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Larnaca Biennale – The Haptic/Optic Scale

25/10/2021

Larnaca Biennale – The Haptic/Optic Scale

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Monday, October 25, 21,16:00-18:00, Municipal Art Gallery, Larnaca

On the 20th of October 2021, Prof. Ioannis Michalou(di)s and Simon Pruciak, academics in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, at the American University of Cyprus, AUCY, delivered an open, public talk titled Science and Technology Art Synergies: the haptic/optic scale. Over 30 people from the general public, students as well as art and academic audiences attended the talk which formed a part of The Biennale School. The School is an initiative alongside the Larnaca Biennale aiming at opening up a discussion and debate on the relationship of themes in contemporary art practice and issues surrounding current trends, in connection to the Larnaca Biennale.
Simon Pruciak, a photographer and visual artist, focused on the optic scale and delivered a talk on The Overview effect: Photography and the visual unconscious, which discussed the ability of technology to observe images of worlds in an alternative way and how – using photography – we “first discover the existence of the visual unconscious”.
Prof. Michalou(di)s focused on the haptic scale and in his talk, given in relation to the artwork of Arsenty Lysenkov, he discussed the tangibility of the artwork. Prof. Michalou(di)s discussed Lysencov’s obelisk not as just an interactive installation calling and vibrating through the visitor’s touch, but also as a manifesto for the touch and as a sensation that extends our eyes to our fingertips.
The talks were followed by the public touching the lightest solid on planet Earth, NASA’s ethereal nanomaterial silica aerogel used by Professor Michaloudis to create works of art as well as a group haptic interaction with Arsenty Lysenkov art work.