Digital Dynamics in Nordic Contemporary Art

About

Affected by technology and globalization, the Nordic region is experiencing large shifts in its socio-political conditions and international outlook today. The book Digital Dynamics in Nordic Contemporary Art (Intellect, 2019), edited by Tanya Toft Ag, looks at digital influences on contemporary art, with particular attention paid to the national and international Nordic socio-political context.

The book launch will begin with a participatory performance by Swedish artists Lundahl & Seitl of Unknown Cloud On Its Way To…, a nomadic, immersive, and connective audio experience that creates a global ritual to connect us to our own and other bodies, far and near.

To participate in the performance, download the free app Unknown Cloud Caretaker and bring your smartphone and a set of (non-Bluetooth) headphones to the performance. Using a tool called Nagoon, this app consists of a three-dimensional soundscape connected to existing environments on location, and follows the movements of the planets in real time. At simultaneous events, this immersive experience will be shared between audience-participants at Scandinavia House and at various locations in the Nordic region. Download Unknown Cloud Caretaker here.

Following the presentation, Tanya Toft Ag will present a book talk on Digital Dynamics, and its exploration of art’s contingent evolution with technology and digital culture, beyond familiar depictions of ‘Nordic aesthetics’ in art. Toft Ag will discuss how the book examines ways that digital technology and culture profoundly change contemporary art through the ways they affect the life worlds, imaginations and tools of artists, as well as the conditions for art’s production and distribution and artists’s sense of agency and capacity to affect the world and tackle urgencies. It explores art’s role and inquiries particularly in response to changing conditions of the welfare state — affected by technology, globalization, and current shifts in international outlook.

The book launch, performance, and continuing program in New York City, Digital Dynamics: Art’s New Natures, is presented in collaboration with Streaming Museum.