Art

Proxima

First of its kind
A mesmerizing alliance of art and science

ART Proxima - a powerful concept. A unique collective of new media artists and pioneering scientists, creating an alliance of knowledge, science, technology, and...art...

ART Proxima will be the first of its kind at XPANSE, a sacred space where artistic inspiration and scientific exploration merge to birth a collective work of art. Over three days, ART Proxima will host 4 installations by world-renowned new media artists, and a series of co-creation sessions where artists and scientists together will capture the spirit of the two mythical realms united to birth a new conceptual piece of art.

The mesmerizing world of proxima

By Solimán López | DNA Information Storage

CAPSIDE, The Sacred Drop

Capside, The Sacred Drop presents an evocative installation that merges two distinct elements into one profound experience. As a single drop of pure water descends before your eyes, it becomes more than a mere droplet - it harbors the essence of Amazonian biodiversity, encapsulating the DNA of countless species in a single, sacred moment. The second drop encodes the thoughts and memories of thought leaders, preserved within a strand of DNA. Together, these drops create a striking juxtaposition of nature’s brilliance and human intellect, inviting viewers to engage in a deep, reflective connection between the natural world and the wisdom of innovative minds.

By Solimán López | Brainwave Capture

Biowaves

BIOWAVES by Solimán López is an innovative concept that bridges human and natural heritage. The experiential interactive artwork is based on the recorded brainwaves of the exceptional minds attending XPANSE and the data is stored not in a hard drive or a data center… but inside a DNA. The DNA containing the memories and thoughts of XPANSE luminaries merged with recycled Mediterranean Sea plastic will be crafted into a unique vinyl album featuring marine mammal communications, harmonizing brainwaves and whale frequencies into a piece of art. Through the fusion of neuroscience and biotechnology, it transforms the nature of thought and the resilience of our oceans into a tangible, auditory experience.

By Otto Plesner | fMRI + Alzheimer

The Art of Memory

"The Art of Memory" is innovative in its seamless integration of AI, neuroscience, and art to create a truly immersive show experience. By using fMRI scans of Alzheimer’s patients to generate AI-driven digital artworks, we transform raw clinical data into visual representations of memory, something never before seen in this context. This approach not only makes complex neurological processes accessible but also deeply personal and relatable.

TC | OPTICAL PATH ENGINEERING

Quantized Reflections

Immerse yourself in this unexpected adventure, weaving color & light across time to create an optical masterpiece unique to you. Movement employs an array of quantized reflections, mathematically. Tuned to manipulate photons in a three-dimensional space, the installation reveals a dynamic visual experience, a sea of flowing images that ultimately converge to one in a moment of harmony at the focal point. Indulge your senses, Move, Dance & Live ... With your quantized reflections... Revel in the exponential senses of existence.

SOFIAN AUDRY & TEZ | computational and biological sentience

Xenolalia

The work brings together an artificial neural network and a colony of microalgae in a feedback loop where they collaborate to generate a speculative living alphabet. This process is rendered through an ensemble of displays at micro, meso and macro scales, creating an engaging experience that appeals to curiosity and imagination.

By Marc Vilanova | infrasonic frequencies

Cascade

Marc Vilanova (Capellades, 11991) is a sound and visual artist whose work explores the convergence of art, science, nature, and technology. Grounded in expanded sculpture, he aims to foster active listening to voices often ignored or silenced by anthropocentric paradigm. His creative approach embraces an openness to the world, creating spaces for listening and reflection that challenge the boundaries of sensory knowledge. He lives and works in Barcelona.

A sensory installation attempts to reproduce the infrasonic recordings of various waterfalls using small speakers incapable of emitting such low frequencies. As the vibrations activate an optical fiber through which the sound "falls", it creates a curtain of light visualizing the sound waves and offering an alternative form of listening. This interplay allows viewers to see, feel, and touch the vibrations, creating a multisensory experience of interspecies connections and unseen elements of nature.

By MarIE-LUCE NADAL | Pièce unique

ÉCHO

Echo is an artwork that embodies the harvesting and manifestation of pure cloud essence. This essence is extracted by Marie-Luce Nadal,
an artist passionate about capturing natural phenomena. Through regular practice, she collects this essence and redistributes it in enclosed environments, giving rise to a series of works called “Eoloriums.” The artwork “Echo,” presented here, is a captivating depiction of the collection of soil and a cloud, both harvested in Los Angeles in 2023. This evolving sculpture contains a captive cloud in perpetual motion. Under the watchful eye of the overhanging machine, the cloud appears and disappears, following an orchestrated movement. Like an archivist, Marie-Luce Nadal collects the ephemeral to preserve it from the imprint of time.

