo, which is based on data from the Sun’s surface, and hex/A\ by Alex Augier, a spatial performance involving sound, video, and laser elements.
In Potocki Palace, we will convene with creators and experts in virtual reality, including those from the vnLab Laboratory at the Film School in Łódź. Together, we will critically examine the processes connected to immersive narrative spaces. Invited guests will present the results of research on the perception of recipients of interactive narratives as well as forecasts and directions for the development of new digital experiences.
The festival will conclude with a distinctive audiovisual concert at the Silesian Planetarium in Chorzów’s dome. British artist EMIKA, renowned for collaborations with Massive Attack and the legendary Ninja Tune label, will envelop the audience in a 360° format symphony of a dark and hypnotic universe.
Let’s meet at the spaces of the Patchlab Festival,
Elwira Wojtunik – Láng, Artistic Director