Through art and innovation, these artists explored the challenges and opportunities arising from the intersection of the natural and technological worlds, offering insights into current issues such as ecology, space exploration, artificial intelligence and human-machine relationships.
Joey Holder, winner of the first prize of the third edition, in the work Zoophyte offers an imaginary landscape of “off-limits” sea creatures, invented, undiscovered or about which official science knows little, stimulating reflection on different modes of knowledge and the boundary between reality and fantasy and offering a visual and philosophical interpretation of the world of legendary animals and speculative creatures. Winner of the second prize, Riccardo Giacconi‘s project Monologue combines two worlds, figure theater and artificial intelligence, to explore the theme of animation and the uncanny similarity between AI-created objects and human beings. Alice Bucknell, third prize winner, in her project The Martian Word for World is Mother examines the future of space exploration and reflects on the mainstream anthropocentric view of the colonization of the universe.
The Emerging Prize was awarded to Yue Huang who, with the work Artificial life: One Leg at a Time, explores the process of AI training, showing the large amount of computation required for operation and its many attempts and failures.
The other selected finalists are: Sahej Rahal with the project Mythmachine, Federica Di Pietrantonio with Farming, Robertina Šebjanič with Echinoidea future – Adriatic sensing, Pier Alfeo with Ciò che resta, Ginevra Petrozzi with Bite Off More Than You Can Chew
All the projects were able to explore the tensions and contradictions of the contemporary world providing insights for thought and stimuli for critical debate.
The Salvatore Iaconesi special mention is awarded to Mara Oscar Cassiani whose work Ai Love, Ghosts and Uncanny Valleys <3 . I broke up with my Ai and will never download analyzes the relationship between users and artificial intelligences. The project explores in speculative terms the possibility of falling in love with an AI and the different implications of this type of relationship from ghosting, to overwhelming and also ironically reflects on the possible financial fallout of these types of applications.
Finally, the project Slowly Fading into Data by Albert Barqué-Duran is awarded the Romaeuropa Festival’s Digitalive prize. The project challenges the conventions of human perception through the use of advanced technologies to create new spatial and temporal experiences.
Also added to this award is a special mention for artist Luca Pagan, whose Retraining Bodies will bring a performance lecture to Romaeuropa.
The projects will be on display from May 24 to June 18 at the WeGil exhibition halls in RomeZoo