FUZZY LOGIC

Each year the graduating artists and designers of the Media Design & Communication Department Piet Zwart Institute celebrate their graduation by creating an event: an exhibition, lectures, publications and performances to represent as fully as possible the diverse range of practices encompassed by the practice-based research undertaken in the department.

This year’s show is entitled Fuzzy Logic:  it features work by Lucas Battich [AR],
Manetta Berends [NL], Julie Boschat Thorez [FR], Cihad Caner [TR], Joana Chicau [PT], Cristina Cochior [RO], Solange Frankort [NL], Arantxa Gonlag [NL], Anne Lamb [US], Benjamin Li [NL], Yuzhen Tang [CN], Ruben van de Ven [NL] and Thomas Walskaar [NO]

The exhibition is divided across two locations, within a 5 minute walk from each other:
– V2_ Institute For The Unstable Media, Eendrachtsstraat 10, 3012 XL, Rotterdam
– Piet Zwart Institute, Mauritsstraat 36, 3012 CJ, Rotterdam

The Opening Event will be on Friday, 17 June:
– 19:00–20:30 at V2_
– 21:00 – 22:30 at the Piet Zwart Institute

19:00 – 20:30: V2_Institute for the Unstable Media
19:20 welcome word
19:25 Book Launch: “My Hard-Drive Died Along With My Heart”
A book project by Thomas Walskaar, in conversation with Niek Hilkmann
20:15 WebPage Act I, II, III, performance by Joana Chicau

move to the PZI
21:00 – 22:30: Piet Zwart Institute
continuing until Sunday, 26 June, open in both venues Tuesday – Sunday: 12:00 – 17:00

locations:
– V2_Institute for the Unstable Media, Eendrachtsstraat 10, 3012 XL, Rotterdam, http://v2.nl/
– Piet Zwart Institute, Mauritsstraat 36, 3012 CJ, Rotterdam
– Gradshow website: http//:www.pzimediadesign.nl
– V2_: http://v2.nl/events/fuzzy-logic
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related events:
performance: WebPage Act I, II, III by Joana Chicau, daily at 16:00 or by appointment, V2_
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public event: either Thursday, 23 or Friday 24 June: 20:00 – 22:00
Media Cabaret 6: Alumni Illuminata II, V2_
A chance to see a selection of MMD&C alumni’s most recent works and hear their experiences
since graduation. Hosted by current PZIer’s there’ll be brief show and tells, interviews, video’s,
games, performance and networking with as show host, Julia Kul.
more info: http://v2.nl/events/media-cabaret-6-alumni-illuminata-ii
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workshop: Sunday, 26 June: 14:00, Piet Zwart Institute
i-could-have-written-that is a two hour workshop on the subject of text mining, in which raw
text data will be cooked, personal truth’s will be trained and the finite nature of categories
will be challenged.
more info: i-could-have-written-that.info
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Presentation: Sunday 26 June, 16:30, V2_
This talk is a presentation of the process behind the LIAPO project and the research around it. Julie will discuss networks as intermediary environments between humans, and will address their structural particularities, historical narratives, and upcoming developments.
http://s192400.gridserver.com/
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Works included in the show

Lucas Battich’s work presents a series of animations generated by a computer algorithm in real time. The imagery is derived from El Lissittky’s avant-garde abstract works, and aims to put this century-old aesthetic in dialogue with the current confidence in technological progress.
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i-could-have-written-that is a workshop on the subject of text mining, a technology that is presented with motto’s like “the power to know”, “the absolute truth”, “with an accuracy that rivals and surpasses humans”. The workshop created by Manetta Berends challenges the image of this modern oracle, by discussing how the software, workprocess and vocabulary together construct text mining outcomes.
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LIAPO – Cephei, The Light Interferometer Astro-Digital Packets Observatory (Cephei) has been built by Julie Boschat Thorez with the aim to discover the matching pattern of the star constellation of Cepheus in the sky  over the Earth, through the Internet, as photons or bytes find their way to its premises.
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Abstract Violence is investigating how we can look at violent images within the time of the image culture. Cihad Caner uses the footage and objects that he collected in Syria, to create new videos and 3D scanned-rendered objects in order to produce different realities.
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Joana Chicau’s research started as a cross-referencing of composition methods, with the aim to transcend the boundaries between the fields of choreography and graphic design. This research has led to her final project, an assemblage of graphic experiments in a live performance setting combining principles of choreography within the formal structures of coding.
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Bots operate at the intersection of technical infrastructure and social agent-hood. Although they follow strict rules dictated by platform specificity, their status of autonomy sets them apart from regular tools. Wikipedia bots, especially, are measured in terms of utility. As an introduction into the Wikipedia non-human ecosystem, Cristina Cochior’s project, In The Company Of Bots, is resurfacing automated algorithms that have become redundant.
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The Limejuice Mystery is a work in process by Solange Frankfort of the ageing and decay of an 80 years old nitrate film. The installation shows the research space where Solange investigates the unknown nitrate film, displaying the danger and struggle with the material, from 1940 till today.
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The photobook series Mama, Tess en ik by Arantxa Gonlag investigates the digital relationship that she has with her mother and sister, who have grown apart. Seeing their communication vs. their worlds and situations, she tries to create a stronger bond between them.
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In Anne Lamb’s  voyeuristic video work entitled, Surrogates she deals with her past and present experiences with heterosexual men and their delicate and often ignored issues of body image and expressed sexuality within the discourse of feminism and queer theory.
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The origin of Benjamin Li’s project lies in an event from Holland Got Talent in 2013. In the particular episode Dutch jury member Gordon asked Chinese contestant Wang if he is going to sing “Nr. 39 with Rice”. As a response Li started his project called In Search of Perfect Orange. The results are video works and sculptures that touch concepts like cultural identity, affection and displacement of home, which are covered in a layer of food.
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The relation between the digital and physical features of 3D printing enhances the current hype about this medium. In The work of Yuzhen Tang, For the Common Good, a group of objects are selected from Thingiverse, the world’s most popular website for sharing creative commons of 3D files. They exist in a grey zone, a disputed border which questions what objects can be shared and produced. A video features the artist as an anonymous performer with this selection of ambiguous objects. By viewing the physically printed objects and the video, the work requires us to reconsider the cognitive relationship with objects.
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The work of Ruben van de Ven revolves around software that derives emotional parameters from facial expressions and he wonders: what does it mean to feel 47% happy and 21% surprised? He examines this intersection of highly cognitive practices and ambiguous experiences, interrogating the discursive apparatus that is being erected.
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“My Hard-Drive Died Along With My Heart” is a book created by Thomas Walskaar where he explores peoples relationship with hard-drives and what emotions people get after the trust is broken. The book contains a collection online forum and twitter posts on the topic.