ARTS SANTA MONICA- Laboratori: Cultures of change. Social Atoms and Electronic Lives :: December 11 , 2009 - February 28, 2010 :: Opening and Lecture (Luc Steels. “Can robots create their own language?”): December 10, 8:00 pm :: Departament de Cultura i Mitjans de Comunicació- Generalitat de Catalunya, La Rambla, 7, 08002 Barcelona, Spain.

Cultures of change. Social Atoms and Electronic Lives examines the social and cultural dynamics from a highly multidisciplinary perspective, from the hand of the complexity sciences and digital technologies. Information and communication technologies have made possible to quantify and monitor, process and display aspects of our society and our culture unthinkable until recently. The so-called complex systems theory seeks to explain this phenomenology based on the hardest sciences through models that assume nonlinear properties, self-organization, emergence, feedback, heterogeneity and uncertainty. These theoretical abstractions contributions describe the social and cultural interactions maintaining the unique and the co-evolution with the environment as an essential element.

Both the whole and the singularities are particularly important, and robotics, artificial intelligence, electronic circuitry and new technological devices are getting closer to our human peculiarities. The exhibition seeks to experience in person all these ideas and artistic practices through experimental projects, and providing access to scholarly information on the subject in a friendly environment.

Curated by: Josep Perello and Pau Alsina, with the assistance of Irma Vila.

The exhibition project will be inaugurated during the celebration of the International Conference “Cultures of Change | Changing Cultures in Barcelona, inside the NEST PathFinder initiative A Topological Approach to Cultural Dynamics, as part of the European Commission’s 6th Framework Programme where sociologists, philosophers, mathematicians, biologists, physicists , technologists and artists contribute with their views on cultural dynamics in the contemporary world.

The project involves also a database, a book, a series of workshops and a range of activities related to the exhibition.

Participants in the exhibition:

1. Usman Haque - Sky Ear & Open Burble
2. Bestiario - Canvi and Temps
3. Christa Sommerer & Laurent Mignonneau - Life Writer
4. Josep Manel Berenguer – Luci
5. Sony Lab: Luc Steels, Michael Spranger & Martin Loetzsch- Embodied Language Games
6. Raquel Paricio & Juan Manuel Moreno Aróstegui- POEtic-Cubes
7. Pi Studio Goldsmiths: Mike Waller, Terry Rosenberg, Pete Rogers, Andrew Weatherhead & Duncan Fairfax- News Telescope
8. Interaction Research Studio- The Drift Table
9. Digital Methods Initiative: Richard Rogers, Esther Weltevrede, Erik Borra & Marieke van Dijk- #iranelection RT.
10. Govcom.org Foundation: Alexander Galloway, Erik Borra, Michael Stevenson & Marieke van Dijk- IP Browser

International Conference: Changing Cultures: Cultures of Change :: December 10-12, 2009 :: Facultat de Filosofia, Universitat de Barcelona.

Among 160 participants. Plenary speakers include: Rosi Braidotti, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands / Matthew Fuller, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK / Alex Galloway, New York University, USA / Penny Harvey, University of Manchester, UK / Dirk Helbing, ETH Zurich, Switzerland / Scott Lash, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK / Richard Rogers, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands / Brian Rotman, Ohio University / Luc Steels, SONY-France, France / Sergi Valverde, University Pompeu Fabra, Spain / Eyal Weizmann, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK For more information: http://www.atacd.net

Produced by: Arts Santa Monica - Departament de cultura i mitjans de comunicació. Generalitat de Catalunya;

In collaboration with: A Topological Approach to Cultural Dynamics (NEST PathFinder. VI programm UE), Goldsmiths - University of London, Media Studies - Universiteit van Amsterdam, Universitat de Barcelona, Advanced Hardware Architectures - Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Neàpolis, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, BEEP.