Mónica Rikić will be holding her keynote at DrupalCon Barcelona 2024
We’re excited to introduce Mónica Rikić, an acclaimed electronic artist and creative coder. Get ready to explore Mónica’s innovative approach in her keynote, 'Coding Beyond Functionality: Altering Technologies Through Artistic Research.' Discover her journey and get inspired for what’s to come!
Biography:
Mónica Rikić (Barcelona, 1986) is an electronic artist and creative coder, born and based in Barcelona. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from UB, a Master’s degree in Digital Arts from UPF, and a Master’s degree in Contemporary Philosophy from UOC. Currently, she is a PhD student in the Network and Information Technologies doctoral program at UOC.
Her artistic practice focuses on developing alternative technologies through creative coding and electronics. Her work merges technology and philosophy through art, creating technological artifacts that prioritize critical thinking and discussion over functionality or productivity. She produces handmade electronic objects and robots that perform various concepts from her research, presenting them as theatrical devices. Through these devices, she aims to offer experiences that suggest alternative perspectives on technologies, robotics, and open hardware.
Her projects have been featured in international festivals such as Ars Electronica in Linz, Creative Tech Week in New York, Robotronica in Australia, and FILE in Brazil. Locally, her work has been exhibited at institutions like the CCCB, Arts Santa Mónica, La Capella, and Disseny Hub. She has received numerous awards, including the Catalan Culture Award 2021, honors at the Japan Media Arts Festival, AMAZE Berlin, the Margaret Guthman Musical Instrument Competition in Atlanta, and a BBVA Foundation Leonardo grant.
She has participated in artistic residencies at Technoculture, Arts and Games in Montreal, the European Media Artists in Residence Exchange (EMARE-EMAP) at QUT in Australia, Hexagram in Montreal, Medialab Prado in Madrid, Platohedro in Medellin, and Etopía in Zaragoza as part of the European ARTificial Intelligence Lab program. Additionally, she has been an artist in residence in two European S+T+ARTS programs: GRIN in Oulu and in the City in Barcelona.
Talk Description:
In a moment when all conversations about technology seem to center on AI, machine learning, and the need for vast, unattainable resources, this keynote seeks to reclaim the importance of open, unproductive, unstable, and maker-culture-like practices. Art and the humanities are often perceived as useful only in the 'outside' parts of technological research, rather than at the core of the process. The speaker will share her experience taking on the challenge to prove that artistic research and experimentation can be central to technological innovation. She will discuss her work on a project about assistive robotics, including her development of an artistic replica of one of the assistive robots from an industrial robotics lab, demonstrating how creative practices can drive meaningful advancements in technology. Moreover, the speaker will talk about her experience with learning-by-doing in alternative creative spaces like hacking camps, where people meet, learn, and create technology just for fun. She will highlight various self-managed ephemeral spaces around the world where anyone, regardless of technological expertise, can join and experience technology in an alternative way.
Join as on Wednesday, 25 September at 10:00 CEST at CCIB, Barcelona for her talk. See you there!
@monicarikic
#CreativeCoding #CodingBeyondFunctionality
