Since its inception in 2007, CYFEST’s main concerns have been to examine the dialogue between various visual languages and technology cultures, and thus to explore a way of commoning with both art professionals and scientific communities. CYFEST unites artists, curators, educators, engineers, programmers and media activists all over the world, and creates an inclusive platform for mapping, mediation, and documentation of new media art on different regional and international levels. CYFEST is one of the world’s few nomadic cultural events: in 2022, an interdisciplinary program of exhibitions, performances, events and education workshops took place in Yerevan, Armenia; Dartington, UK; and Mesa, Arizona, USA. Over the year, the festival had partnerships with HayArt Cultural Center, Armenian Center for Contemporary Experimental Art NPAK, Dartington Trust, Arizona State University, Media and Immersive Experience (MIX) Center, Kolodzei Art Foundation, and Leonardo ISAST.

Titled Ferment, the 14th edition of CYFEST features an interdisciplinary group of artists and collectives whose works reflect the biological process of fermentation as an entry point in seeking new approaches to rediscover ways of perceiving and relating to the world. The works in the program demonstrate a wide range of cultural, scientific, ethical and aesthetic concepts of fermentation as a process of change for the living and the dead, human and non-human, color and smell, sounds and impressions.

Ferment: Metamorphoses and Reflections at the National Art Club in New York is the latest in a series of thematic exhibitions organized as part of the CYFEST 14 International Media Art Festival. It features artists working in the fields of painting, drawing, printmaking, installation, film and video, photography and new media, with a selection of nonconformist and contemporary works. The exhibition offers a vision of fermentation as a metaphor for the transformative potential of vulnerable social and cultural environments and historical contexts. Through an experimental and transdisciplinary methodology, participating artists create hybrid forms that interweave multiple fields of study and philosophies of aesthetics. Understanding fermentation as an imaginary concept in which scientific precision and artistic imagination intersect and inform one another, this exhibition creates new myths capable of motivating better forms of transdisciplinary solidarity.

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Leonardo Journal, published in partnership with MIT Press, will dedicate its December 2022 special issue to the theme of fermentation, in conjunction with CYFEST 14 international media art festival.

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The exhibition is organized by CYLAND Media Art Lab in collaboration with the Kolodzei Art Foundation, and sponsored by One Market Data.

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Download press release (.pdf) 

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CYLAND is a nonprofit organization founded in 2007 by independent artists and curators. For over 14 years, CYLAND has been dedicated to supporting the production and exhibition of New Media Art. We promote the emergence of new forms of art and high technology interactions, develop professional connections between artists, curators, engineers and programmers around the world and expose wide audiences to works in the field of robotics, video art, sound art and net art. Emerging or established, local or international, our selected artists are provided with resources, from technicians to equipment and professional development. Over the years, CYLAND has held the annual CYFEST, organizing and participating in various exhibition projects around the world, working on sound and video art archives.

cyland.org

A fearless pioneer since 1968, Leonardo/The International Society for the Arts, Sciences and Technology (Leonardo/ISAST) is a nonprofit organization that serves the global network of distinguished scholars, artists, scientists, researchers and thinkers through our programs, which focus on interdisciplinary work, creative output and innovation. From its beginnings, Leonardo has served as THE virtual community for networking, resource-sharing, disseminating best practices, supporting research and offering events in art/science/technology.

leonardo.info

The Kolodzei Art Foundation, a 501(c)(3) US-based nonprofit corporation founded in 1991, arranges art exhibitions in museums, universities and cultural centers throughout the United States and Europe, often utilizing the considerable resources of the Kolodzei Collection of Russian and Eastern European Art. The Kolodzei Art Foundation collection consists of over 7,000 works of nonconformist and contemporary art, including paintings, drawings, sculptures, photographs, video and new media, by more than 300 artists from Eastern Europe and Russia. Its Board of Directors includes distinguished business, diplomatic and cultural figures in US-European relations. The Kolodzei Art Foundation also arranges cultural exchanges and publishes books on art and encourages a more diverse arts world.

www.KolodzeiArt.org

Founded in 1898, The National Arts Club is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with a mission to stimulate, foster, and promote public interest in the arts and to educate the American people in the fine arts. Annually, the Club offers more than 150 free programs to the public, including exhibitions, theatrical and musical performances, lectures and readings, attracting an audience of over 25,000 members and guests. Feature programs focus on all disciplines of the arts. For a full list of events or to learn more, please visit

www.nationalartsclub.org

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