A few weeks ago we talked about the MUSE Digital Art Award in collaboration with PPDS. On that occasion, we interviewed the curator of the award, Julia Rajacic, who told us about the mission and sustainable objectives of the project.
On November 9th, the 20 finalists were finally revealed, whose works, visible on the PPDS tableaux displays, will be exhibited in an exhibition at the Fabbrica del Vapore in Milan starting from November 23rd, in collaboration with MNAD, the national digital art museum. The finalists include 17 professional artists and 3 students from Italian art schools, selected from over 200 national artists from 44 countries who participated in the award.
As already mentioned, the mission of this project is to respond decisively and promptly to the challenges dictated by the ecological and climate crisis, seeking new ways of thinking and acting. The artists were invited to imagine “An energy for the future” that would become “an inspiration for our journey of transformation as individuals, organizations, and societies”.
The inauguration of the exhibition will take place on Thursday 23 November with a press preview and invitation-only attendance. A professional artist will receive a prize of €3000, and a special mention will be given to one of the finalist students. Both winners will also receive a Philips tableaux display.
The finalist professional artists are:
Lauren Moffatt (Germany)
Alexandra Crouwers (Belgium)
Yuri Negrebetsky (England/Russia)
Chao Wang (England/China)
Rodolfo Canete (Philippines, Hong Kong)
Bianca Carague (Philippines, Netherlands)
Kailum Graves (Australia)
EKOANGGE (Indonesia, Italy)
Yu Chunju (Shanghai)
C-LAB (England)
Leonard Maassen (England)
Doug Tolman (USA)
Muhammad Amdad Hossain (Bangladesh)
Elena Aya Bundurakis (Crete, Japan)
Marcela Magno (Argentina)
Paolo Treni (Italy)
JaZon Frings (USA, France)
The three finalist students are:
Luca Carlevarino
M.
Giacomo Erba
Among the finalist artists, I would like to delve deeper into C-Lab, a Bio Art Collective based in London. It is a transdisciplinary collective that uses unconventional materials and emerging technologies to create unique art experiences, such as installations that combine the use of software, hardware and biotechnology. Leading artists within C-Lab include Dr. Howard Boland and Dr. Laura Cinti. Their goal is to modify biological matter to create “living” works of art, exploring the emerging and uncertain field of bio art, where art meets biotechnology.
Alexandra Crouwers is a visual artist and artistic researcher in the digital art sector, experimental director, and media art explorer. Currently, she is exploring eco-anxiety in relation to new mythologies and “virtual quackery”. The themes investigated by Alexandra include time, ecology, and technology, focusing on digital media.
Leonard Maassen is a music producer, artist, and composer committed to ecological awareness in the context of climate change, through engagement and immersion in the environment.
Rodolfo Canete is a self-taught multidisciplinary artist based in Hong Kong. With a keen focus on sustainability, climate change, and technology, Canete has been actively engaged in innovative land art projects for off-grid communities. His recent endeavors have centered around the design of resilient rural home structures for coastal villages in the Philippines, which are particularly vulnerable to typhoon impacts. Canete employs a biomimetic architectural approach, drawing inspiration from nature’s designs, to conceptualize cutting-edge structures that combine aesthetics with vernacular sustainability.
Finally, among the finalist artists who most closely address the climate and ecological crisis, we find Doug Tolman, an interdisciplinary artist who works primarily in the Great Salt Lake watersheds in Colorado. He believes that inquiry, a sense of place, and solution-oriented dialogue are the strongest tools for solving socio-ecological problems.
The exhibition is open from 23 November to 12 December, and visitors will be invited to become judges, selecting the work that struck them most and which is close to the theme “The Energy for Tomorrow”. During the opening of the exhibition at the Fabbrica del Vapore, a team of mediators will offer guided tours at 11.00, 12.00, 14.00, and 15.00. (translated from Italian with additional report from Isabel Almonte)
