CYFEST 15: Venice. Vulnerability.

CYFEST 15: Venice. Opening Night, April 15, CREA, Cantieri del Contemporaneo

CYFEST 15: Vulnerability Grand Opening, CREA—One Contemporary Art Space, Venice, Italy, 19 April 2024. Photo: Anton Khlabov

Dates

April 15—August 30, 2024

Location

Venice, Italy

Venue

CREA, Cantieri del Contemporaneo, Giudecca 211-b

Artists

Samvel Baghdasaryan, Ludmila Belova, Max Blotas, Alexandra Dementieva, Alexey Dymdymarchenko, Yvetta Fedorova, Anna Frants, Elena Gubanova & Ivan Govorkov, Irina Korina, Natalia Lyakh, Anne Marie Maes, Phill Niblock & Katherine Liberovskaya, Tuula Närhinen, Nao Nishihara, Fabrizio Plessi, Mariateresa Sartori, Monica Naranjo Uribe, Where Dogs Run.

CYFEST 15 is organized by CYLAND International MediaArtLab. The project's general sponsor is One Market Data. The project is made possible in collaboration with the Ca' Foscari University of Venice, The Centre for Studies in Russian Art — CSAR, LEONARDO ISAST, Samvel Baghdasaryan Art Foundation, and Weave.

Panel Discussion

CYFEST 15 Catalogue — Venice (PDF, 7MB)

International Media Art Festival CYFEST 15 by CYLAND MediaArtLab

CYFEST 15: Vulnerability is a series of traveling exhibitions hosted worldwide. CYFEST 15 took place in Yerevan, Armenia and Miami, USA, in 2023, and continued in Venice, Italy, in 2024.

The (anti)fragility of biological, social and cyberspaces, personal memories, and scientific imagination, the facsimile of rain and indexical, asemiotic writing, artistic exploration of non-human co-authorship, and a connection between knitting patterns and Mandelbrot sets were all presented in this group exhibition.

The program featured installation, performance, and discursive formats. Key commissions included the multi-disciplinary project Drop Tracer, studying nonhuman agencies and the relationship between images and the natural world by Tuula Närhinen. Ann Marie Maes’ bacterial-grown skins investigate the sculptural potential of organic materials and interfaces between the human and the non-human, the macroscopic and the microscopic. Pioneers of science art, Where Dogs Run collective, look at the terms of the Mandelbrot sets as expressed through knitting patterns in a live performative installation. Mariateresa Sartori, through the frottage technique, gives value to the unseen geology and casts light upon the little-known story of the quarry in Rosà, Vicenza. Elena Gubanova and Ivan Govorkov’s media installation recreates the concept of «Time Density» developed by Soviet astronomer Nikolai Kozyrev. This exhibition also featured rarely exhibited monotypes «Re-Pressions» by the acclaimed Armenian artist Samvel Baghdasaryan (1956-2017), experimental video art works by Fabrizio Plessi, inflatable fabric sculptures by Irina Korina, architectural and urbanistic objects made of recycled LEDs by Alexandra Dementieva, newly commissioned installation by Anna Frants and much more.

Samvel Baghdasaryan

Re-pressions

Monotype printed in color with embossing on heavy woven paper, 1995–1996

Courtesy of the artist and Samvel Baghdasaryan Art Foundation

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Samvel Baghdasaryan, Re-pressions. Monotype printed in color with embossing on heavy woven paper, 1995–1996. CYFEST 15: Vulnerability, CREA—One Contemporary Art Space, 2024. Courtesy of the artist and Samvel Baghdasaryan Art Foundation. Photo: Edith Bunimovich

Ludmila Belova

Eternal Present

Video Installation, 2023

TV monitor, frame; video [00:06:18, color, sound, loop]

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Ludmila Belova, Eternal Present, Video Installation, 2023. CYFEST 15: Vulnerability, CREA—One Contemporary Art Space, 2024. Photo: Edith Bunimovich

Max Blotas

Crystal clear / Eau de roche

Installation, 2020

Python; water, infrared camera with embedded LEDs, motorized leaf, pump, Raspberry Pi, 15” LCD display, 12” CRT display

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Max Blotas, Crystal clear / Eau de Roche, Installation, 2020. CYFEST 15: Vulnerability, CREA—One Contemporary Art Space, 2024. Photo: Edith Bunimovich

Alexandra Dementieva

Re-Lighting

Objects made of recycled LED, 2022

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Alexandra Dementieva, Re-Lightning, Object made of recycled LED, 2022. CYFEST 15: Vulnerability, CREA—One Contemporary Art Space, 2024. Photo: Edith Bunimovich

Alexey Dymdymarchenko

Untitled

Installation, 2019

Sound [00:04:00, stereo, loop], audio player, headphones; series of drawings: graphite pencil, charcoal, wax crayon, pastel on paper, glass

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Alexey Dymdymarchenko, Untitled, Installation, 2019. CYFEST 15: Vulnerability, CREA—One Contemporary Art Space, 2024. Photo: Edith Bunimovich

Yvetta Fedorova

The Procession

Paper cut installation, 2024

Paper, mylar

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Yvetta Fedorova, The Procession, Paper cut installation, 2024. CYFEST 15: Vulnerability, CREA—One Contemporary Art Space, 2024. Photo: Edith Bunimovich

Anna Frants

Vagaries of Affections

Installation, 2023

Arduino C, Python; Raspberry Pi 3, Arduino controllers; stepper and servo motors, aluminum tubes, steel, PLA plastic and paper acoustic horn, vinyl records, podium

