What forms does presence take when the world and its technologies exceed what can be explained, known, or felt? How to re-imagine human, non-human and synthetic life on this planet today?
Extreme Presence gathers artists, thinkers and practitioners to Amsterdam for a programme of talks, performances, interventions and workshops. Focusing on presence as a practice, a problem and a responsibility, the weekend asks questions currently shaping art and advanced technology. One concerns a "devotional turn" in contemporary culture: how theology, mysticism and contemplative traditions offer new avenues to navigate planetary and cultural instability. The gathering also investigates the multiple histories of technology itself, from Traditional Ecological Knowledge to interspecies communication, and what these histories open up for those working between art and computation.
Following the Art in the Metaverse and Digital Cosmos conferences (2024-2025), Extreme Presence continues and expands the research and development activities of the future Hartwig Museum.
The first participants announced are artists Mark Leckey, Lawrence Lek and Marilou Schultz; philosopher Lukáš Likavčan; designer and conservationist Prathima Muniyappa and writer and researcher Aliya Say, alongside films and online interventions by artists Liu Chuang, Lynn Hershman Leeson and Tabita Rezaire; and philosopher Bogna Konior. Early-bird tickets available below.