Aujik - Directors Lounge

Directors Lounge presents works by AUJIK | C.A.R. Video Lounge at the Contemporary Art Ruhr, October 28 – 30, 2016

AUJIK is an art concept initiated in 2001 by Stefan Larsson, born in Sweden, lives and works in Otsu, Japan. Works with CGI video, VR, 3D printing, installations, clothes, photos and music/sound. Topics regarding Artificial Intelligence, nature, animism and future visions.

Been featured at Prix ars electronic, Japan media arts festival, SIGGRAPH, Animago, onedotzero, Museum of modern art, Paris, New York media museum, Cyberfest, Frankfurter kunstverien, Streaming Museum NYC and festivals and exhibitions worldwide. Been collaborating with Mira Calix & Oliver Coates, Liturgy, Christ, Daisuke Tanabe and other artists.

www.aujik.com

Article in CNN
Interview by DIS

YUKI. 2007. Music by Christ.
In YUKI a robot tree and two children are interacting in a snowy landscape and it is hard to tell which one controls who and whether it is a game or a drill. It is inspired by Ocean D. Howells pamphlet “in the playground of Technological Singularity.”

a Forest within a Forest. 2010. Music by Mira Calix.
A guide named Nashi narrates the audience journey in an uncanny forest. Nashi states that everything is animated, and that even the things we consider synthetic and artificial are as sacred as plants and stones. She criticizes nature for its inability to develop and praises technology for its flexibility and proclaims that nature should adapt to technology in order to survive.

Impermanence Trajectory: the limb nest. 2012. Music by aujik.
Pancomputationalism derives from the idea of a computational universe, which means that the whole universe and all of its elementary particles are a network of a computational system and process. Earlier AUJIK referred to this in terms of natural and unrefined computation but after German AI scientist Jurgen Schmidhuber introduced the more comprehensive view of Panacomputationalism it’s been adapted. In this manifestation called ‘Impermanence Trajectory: the limbic nest’, this idea is explained through a sacred rock located at an ancient Yamabushi area called Ishiyama. A rock consist of approximately ten trillion trillion atoms in a kilogram of matter, electrons scattering and bouncing back and forth making it a very vivid space with a vast computational potential. This rock in particular was discovered by a Yamabushi monk called Gue in 971 and was mainly used for contemplation. They claimed it had huge amount of matter that the called symmetric energy. Yamabushi monks considered them self’s as an isolated cluster and by transcend with this rock they could become a more synchronised entity.

Impermanence Trajectory: stained seed. 2014. Music by Mira Calix & Oliver Coates.
AUJIK’s visual manifestation ‘impermanence trajectory: stained seed’ is based upon the idea of Computational Dialectics via Complex Sentiment Systems. By using dialectical values that is the concept and phenomena expressed in terms of conﬂict, contradiction, opposite, diﬀerence, etc. In thought, nature, and society it is the motive force both of nature and of human endeavor, leading to a further trajectory of development. It consists of two subjects: agent X and agent Y. Each subject is exposed to eight different emotional inputs that determine a value. Values are also influenced by four different forces. These forces either combine or divide the emotional values, rendering random outcomes depending on their previous state, their environment, and the state of the other agent. The trajectory starts with an initial state where the two agents plant a seed each. The seed grows according to the emotional states of the agent and the impact of the forces. During the evolution of the seed, the tree – which represents the object – also changes its form and gradually blossoms before it collapses due to a self-inflicted virus.

Polygon Graffiti: an uguisu morph. 2010. Music by Christ.
As AR (Augmented Reality) is emerging, art will find new territories in the public space for those who are willing to see it. e.g. Graffiti paintings, which in most cases are considered an illegal act can be viewed in various environments without bothering people who don’t appreciate it. This video presents nine dynamic paintings in three different contexts: Urban, Organic and Nature.

Polygon Graffiti: karakuri cores. 2015. Music by Christ.
‘Karakuri cores’ is the second visualization in a video project called Polygon Graffiti which propose feasible visions of Augmented Reality and libration of art in all realms. By using a comprehensive and vivid form of AR the artist will be able to completely deconstruct any spatial and architectonical elements in the public and private spheres. Precise motion tracking, 3D scanning and GPS grids will enable the artist to rebuild any building or constructions and add their own personal aesthetic to it. This may be implemented as an open source in order to let other people or self aware software’s to contribute and hack the constructions. Titles: 1. Karakuri kween. 2. Beat blocks. 3. Sclerotic cores. 4. the Gu’s 5. Himitsu Kichi 6. Gunkan clouds. 7. Yokai cargo. 8. QAL-GRAF. 9. Mushin transmitters. (Influenced by the book ‘Rainbows End’ by Vernor Vinge)

anxOxna. 2014. Music by Ceephax Acid Crew.
Trees structured as a neural network. Axon and Dendrites-branches connecting through multiple forms of synapses. Individually programmed receptors. Flexible synthetic neurotransmitters . Axon terminal with receptive chaos outcome. Post synaptic density calibrated through external sentient impacts. A pan-computational AI-system. This video entitled ‘anxoxna’ depicts six variations of pan-computational synapses. The video will be presented in two formats as a video installation. Physical and Form & Void. This excerpt is from the Physical version. The Form & Void version features the under vegetation of the trees; the roots, rhizomes and underlying connections.