By HEATHER BARNETT | TRUE SLIME MOULD

The Physarum Experiments

is an artist, researcher and educator working with natural phenomena and living systems, often in collaboration with scientists, artists, participants and organisms. Ripple Rift explores the continuous conversation between an organism and the volatile landscape it inhabits. Inspired by the shape-shifting Icelandic landscape, the piece follows the encounters of an intelligent amoeba, the slime mould Physarum polycephalum, as it navigates its world through a process of chemical sensing, constantly assessing changing conditions and responding to events. The film reveals the highly attuned and endlessly adaptive behavior of a curious nomadic explorer and invites us to consider our own interspecies relations and environmental sensitivities.

By Maria Smigielska & CompMonks | ferrofluid patterns

Proteus

Proteus is a series of mixed-media interactive installations that modulate matter with bothhuman and machine intelligence carried since 2018 by Maria Smigielska and CompMonks. It employs the complex behaviuor of ferrofluid material, which through the invisible force of magnetic fields, constantly changes its shape, from dots to meandering stripes and coagulated regions. Just like the Greek god Proteus, it is capable of assuming many forms. The behaviour of the material is hard to control and as such it is taken as an added value in the process of ephemeral and non-repeatable pattern generation. Visual exposure to such a black and white graphic pattern is used as an apparatus to emulate visual human intelligence.

CURATORS

SOLIMÁN
LÓPEZ

Solimán López is a contemporary artist and innovator in the field of new media art, known for his interdisciplinary approach that merges art, science, and technology.

Proxima ART is co-curated with the Solimán López Studio (SLStudio) under the coordination of Natallia Yaskevich.

His work often explores themes of digital identity, data, and the intersection of the physical and virtual worlds. López has developed groundbreaking projects that incorporate biotechnology, artificial intelligence, digital art and immersive experiences, such Manifesto Terricola, Invisible Pegaso, DNA of Democrazy, OLEA or the recent one CAPSIDE, which utilizes amplified environmental DNA from the Amazon rainforest, to create a local museum of biodiversity in the Amazon.

Solimán López's work has been exhibited internationally, earning recognition for its conceptual depth and technological innovation.

Zina Jirrari Cinker

Dr. Zina
Jarrahi Cinker

Dr. Zina Cinker is a globally recognized Frontier & Exponential Technology strategist, condensed matter physicist, and MATTERverse pioneer and thought leader.

She advises policymakers, industry leaders, civil societies & scientific luminaries on how Exponential Technologies of our time: Quantum, AI, Machine Learning, Genomics, Frontier Materials & Nano Assembly will change the horizons of our future. . Among advisees are: Members of the US Senate, King Felipe of Spain, Mayors, Science policy Ministers, Secretary Generals of Multilateral International Organizations, and leaders of Fortune 500 companies.

CompMonks

CompMonks

New media architect, researcher

ETH Zürich

Maria Smigielska

Maria Smigielska

New media architect

ETH Zurich

Saša Spačal

Saša Spačal

Postmedia artist

AGAPEA

Amy Karle

Amy Karle

Artist & Designer

www.amykarle.com

Oscar Santillán

Oscar Santillán

Artist and Cybernetician

studio ANTIMUNDO

Dr. Heather Barnett

Dr. Heather Barnett

Artist and Researcher

University of the Arts London

Mariano Sardon

Mariano Sardon

Transdisciplinary Artist

www.marianosardon.com.ar

DR. MARIE-LUCE NADAL

DR. MARIE-LUCE NADAL

Transdisciplinary Artist and Researcher

ENSAD PSL University

Fara Peluso

Fara Peluso

Material Curator

Living Library Project at HfG Karlsruhe

Dr. Ana Rajcevic

Dr. Ana Rajcevic

Research Scientist, Artists

MIT Media Lab

Thom Kubli

Thom Kubli

Artist and composer

Arts at MIT

Juan Cortes

Juan Cortes

Founder

Atractor Studio

Maurice Benayoun

Maurice Benayoun

Chair Prof and Head of the Art and Architecture Intelligence Lab

Nanjing University

Marc Vilanova

Marc Vilanova

Visual and sound artist

LABoral Centro de Arte

Dr. Sofian Audry

Dr. Sofian Audry

School of Media

University of Quebec in Montreal

Krista Kim

Krista Kim

Artist and Cultural Leader

Julia AI

Otto Plesner

Otto Plesner

Creative Director

RenaiXance

SOLIMÁN LÓPEZ

SOLIMÁN LÓPEZ

New Media Artist and Founder

Harddiskmuseum

Prof. Dan Shechtman

Nobel Laureate and Professor of Materials Science

Iowa State University

Nuria Quesada Perez

Young Quantum Social Scientist

TUM Think Tank

Eden Castaneira Rios

Research Assistant and Tutor

TUM Think Tank

Dr. Bonnie Tsim

Head of Strategic Initiatives and Growth

ATLANT 3D

Martina Gschwendtner

Engagement Manager

McKinsey & Co

Patrick McSharry

Co-founder and CTO

Tehanu-Interspecies Money

Sara Sabry

CEO and Founder

Deep Space Initiative

Dr. Urs Gasser

Dean

TUM Quantum Social Lab

Dr. Filippo Castiglione

Executive Director of the Biotechnology Research Center

TII