EXHIBITION: THE ARTIFICIAL, THE NATURAL, AND THE ECOSYSTEM OF TRUST

Stefan Doepner, Boštjan Drinovec, Miha Godec, Zoran Srdić Janežič, Maša Jazbec, Dominik Mahnič, Dmitry Morozov (::vtol::)

Curator: Irena Čerčnik

OPENING: 10/04/2025, 19.00

The exhibition entitled The Artificial, the Natural, and the Ecosystem of Trust explores the current trends at the intersection of art, science and technology in Slovenia. It focuses on one of the most complex, innovative and exciting fields of contemporary creation – research-based art and robotics.

At a time when high-tech advances are increasingly blurring the boundaries between the natural and the artificial, and signalling a profoundly transformed future, we are also faced with growing uncertainty and fear of their misuse. The dramatic deepening and proliferation of crisis situations, the fragility of peace and the norms governing stability, and the unfathomable presence of cruelty, together with the increasing focus on nothing but profit, further exacerbate these dilemmas. This is why the exhibition, in contrast, by focusing on the concept of connectedness, cooperation and coexistence between machines, biological life and inanimate nature, centres on trust. The idea of coexistence, based on a partnership and ethical relationship and perceiving the world as a communal space of interconnectedness of all that exists, is explored in seven works of art. These are mostly installations created during the past five years or their upgrades, while the pieces Gladina by Boštjan and Luka Drinovec and Let the Machines Do More Work by Dominik Mahnič will be shown for the first time. The four exhibition spaces of the Gallery of Contemporary Art are inhabited by wind, a bismuth crystal, a paint-applying robot, artificial intelligence algorithms, photosymbiotic flatworms, an android, micro-robots, Vietnamese Annam walking stick insects, a stick insect robot, a robotic plotter, etc.

The exhibition opens in April, in parallel with the Festival of Robotics and Artificial Intelligence organised by Tehnopark Celje, marking the second consecutive year that the month will be highlighted by the latest technological achievements.

Further information: https://csu.si/en/exhibition/the-artificial-the-natural-and-the-ecosystem-of-trust/