On July 21, 2016, jointly hosted by CAFA, Beijing Media Art Biennale and Academy of Art and Design (HfG) Offenbach, “Beijing Media Art Biennale 2016” held a press conference at CAFA Art Museum, to inform the public of the theme, exhibition framework and sections, as well as the related processes of Beijing Media Art Biennale which is going to open in September. Chief curator of the exhibition Song Xiewei, Director of the B3 Biennial of the Moving Image Prof. Bernd?Kracke, Deputy Director of the Organizing Committee Office of the Beijing Design Week Wang Xudong, Director of Academic Committee of CAFA Xu Bing, Director of the World Art Museum Ji Peng, representatives of the curatorial team Chen Xiaowen, Jin Jun, Fei Jun, Hu Zhangquan attended the conference. One of the exhibition curators, Head of the Curatorial Department at CAFA Art Museum Wang Chunchen presided over the press conference.

Chief curator of the exhibition Song Xiewei introduced that, on the basis of the 2015 B3 Biennial of the Moving Image, it was with the co-presentation of Beijing Design Week, choosing “Ethics of Technology” as the exhibition theme, presenting 7 sections in both the World Art Museum and CAFA Art Museum, unfolding around the current five pillars of science and technology, including big data, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, biotechnology and metascience, inviting international and domestic artists to explore the ethical issues raised by technology through works of art and proceeds to a full and accurate research of the literature for the theme of the exhibition, combining works of art to present to the audience a readable and participatory exhibition of media.

Director of the B3 Biennial of the Moving Image, President of the Academy of Art and Design (HfG) Offenbach and curator Bernd?Kracke reviewed the origin of cooperation between B3 Biennial of the Moving Image and Beijing, “the 21st century is the century of the moving image”, and introduced the theme of 2017 B3 Biennial of the Moving Image “On Desire”. At the “Beijing Media Art Biennale 2016”, B3 will be presented as a special show, to display more than 30 (sets) of works, including 7 German feature films and 10 short films, and 5 artists are invited to Beijing to participate in the exhibition.

Director of the Academic Committee of CAFA Prof. Xu Bing said that, although the desire did drive the development of technology, the technology would be close to “singularity” when it is developed, for example, Xu is creating a new work entitled “Dragonfly Eye”, which has faced a series of ethical problems caused by the technology applied in the public field. At the same time, Xu Bing is also an artist participating and presenting the work in the “Beijing Media Art Biennale 2016”.

Along with the technological advances, artistic creations they also preform diverse creative styles, when the curator of Beijing Media Art Biennale 2016 associate professor Fei Jun was questioned by the media, he replied that, today we had been unable to precisely define what was media art and what was new media art, media had shifted from the screen in the traditional sense to the levels of body, microscopic material.

The “Beijing Media Art Biennale” aims through an interdisciplinary, cross-cutting artistic and theoretical practice to generate a dialogue and interface between the public and industry. It will be held at the World Art Museum and CAFA Art Museum on September 25 going through to October 9, during the Beijing Design Week 2016. In addition to the show held in the World Art Museum, it will present a “Lab Space” at the CAFA Art Museum, through related activities including forums, workshops, master classes, to combine the resources of the biennale and the teaching of the school, to offer the students and the related communities the opportunities to exchange with artists, thinkers, technological pioneers. During the exhibition, it will also hold some public projects, such as an urban public screen show and audiovisual performances, etc., and the public can learn the related information of the exhibition through the public screens in the elevators of the office buildings, residential buildings and shopping malls, as well as the outdoor public screens, so that the exhibition can be involved in daily life, offering Beijing new urban public cultural landscapes, highlighting its public property and the value of the city. In the exhibition mode, Beijing Media Art Biennale is also innovative, through the form of hyperlinking exhibitions to connect the online and offline exhibitions, extending the display content to a large extent, connecting the artists, philosophers and scientists who are associated to “ethics of technology” around the world, to create a huge data base, or a think-tank.

After the conference, Storm Group, amVR incubator, together with CAFA, Academy of Art and Design (HfG) Offenbach, and Beijing Media Art Biennale signed a strategic cooperation agreement, which aims at the use of Storm Group’s platform and resource advantages, to promote the cooperation of “Advanced Image Joint Lab, Creative Center for Media Art, V-topia Project, Online BMAB” etc., to promote the development of media art.

Text and photo by Zhang Wenzhi, translated by Chen Peihua and edited by Sue/CAFA ART INFO

Part of the photos courtesy of the Organizing Committee of Beijing Media Art Biennale