Plasticity Unfolding. 2015. Music by aujik.
‘Plasticity Unfolding’ is based upon an interview between AUJIK member Mana and her ADI (Artificial Deep Intelligence) entity KIIA. KIIA is constructed as an autonomous flexible neural network with vast recursive self improvement abilities. KIIA lacks a physical body, but has created self-awareness emerging from its surroundings and anomalous pattern recognition. Mana asks KIIA if it visualizes itself. KIIA explains that its core is a self evolved limbic system which has a far more complex sentiment system than humans. It is capable of generating emotions and sensations that have never been perceived before. KIIA imagines its limbic system to be resting on a river bed that functions as its nerve system and consciousness simultaneously. KIIA continuously cultivates its system. ‘Plasticity Unfolding’ is an attempt to illustrate this appearance.

Spatial Bodies. 2016. Music by Daisuke Tanabe.
Spatial Bodies depicts the urban landscape and architectural bodies as an autonomous living and self replicating organism. Domesticated and cultivated only by its own nature. A vast concrete vegetation, oscillating between order and chaos. Music specially composed by Daisuke Tanabe. Filmed in Osaka, Japan. Influenced by gunkan and metabolism architecture and the video game Katamari Damacy.*

Directors Lounge will participate with selected video works in the c.a.r. network event at the GalleryJinsun in Seoul, 17 – 26 June 2016

Video/installation works by international media artists. A program curated by Julia Murakami for the c.a.r. network event at the GalleryJinsun.

Participating artists:

Wuttin Chansataboot, Thailand „16 X 9 Capsule“ 06:43, 2014

“16×9 Capsule” shows fragments of time and incidents taking place at particular locations around Bangkok. Camera observed different situations in various conditions, ranging from trivial moments in a ordinary day to crucial circumstances in political history of Thailand. Metaphorically, each place used as background in the video is defined as a receptacle of temporal matters, exploring a Buddhist concept saying that everything keeps rising, standing and cessation. They eternally and inevitably change. Only memory remains as an evidence of their existence.

www.wuttinchansataboot.com

AUJIK, Japan “Plasticity Unfolding“ 05:00, 2014

‘Plasticity Unfolding’ is based upon an interview between AUJIK member Mana and her ADI (Artificial Deep Intelligence) entity KIIA. KIIA is constructed as an autonomous flexible neural network with vast recursive self improvement abilities. KIIA lacks a physical body, but has created self-awareness emerging from its surroundings and anomalous pattern recognition.

Mana asks KIIA if it visualizes itself. KIIA explains that its core is a self evolved limbic system which has a far more complex sentiment system than humans. It is capable of generating emotions and sensations that have never been perceived before. KIIA imagines its limbic system to be resting on a river bed that functions as its nerve system and consciousness simultaneously. KIIA continuously cultivates its system. ‘Plasticity Unfolding’ is an attempt to illustrate this appearance.

AUJIK, Japan „Impermanence Trajectory: stained seed“ 06:02, 2013

AUJIK‘s visual manifestation ‚impermanence trajectory: stained seed‘ is based on the ideas of computational dialectics. It employs and illustrates dialectical values, which express concepts and phenomena in terms of conflict, contradiction, opposition and difference. It consists of two subjects: agent X and agent Y. Each subject is exposed to eight different emotional inputs that determine a value. These values are in turn influenced by four different forces. These forces either combine or divide the emotional values, which leads to unpredictable results, depending on the agent’s previous state, his environment, and the state of the other agent.

The trajectory starts in an initial state where the two agents each plant a seed. The seed grows according to the emotional states of the agent and the impact of the forces. During the evolution of the seed, the tree – which represents the object – also changes its form and gradually blossoms before it collapses due to a self-inflicted virus. The virus generates a portal system that creates yet another realm of emotions and consciousness and allows the agents to restart and readjust the process by optimizing their cognitive and emotional parameters.

The agents’ emotional states are visualized by their heads, which are symmetric and reminiscent of a Rorschach test. The different values and forces can be seen at the lower sides of the picture. The agents themselves can be described as variables and algorithms as they are used in computer code for developing artificial general intelligence. By applying their emotional states to a dialectical form (thesis, anti-thesis & synthesis), they improve their emotional parameters in order to attain an impermanent perfection.

Inspired by the article ‚Computational Dialectics for Arguing Agents‘ by Professor Hajime Sawamura, Niigata University. Music specially composed by Mira Calix featuring cellist Oliver Coates.

www.aujik.com

APOTROPIA, Italy “Echoes of a Forgotten Embrace”, 2016

“Echoes of a Forgotten Embrace“ takes inspiration from the concept of emotional memory, depicting the encounter of two lovers in a liminal dimension, a place where movements preserve the memory of the past and create a synthesis of the entire action. The work has been created with a mix of body projection, light painting, real time randomization and animation techniques.

APOTROPIA, Italy “Sense of Place”, 2015

The term “sense of place” may describe both an arrangement of features that makes a place unique and the sensation and perception of place as experienced by the living bodies that belong to it. The body is our general medium for having a world and our relationship to space is inevitably connected with culture and shaped by the kind of bodies we have.

“Echoes of a Forgotten Embrace“ and “Sense of Place“ are both chapters that constitute DROP, a project divided into several autonomous works focusing on the dialectical relationship between the concept of Infinity and Control as a fundamental issue of human nature.

www.apotropia.com

André Werner, Germany “Yeosu Mandalas”, 2014

“The Yeosu Mandalas“ are three silent video loops: necessity | community | territory. Based on a closed-circuit installation of a camera interacting with a black and white tv-set. A small piece of overhead sheet with the word necessity, community or territory printed triggers the corresponding mandala.

Created for and shown first at the 5th. Yeosu International Art Festival, a biennial event at various locations of the town Yeosu in South Korea.

www.artyesno.com

About Directors Lounge

Directors Lounge, contemporary art and media, is a Berlin based media platform, presenting a cloud of different, independent curated projects and a wide variety of short, experimental works from many different genres.