On display at the showcase are over 20 projects by first-year students of ITMO’s Art & Science Master’s program. Among the exhibited works, created in the media of biodesign, live materials, robotics, and digital worlds, are a sculpture that turns alive, a digital memory box, a robot artist, and other interactive objects. While the artists weren’t limited by a single topic, they were all tasked with creating something that uncovers the unseen.

“The works of this year’s students are not what we’ve come to expect: apart from reimagining technological progress through the lens of science art, the artists address complex social topics. Our Master’s students created their projects at workshops under the guidance of influential modern science artists – Ippolit Markelov, Dmitry Morozov, and Helena Nikonole,” shares exhibition curator Khristina Ots.

Among the techniques and tools used by the artists are multimedia installation, digital animation, chlorophyll printing, performance, game development, sound design, and 3D modeling.

In the course series Bioart, Biodesign, and Live Materials, students created art objects inspired by life sciences and philosophical debates on cross-species interaction, posthumanism, and biopolitics. During classes at the workshop Robotic Art and Interactive Art, students learned varied contemporary artistic methods, including robotic animation, machine learning, and physical computing. Finally, courses at the Digital Worlds workshop introduced students to the potential of digital tools in media art, as well as the main subject of this art form: the effect of technologies on humans and society.

“At these workshops, we lay an emphasis on supporting our students in their search for their own artistic language and research fields that they would find relevant in terms of both cultural and technological agendas,” says Helena Nikonole, the head of the Digital Worlds workshop. 

The exhibition is running until August 11 at the AIR space on Birzhevaya Liniya 16. Entry is free for all visitors: just register on the project’s website to get your ticket.