@Schmiede Hallein, Saline,
Pernerinsel, Mauttorpromenade 7, 5400 Hallein
it’s our pleasure to welcome Gaurav Patekar to the MediaArt Salzburg residency in September 2024! Sept 18th he will talk more about his project.
Gaurav Patekar about his project „Feeling Climate Crisis“:
Climate crisis is one of the biggest issues we are facing as a species. For us to better our relationship with the environment, we need to understand and be able to talk about the changing climate more effectively. Communication of climate crisis currently ranges from complex scientific publications emphasizing the nuances of climate change to evocative visuals that appeal to our emotions.
Art interventions can create avenues for us to experience and understand climate crisis in ways that are not typically accessible through the traditional means of science communication and journalism.
Over the last two years, I have been making kinetic data sculptures by juxtaposing natural botanical elements with digitally fabricated mechanisms. These sculptures are based on climate change data. They communicate this data through movement. The objective of this work is to allow audiences to feel the climate crisis as an alternative to reading or looking at charts.
The natural objects I use include dry leaves, twigs, and driftwood I find on long walks near my place of residence. I find this approach of using natural organic materials with industrial materials, poetically resonating with the tension between ecology and industrialized society in the age of the Anthropocene.
At MediaART residency, I will continue this work by accommodating the natural objects I find in the area near the residency and natural landscape in and around Salzburg. The geographical setting of Salzburg will allow me to experiment with natural elements in the urban setting in and around the city.
Gaurav Patekar is a new media artist. He creates media art, particularly kinetic artworks that take inspiration from movements in nature. He is deeply interested in understanding our relationship with ecology and technology and how it informs behavior. His work often mixes curiosity, playfulness, and whimsy. He uses digital fabrication tools such as 3D printing and laser cutting alongside traditional building techniques. He has a background in media art, new media design, and mechanical engineering. He has studied at the MIT Media Lab, Cambridge, USA, and the National Institute of Design, India. He currently works out of his studio in Bangalore, India.
More Gauravpatekar
Picture credit: Gaurav Patekar – Feeling Climate Crisis
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subnetAIR 2024 on the topic of „community“.
Insight and dialogue in the field of tension: art, research, technology. www.subnet.at subnetAIR is a cooperation between the Center for Human Computer Interaction (University of Salzburg) and subnet.