The ACTS Network continues to grow and weave the network of agents

At the Daniel and Nina Carasso Foundation we believe in the need to address contemporary challenges through the combination of knowledge in various fields such as science, art and technology. As a result of these connections, together with the Open University of Catalonia (UOC) and Hac Te (Art, Science and Technology Hub), we promoted the ACTS network, a network of agents and disciplines that was presented in June 2023 at Sónar+D in Barcelona and continues to grow today.

The Art, Science, Technology and Society Network (ACTS) is a space where artists, researchers and institutions can make connections between various disciplines and work at that intersection. Framed in the Art, Science and Society program of our Citizen Art line, its purpose is to promote research, production and dissemination of multidisciplinary projects that face contemporary challenges.

ACTS Network on Canal Connect

In the last year, the ACTS Network has grown in both agents and activities. On May 9, this collective organized one of the round tables promoted by the Daniel and Nina Carasso Foundation of the Canal Connect art, science and technology festival, which takes place at the Teatros del Canal.

Tere Badia, director of HacTe Barcelona and member of the ACTS Network, moderated this meeting in which the concept of monster and chimera at the intersection between art, science, technology and society was addressed. In addition, we learned about projects from members of the new Madrid node. Esther Moñivas, Mónica Gutiérrez and Joaku de Sotavento were the people in charge of showing their projects. We were able to learn about the influence of altered biological matter on the iconography of the field of monsters and chimeras; about how organic bridges are created between dance, music and technology, through interactive devices; and on how biodiversity can be conserved and new biodiversities generated in the form of their own chimeras, through citrus grafts that were carried out in orchards in Rome.

ACTS Network at Sónar+D

The ACTS Network has been the promoter of the Open Forum on Arts, Science & Technology at Sónar+D in 2024, a meeting organized by HacTe that explores the relationships between the arts, science and technology, being a place of exchange and meeting. In this second edition, the cultural manager María Ptqk and the director of Hangar, Anna Manubens, moderated the meeting that was held on June 13 and in which twelve projects were presented, six prepared by artists and six conceived by scientists. During this session, the books resulting from the GRAPA 2023 residencies, the .able magazine and the four pilot projects underway in 2024 were presented.

Residency Programs

The programs developed in the academic year that ends have been the GRAPA and RACOR residencies.

The GRAPA artistic accompaniment programme is promoted by the CCCB and Hangar, in collaboration with the UOC. Their results have been made physical in two downloadable notebooks that reflect the methodology used, as well as interviews of the artists with Clara Piazuelo or Antonio Gagliano’s diagram referring to the generation of this mesh of supports within the framework of each project. Joana Moll has researched how the internet’s main business, AdTech technology, works. Its project, AdTech Constellations, aims to promote ethical and sustainable practices in this industry. While Silvia Zayas has carried out the noise ê project, an artistic research-production on the impact of noise on the physique of marine animals.

For its part, RACOR is a cross-residency programme that connects the nodes of Donostia and Barcelona, which is promoted by Tabakalera, Hangar and the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona. Sedna, by Constanza Piña, has been the project developed during this time. This scientific-poetic narrative is about the lament of the Earth that connects different voices of organic, mineral and celestial bodies.

The dynamism of these projects is the result of an expanding ecosystem. This growth is seen both in the geographical nodes and in the collaborating agents, generating dynamics of support between the different university, cultural and artistic, scientific and technological research environments.

The function of each node is to play the role of research center, production space and place for the dissemination of the initiatives. Currently, it is made up of four:

• Barcelona/Catalonia, coordinated by the UOC, Hac Te, Hangar and the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB).
• Donostia/Euskadi, where Tabakalera and the University of the Basque Country (UPV-EHU) are the institutions in charge.
• Valencia, promoted by the UPV and other cultural centres.
• Madrid is the latest node to be added to the network for the time being, and it has been set up with the help of the Carlos III University.

The network exemplifies multidisciplinary cooperation, which is fundamental for the Daniel and Nina Carasso Foundation in the search for solutions to current challenges. These interconnections between technical, scientific and artistic practices generate environmental and social impact, allowing innovative solutions to be found through art and collaboration.