[ISEA2023] Paper: Maurice Jones, Meaghan Wester & Marek Blottiere — Curation as Research-Creation: Speculating on the Future of Art and Technology Festivals

Abstract

Full Paper, Theme Museums – Curation  Sub theme Symbiotic Organization

This paper explores a renewed approach to curation as research-creation (CRC) through its practical application in the annual art and technology festival. CRC envisions a shift in curation from a care for objects to a care for the emerging social relations of the curatorial project in a shared quest of meaning making.

We set out with outlining the features of CRC as interdisciplinary, concerned with programmatic boundary objects, and centered around the unfolding event trajectory – the forms and methods that facilitate affective encounters. Following we outline how this approach to curation unfolds in practice through the case study of the Fest-Forward workshop series that speculates on the future of art and technology festivals.

Concluding we summarize how this workshop series showcases the potential of CRC’s shift of attention from a mere presentation of artworks towards the facilitation of interdisciplinary and cross-cultural encounters that enroll artists, curators, and audiences.

  • Marek Blottiere (CA) is a student-researcher in Science Technology and Society with an interest in the development of AI in Canada. He holds a master’s degree from the Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique – Urbanisation Culture Société, supported by the Quebec Research Fund – Society and Culture. He is now interested in the role of facilitation in the creation of meaning with interdisciplinary audiences. https://forum.mutek.org/en/speakers/marek-blottiere
  • Meaghan Wester (CA) is currently an MA student in Media Studies at Concordia University. She holds a B.A. from McGill University in Sociology with minors in Communications Studies and Political Science. She is the recipient of the honourable Joseph Armand Bombardier Award and her thesis investigates the ethical terrain guiding artificial intelligence in Canada https://www.concordia.ca/content/shared/en/profiles/artsci/coms/ma/meaghan-wester.html?c=/artsci/coms/research/graduate-profiles/ma-bios
  • Maurice Jones (CA) is a curator, producer, and AI policy researcher based in Montréal and Tokyo. Since 2016, he has been curating and producing MUTEK.JP in Tokyo. Jones currently is a PhD candidate at Concordia University in Montréal and a fellow at the Humboldt Institute for Internet & Society in Berlin. In his research, he investigates intersectional and cross-cultural visions of AI and their impact on governance efforts in Canada, Germany, and Japan. https://montreal.mutek.org/en/speakers/maurice-jones-1