Engineers: Philipp Avetisov, Denis Andreev, Eugene Ovsyannikov, Dmitry Shirokov

Supported by CYLAND MediaArtLab

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Anna Frants, Vagaries of Affections, Installation, 2023. CYFEST 15: Vulnerability, CREA—One Contemporary Art Space, 2024. Photo: Edith Bunimovich

Elena Gubanova & Ivan Govorkov

Shadow of Emptiness

Objects

Arduino, microcontroller, DMX dimmer, spotlights; plastic; paper, pencil, charcoal

Variable dimensions

Engineer: Alexey Grachev
Supported by CYLAND MediaArtLab

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Elena Gubanova & Ivan Govorkov

Time Density

Media Installation, 2021

Video [00:40:15, Ultra HD 4K video (3 840*2 160), 16:9, monochrome video, no sound, loop]

3D printing; Arduino; LCD screen, light sensors, microcontroller board; digital prints on plastic, secondary clocks, a model of Nikolai Kozyrev's torsion balance, a vintage plant stand, spotlight

Engineers: Andrew Strokov, Alexey Grachev
3D engineering design by Alexander Bochkov
Video by Elena Gubanova, 2021
Video editing by Anton Khlabov
Dedicated to the memory of astronomer V.S. Gubanov
Supported by CYLAND MediaArtLab

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Elena Gubanova, Ivan Govorkov, Time Density, Installation, 2021. CYFEST 15: Vulnerability, CREA—One Contemporary Art Space, 2024. Photo: Edith Bunimovich

Irina Korina

On Vacation

Installation, 2019

Inflatable fabric sculptures, photo printing, potted plants, furniture

Commissioned for “The City of Tomorrow” group show at the New Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

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Irina Korina, On Vacation, Installation. CYFEST 15: Vulnerability x Art Night Venice, CREA—Cantieri del Contemporaneo, 2024. Photo: Anna Otsolainen

Natalia Lyakh

Untitled 23

Video [00:01:13, color, sound, loop], 2023

Vulnerability: Us and AI

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Natalia Lyakh, Untitled 23, Video, 2023. CYFEST 15: Vulnerability, CREA—One Contemporary Art Space, 2024. Photo: Edith Bunimovich

Anne Marie Maes

Sensorial Skins

Organic Textiles, 2017–2023

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Phill Niblock & Katherine Liberovskaya

LockStorm (or Oustside from Inside)

a collaborative video project, [00:13:23, color, stereo, HD NTSC], 2020

Video by Katherine Liberovskaya
Sound by Katherine Liberovskaya and Phill Niblock

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Phill Niblock & Katherine Liberovskaya, LockStorm (or Outside from Inside), a collaborative video project, 2020. CYFEST 15: Vulnerability, CREA—One Contemporary Art Space, 2024. Photo: Edith Bunimovich

Nao Nishihara

Sound performance (Venice)

Acoustic sound performance, 2024

Date: April 19, Opening Night Program

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Nao Nishihara, Diligent Machine (Venice), Kinetic sound machine, 2024. CYFEST 15: Vulnerability, CREA—One Contemporary Art Space, 2024. Photo: Edith Bunimovich

Nao Nishihara

Diligent Machine (Venice)

Kinetic sound machine, 2024

Mixed media

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Tuula Närhinen

Drop Tracer

Sound and video installation, 2011

70 soot-coated glass slides, 4 pigment prints enlarged from the glass slides, 105×155 cm, the Drop Tracer instrument with an unexposed soot coated glass slide, candle, matchbox, HD video [00:49:20, color, sound, loop]

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Tuula Närhinen, Drop Tracer, Sound and video installation, 2011. CYFEST 15: Vulnerability, CREA—One Contemporary Art Space, 2024. Photo: Edith Bunimovich

Fabrizio Plessi

Energy

Video installation, 2016

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Mariateresa Sartori

Sassi. Reading The Rocks

Drawings, Frottages, Photos, Graphite On Stone Paper, Photos On Cotton Paper, 2016

Courtesy of artist and Galleria Michela Rizzo

Thanks to Istituzione Fondazione bevilacqua La Masa, to Stefano Pasinato (quarry EGAP, Vicenza), to the geologists Andrea Marzoli and Giancarlo Rampazzo

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Mariateresa Sartori, Sassi. Reading The Rocks. Drawings, Frottages, Photos, Graphite On Stone Paper, Photos On Cotton Paper, 2016. CYFEST 15: Vulnerability, CREA—One Contemporary Art Space, 2024. Courtesy of artist and Galleria Michela Rizzo. Photo: Edith Bunimovich

Mónica Naranjo Uribe

Cartography of an Impact

Mono-channel Full HD video [00:06:25, sound, loop], 2023

Sound by Daniel Lara Ballesteros

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Monica Naranjo Uribe, Cartografía de un impacto, Video, 2023. CYFEST 15: Vulnerability, CREA—One Contemporary Art Space, 2024. Photo: Edith Bunimovich

Where Dogs Run

Knitting and Crocheting the Mandelbrot Set

Performance, 2007–2024, work in progress

Threads for knitting, text documentation of the process, knitting hook

Performers: Anna Asvarisch, Yevgeniya Titarenko, Vasilisa Litvinenko

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Where Dogs Run, Knitting and Crocheting the Mandelbrot Set, Performance, 2007–2017, work in progress. CYFEST 15: Vulnerability, CREA—One Contemporary Art Space, 2024. Photo: Edith Bunimovich